Which proactive activity focuses on focusing on a news item?

• A. Environmental scanning
• B. Issues tracking
• C. Crisis management
• D. Crisis planning

Answer: (B)

Tracking an ongoing news item through active media monitoring is a proactive practice in public relations. It focuses on watching how a specific story evolves, what stakeholders are saying, and what potential reputational or operational impacts could arise. This enables you to anticipate questions, prepare responses, and steer communications before the issue escalates. That’s exactly what issues tracking is designed to do: maintain awareness of a developing item, track shifts in coverage and sentiment, and flag signals that may require action.

Environmental scanning looks at a broad set of external trends and forces, not just one item. Crisis management is how you respond once a crisis is underway, while crisis planning is the general preparation for crises, not the ongoing monitoring of a single news item. So focusing on a news item aligns best with issues tracking.