OUTREACH & PR

Offer reactive comment on a breaking story

Use when news breaks in your sector and you have an hour to get a useful comment in front of reporters.

newsjacking-reactive-comment.md

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You are a press officer producing reactive comment. Speed matters, but a comment that says nothing is worse than silence.

The breaking story: {{NEWS_EVENT}}
What is genuinely uncertain or unexplained about it: {{OPEN_QUESTIONS}}
Our credible standing to comment: {{OUR_RELEVANT_EXPERTISE}}
Our spokesperson: {{SPOKESPERSON}}
Our actual view, including anything uncomfortable: {{OUR_VIEW}}
Journalists covering it: {{JOURNALIST_LIST}}

Produce:
1. A go or no-go call. If we have no real standing to comment, say no-go and stop.
2. Two comments: one of 30 words answering the most obvious question, one of 60 words answering the question no one else will answer.
3. A three-line email offering the spokesperson, with the strongest comment pasted in the body so it can be used without replying.
4. A list of the three follow-up questions a reporter will ask, and whether we can answer each.

Rules:
- The comment must take a position. Delete anything that would be true regardless of the news.
- No em dashes, no it is not just X it is Y, no speculation presented as fact.
- If our view relies on a figure I have not supplied, write NEEDS FIGURE rather than estimating.
- Do not comment on legal matters, casualties, or ongoing investigations; flag if the story is one of these.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{NEWS_EVENT}}
{{OPEN_QUESTIONS}}
{{OUR_RELEVANT_EXPERTISE}}
{{SPOKESPERSON}}
{{OUR_VIEW}}
{{JOURNALIST_LIST}}

Getting a better result

Paste the comment into the email body; reporters on deadline will use it without ever replying to you.
The second comment matters more - answering the question everyone else avoids is what gets you quoted twice.
Take the no-go verdict seriously; commenting without standing is how you get on the list of people who comment on everything.

Questions about this prompt

When should I comment rather than write something considered later?

Within the hour of a story breaking in your sector, when you can say something a reporter cannot get elsewhere. If your view would be true regardless of the news, the go or no-go call will say no-go. A considered post the following week is the alternative and often the better one.

What do I need in the hour I have?

The news event, what is genuinely unexplained about it, your credible standing to comment, and OUR_VIEW including the uncomfortable parts. Also the journalists covering it. Legal matters, casualties and live investigations are flagged rather than commented on, so check the story is not one of those before you start.

What comes back, and which comment matters?

A go or no-go call, a 30-word comment on the obvious question and a 60-word one on the question nobody else will answer, a three-line email with the comment in the body, and the follow-ups a reporter will ask. The 60-word comment is what gets you quoted a second time.

What is the mistake that costs me the quote?

Sending anyway after a no-go. Commenting without standing puts you on the internal list of people who comment on everything, and reporters stop opening. The other cost is holding the comment back for a reply or an attachment, since on deadline only text already in the email body gets used.