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Answer every journalist enquiry on time

Catch media enquiries in one inbox label, log each with its deadline in a sheet and get a draft reply ready for approval.

PR and comms specialistIntermediate30 minAI assistantGmailGoogle Sheets

When to use it

Whenever a media enquiry arrives

Label press emails automatically
Set a Gmail filter so emails to your press address, or containing words like 'deadline', 'comment' or 'journalist', get a 'Media enquiry' label. In Outlook, a rule can move them to a folder.
Start an enquiry log
Create a Google Sheet with columns: date received, outlet, journalist, topic, deadline, spokesperson, status, link to reply.
Pull out the details and draft a reply
For each new enquiry, paste the email into your AI assistant with this prompt.
Prompt to copyHere is a media enquiry: [paste email]. Our agreed position on this topic is: [paste lines to take or 'none yet']. 1. Extract as a single row: outlet, journalist name, topic, specific questions asked, deadline (date and time), format wanted (statement, interview, data). 2. Suggest the best person to respond from this list: [names and areas]. 3. Draft a short reply that acknowledges the request, confirms when they'll hear back, and if lines to take exist, a draft statement under 100 words. Flag anything we should not comment on.
Log it and get approval
Paste the row into your sheet, sort by deadline, and send the draft statement to the right person to approve.
Check the sheet twice a day
Glance at the sheet each morning and afternoon. Anything with a deadline today goes to the top.

Only paste emails into an AI tool if your organisation's policy allows it, and remove journalists' personal phone numbers.
Logging enquiries over time shows you which topics keep coming up.