Press Basics: Announcements, Pitches, and Rapid Response

A starter toolkit for building media relationships, writing pitches that land, and handling rapid response without a big team.

Principles

• Newsworthiness = timeliness + relevance + human stakes.
• Make it easy: short subject lines, tight ledes, quotes ready.

Announcements

• Embargoed note 24–48h before launch to top targets.
• Include 1-line bio, race context, two key issues, and event/photo info.

Pitches

Subject: 6–10 words, concrete.
Lede: Why this matters now; who’s affected.
Body: 3–5 sentences + link to materials; offer interview windows.

Press List

• Start with 10–20 local reporters, columnists, newsletters, and radio.
• Track opens/replies; personalize follow-ups within 24–48h.

Rapid Response

• Assign a duty officer (rotating) for breaking news.
• Draft 2–3 holding lines in advance for likely topics.
• Publish to owned channels (site, email, social) within 2 hours.

Assets

• Headshot, logo, 3–5 b-roll photos, 1-pager with top issues.
• “About the candidate” boilerplate (75–100 words).

Metrics

• Opens/replies; interviews booked; story placements.
• List growth and reporter coverage map.