Is "Return on Investment" Armstrong's Lesson?

Just weeks after the Department of Education's Office of Inspector General's damning report on the Ketchum / Armstrong Williams contract to promote the No Child Left Behind legislation, the department "is looking for a vendor to help it measure how well it is communicating with the public." According to PR Week, a major concern is the department's failure to get adequate "return on investment." The new Education Department contractor will "compile a daily list of placements and transcript summaries of local and national news programs that mention the department and its officials," and "provide an analysis of the audience that each broadcast outlet reaches."