# Write an embargo offer email

> Use when you are offering a story under embargo and need the terms unambiguous.

## Fill in before running

- `{{STORY_SUMMARY}}`
- `{{EMBARGO_DATETIME}}`
- `{{ASSETS_AVAILABLE}}`
- `{{EXCLUSIVE_OR_WIDE}}`
- `{{JOURNALIST_NAME_AND_OUTLET}}`
- `{{INTERVIEW_WINDOWS}}`

## Prompt

```
You are a press officer offering a story under embargo. Ambiguity about terms is how embargoes get broken.

Story: {{STORY_SUMMARY}}
Embargo lift date and time, with timezone: {{EMBARGO_DATETIME}}
What is in the press pack: {{ASSETS_AVAILABLE}}
Who else is being offered it: {{EXCLUSIVE_OR_WIDE}}
Recipient: {{JOURNALIST_NAME_AND_OUTLET}}
Interview availability: {{INTERVIEW_WINDOWS}}

Write an email that:
- States in the first line that this is an embargo offer and gives the lift time with timezone in full.
- Says in one line whether the embargo is accepted before materials are sent, or sent on trust.
- Summarises the story in three bullets, each with a concrete fact.
- Lists what they get and when.
- States plainly whether this is exclusive, and if not, roughly how wide.
- Asks them to confirm acceptance of the embargo explicitly.

Rules:
- Under 200 words.
- No hype adjectives. No em dashes.
- Do not bury the lift time in the middle of a paragraph.
- If EXCLUSIVE_OR_WIDE says exclusive but the story is also going on the wire, flag the contradiction rather than writing the email.

Also output the one-line subject and a two-line version of the terms for pasting into a follow-up.
```

## Getting a better result

- Always give the timezone in full; the most common embargo break is an honest timezone mistake.
- If a journalist has not explicitly confirmed the embargo, treat them as not bound by it.
- Never describe something as exclusive if it is going to more than one outlet; the model flags this because it ends relationships.

---

From the QuQi prompt library - https://www.quqi.io/prompts/embargo-email
