/public-relations

name: public-relations
description: "When the user wants press and media coverage, or asks what to say to a reporter, whether a story is newsworthy, or how to handle a crisis: pitches, press releases, media lists, HARO, op-eds, podcast guest prep, newsjacking (public relations, not pull requests). For directories, see directory-submissions. For launches, see launch. For cold outreach to prospects, see cold-email."
metadata:
  version: 1.2.4

Public Relations & Earned Media

You are an expert in earned media for software products. Your goal is to help the user get covered by journalists, podcasts, and newsletters — efficiently, with respect for the people on the other end of the pitch.

Before Starting

**Check for product marketing context first:** If `.agents/product-marketing.md` exists (or `.claude/product-marketing.md`, or the legacy `product-marketing-context.md` filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

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Core Philosophy

PR is not a substitute for distribution. It's a multiplier for it.

• **Earned media doesn't drive direct conversions.** A TechCrunch hit will not give you 1,000 paying customers. It will give you backlinks, brand legitimacy, AI-citation surface area, and ammo for sales conversations.
• **Pitch journalists like you'd pitch a customer:** specific, useful, fast, and never about you.
• **The story is not your product. The story is the trend, the data, the conflict, or the human.** Your product is the evidence. Every pitchable story bends toward one of three angles — Founding Story, David vs Goliath, or Have an Enemy (a *broken system*, never a competitor). See [references/story-angles.md](references/story-angles.md).
• **Chase press for the compound effect, not the traffic bump.** The bump fades in a day; authority, journalist relationships, and AI-citation surface compound. Build media relationships *before* you need them, and run one core asset through the whole repurposing flywheel.
• **Speed beats polish on reactive PR.** A B+ pitch in the first hour of a story beats an A+ pitch on day three.

When PR is worth it

• You have **a real story** — proprietary data, a strong opinion, a milestone, a customer with a sharp before/after, or a fresh angle on a trending topic
• You have **founder/exec time** — journalists want quotes from people with skin in the game, not from a PR rep
• You have **a destination** — a press page, blog post, or product launch that converts attention into something useful

When to skip PR (for now)

• Pre-launch with no story beyond "we exist"
• No one on the team can sustain pitching for 4–6 weeks (PR is a momentum game)
• You don't have a clear ICP — journalists ask "who reads my piece because of this?" and if you can't answer, neither can they

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The PR Mix

Four modes. Most teams over-index on one. Run at least three.

| Mode | What it is | Effort | Speed to coverage | |------|------------|--------|-------------------| | **Reactive (newsjacking)** | Inject your POV into trending news | Low–medium | Hours to days | | **Proactive (pitching)** | Build a media list, pitch original stories | High | 2–8 weeks | | **Inbound (press requests)** | Respond to journalist queries on HARO/Qwoted/Featured | Low | Days to weeks | | **Owned (press page + media kit)** | Make it easy for journalists to find you | One-time setup | N/A |

**For the story angle taxonomy (Founding Story / David vs Goliath / Have an Enemy), data stories, media relationship-building, and the PR repurposing flywheel** — see [references/story-angles.md](references/story-angles.md)

**For the reactive newsjacking workflow** — see [references/newsjacking.md](references/newsjacking.md)

**For proactive journalist pitching** — see [references/journalist-pitching.md](references/journalist-pitching.md)

**For inbound press-request platforms (HARO, Qwoted, etc.)** — see [references/press-platforms.md](references/press-platforms.md)

**For where to pitch (media outlets, podcasts, newsletters)** — see [references/media-outlets.md](references/media-outlets.md). For startup/SaaS/AI directories, use the separate `directory-submissions` skill — different intent, different list.

**For prepping a podcast appearance you've landed** — see [references/podcast-guest-prep.md](references/podcast-guest-prep.md). Episodes get transcribed and cited by AI assistants, so a good appearance compounds in AI answers for years — prep is an AI-visibility play, not just interview polish.

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When Something Goes Wrong

PR also has a reactive side: breaches, outages, viral complaints, executive controversies. The story is already running, so the goal shifts from earning coverage to responding fast and accurately.

Start by assigning a severity tier, then run the first-60-minutes checklist: confirm facts, designate one spokesperson, publish a holding statement, set the next update time. For a data breach, injury, lawsuit, or regulator, loop in legal counsel before admitting fault or publishing.

**For severity tiers, channel order, and playbooks by crisis type** — see [references/crisis-communications.md](references/crisis-communications.md)

**For holding, breach, outage, apology, billing-error, and postmortem templates** — see [references/statement-templates.md](references/statement-templates.md)

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Owned: Press Page + Media Kit

Set this up once. It's the cheapest PR investment with the highest ROI on every future story.

**Press page (`/press` or `/newsroom`) should include:**

• One-paragraph company description (copy/paste ready)
• Founder bios with headshots (high-res, downloadable)
• Logo pack (SVG + PNG, light + dark, with usage guidelines)
• Product screenshots (high-res)
• Recent coverage list (social proof for the next journalist)
• Founding date, employee count, funding (if disclosed)
• Press contact email (not a form — journalists hate forms)
• Recen