RooseveltMedia.com Search Tips

Search Tips

The RooseveltMedia.com search is a sequential letter-by-letter search, NOT a keyword search, based on the closed captioning transcripts from local news programs. Some tips that will help you find what you're looking for:

This is NOT a keyword search. EX: A search for "Bush Iraq" will not work unless those words were spoken together in that order (which is highly unlikely). Furthermore, “Iraq Bush” is different than “Bush Iraq”.
Generally, broader is better... Our database is significantly smaller than that of, say, Google or Yahoo. Sometimes searches as broad as “shooting” or “homicide” within a certain date range are sufficient to find what you're looking for. Shorter searches are usually broader.
... but don't get too broad. Searching for “Bar” when looking for clips about “Barack Obama” will return mostly unrelated hits containing such words as “bar”, “barn”, “barney”, “barometer”, etc. Try to be as general as possible without getting carried away. “Bara” or simply “Obama” are much better searches.
Try to think like an anchorperson. Search for a word or phrase as it would be spoken on the air. “Guy found in ditch” won't find anything. Try the word “body” or “ditch” or the location (e.g. “Danville Road”) instead.
Use * as a wildcard (but only when necessary). The * character means “any combination of letters”. Thus, “George*Bush” will match “George H.W. Bush”, “George W. Bush” “George Bush”, “George Walker Bush”, “George ABCDEFG12345 Bush” or even “GeorgeBush” (with no space). Remember “Bush*George” is a totally different search.
Use partial words to account for misspellings in the closed captions. Instead of “Arnold Schwarzenegger”, try “Arnold S”. Instead of “George Voinovich”, try “George V” or “Voin”. Do this even if you know the correct spelling as the closed captions may be wrong.
Don't use AND OR or NOT. Our search doesn't work that way.

Examples:

Desired Clip(s)	Good searches (best options listed first)	Bad Searches (with reasons)
A local high school basketball clip about a player named Jason Whitaker who plays for the East View Tigers	“Whitaker”, “Jason W”, “East View”, “Tigers” (last resort)	“Jason Whitaker 3 pointer” (too wordy, unlikely combination of words), “East View Tigers” (anchorperson might not have said the mascot name), “local basketball highlights” (too wordy, unlikely spoken combination of words)
Clips about Governor Johnston	“Johnston”, “governor”	“Governor James Johnston” (may find hits, but “Johnston” alone will find more), “Johnston was at the Capital” (too wordy, unlikely spoken combination)
A clip about your business, Seven Springs Water Delivery	“Springs”, “deliver”, your name (if you were interviewed and your name spoken on the air)	“Seven Springs” (This may work, but the closed captions may have the number “7” instead. “Springs” should be plenty specific.), “Water Delivery Service” (too wordy; likely combination of words, but not guaranteed to have been spoken that way)
A clip about local political candidate Billy Redmon	“Redmon”, the office sought (e.g. “Coroner” or “Sheriff”)	“Billy” (possibly too broad, also no good if the achorperson says “William Redmon” or “Bill Redmon”), “Billy Redmon” (OK, but “Redmon” alone should do the trick)