playbook-pr-publicity

PR and Publicity Playbook

Turns genuine news into earned coverage in newspapers, radio, TV and AI answers, with a release, kit and pitch a journalist would run, and tracks it honestly.

Use When

• News such as a launch, award or milestone deserves newspaper, radio or TV coverage: story angle, news release and publicity kit.
• Pitch journalists at Daily Monitor, New Vision or NBS TV by email or WhatsApp, keep a media contact log and share the coverage on our social channels.
• Newsjack breaking news, such as a Bank of Uganda rate decision, with fast expert comment set up from Google Alerts that journalists and AI search can cite.
• Plan a year-round publicity calendar of story hooks.
• Track earned media and report it without treating advertising value equivalents as results.

Do Not Use When

• playbook-crisis-communications for responding to hostile media or a story already damaging the brand.
• strategy-csr-purpose-communications for purpose, CSR and community-impact messaging.
• ai-generative-search-optimisation for wider visibility in AI answers beyond news commentary.
• Stop before sending a release, pitching a journalist or quoting a spokesperson without the client's sign-off on facts and quotes.

Required Inputs

Artefact	Source/provider	Required?	If absent
Client business name and industry / sector	Client brief	Yes	Ask; the angle and target outlets depend on the sector.
Country or city	Client	Yes	Default to Uganda / East Africa.
Primary goal: launch coverage, sustained brand awareness or thought leadership	Client owner	Yes	Stop; the release, kit and calendar differ by goal.
The news itself, with verifiable facts, data and a named spokesperson	Client, signed off	Yes for any release or pitch	Draft the angle only and mark claims unverified; do not pitch.
Existing media relationships and past coverage	Client or media contacts log	Conditional	Start the media list and contact log from zero; mark past coverage not assessed.

Workflow

1. Ask the intake questions in publicity kit and release method and confirm who signs off facts and quotes.
2. Apply the news filter; if the story is routine promotion with no public relevance or proof, stop and rework the angle rather than pitch it.
3. Write the news release in the standard format: inverted pyramid, active voice, body under 400 words, one quote from a named person.
4. Assemble the eight-part publicity kit as one PDF or one tidy shared folder.
5. Build the media list and write the one-page query letter with a time-sensitive hook; pitch and amplify with PR media integration.
6. For breaking news in the client's expertise, triage, produce and distribute with newsjacking and AI citation.
7. Build the 12-month publicity calendar and the earned-media tracking log; review monthly.
8. Run the quality checks and the anti-slop gate; correct any failed item and rerun before anything is sent. Nothing is sent without client sign-off.

Outputs

Artefact	Consumer	Acceptance condition
News release	Client approver, then journalists	Passes the "would a journalist run this?" test; standard format; every claim verifiable.
Publicity kit	Journalists	All eight components at the stated lengths, delivered as one PDF or folder.
Query letter and media target list	Client PR lead	One printed page with a genuine hook; named outlets or outlet types for the sector and geography.
12-month publicity calendar	Client owner	Names real, specific news moments with lead times; two or three per quarter at least.
Earned media tracking log and monthly review	Client owner	Earned impressions and share of voice calculated with sources; outcomes per the evaluation plan; no AVE.

Evidence Produced

Evidence	Format	Acceptance condition
Media contacts and coverage log	Table: date, outlet, story type, journalist, status, link/clip, estimated reach	Every reach figure states its source.
Claim verification and sign-off record	Table: claim, source, approver, date	Each fact and quote in a release is signed off before sending.

Capability and Permission Boundaries

Read and search only; analysis is read-only. Publishing, spend, live account changes, outreach and personal-data processing need explicit, action-specific client authority. Sending releases, pitching journalists and quoting a spokesperson each need the client's sign-off on facts and quotes.

Degraded Mode

Without verified facts and a signed-off spokesperson, return the narrowest qualified result and mark the affected checks not assessed. The news-value assessment, draft angles, kit checklist and publicity calendar can still be delivered.

Decision Rules

Condition	Action	Failure or risk avoided
A story is promotional but lacks public relevance or proof	Rework the angle or do not pitch.	Wasting journalist trust.
A breaking story touches the client's expertise	Triage, produce and distribute with the newsjacking reference; pause for editorial and risk approval if the event involves harm, uncertainty or political sensitivity.	Missing the news window, or exploiting a crisis.
The client wants coverage in named Ugandan or East African outlets	Score the hook, pitch and amplify with the PR media integration reference; verify socially useful claims before pitching.	Unsupported publicity and wasted coverage.
A story is major	Offer one outlet a 48–72-hour exclusive.	Losing the best placement to a scattered send.
A journalist is on deadline	Answer immediately; otherwise follow up once by phone about 48 hours after sending.	Lost coverage, or pestering.
The target is print	Allow three to four weeks' lead time.	Missing the edition.
Reporting results or setting PR objectives	Build the evaluation plan and report outputs, outtakes, outcomes and impact per PR evaluation (Barcelona Principles 4.0, AMEC Integrated Evaluation Framework); never report an advertising value equivalent.	Inflated, misleading results.

Quality Standards

• Every release passes the "would a journalist run this?" test.
• Releases follow the standard format: inverted pyramid, no advertising language.
• The publicity kit contains all eight components at the stated lengths.
• The query letter fits on one page and has a genuine time-sensitive hook.
• The 12-month calendar names real, specific news moments, not generic "brand awareness".
• Media targets are named outlets or outlet types relevant to the client's sector and geography.
• All content uses the professional register defined in east-african-english.

Anti-Patterns

• "We're excited to announce" with no reason for the reader to care. Fix: lead with the most important fact and why it matters.
• Opening the lead with the company name. Fix: open with who, what, when, where and why.
• Writing "a spokesperson said". Fix: quote a named person, with a quote that adds information.
• Pitching the editor-in-chief. Fix: read the outlet and pitch the reporter who covers the beat, starting with trade press.
• Sending a string of separate attachments or an editable document. Fix: plain text in the email body or a PDF, and one kit file or folder.
• Building relationships only when coverage is needed. Fix: read and share journalists' work and attend media events beforehand.
• Lying or spinning. Fix: never; credibility with media takes years to build and one day to lose.

References

• Publicity kit and release method: read when filtering news, writing the release, building the kit, writing the query letter, using the media-relations checklist, the calendar or the tracking formulas, or citing Hahn (2003), Edwards, Edwards and Douglas (1991) or Pinskey (1997).
• Newsjacking and AI citation: read when responding to breaking news with expert commentary, alerts, GEO checks and a trigger calendar.
• PR media integration: read when building a Ugandan media list, pitching by email or WhatsApp, amplifying coverage or keeping a media contacts log.
• PR evaluation: read when setting PR objectives, building the evaluation plan, writing the monthly earned-media review or answering a request for AVE.
• playbook-crisis-communications: read when coverage turns hostile.
• Legal/market release gate: read before sending a release that makes firsts, data or regulated claims.
• Anti-AI-slop production gate: read when drafting releases, pitches and opinion pieces.
• East African English standard: read for the professional register.