On this page11
- Why shouldn't every announcement go to journalists?
- What are the three tests for press-worthy news?
- Where does each channel fit?
- What does triage look like on a real quarter of news?
- How do you sequence owned and earned channels for one piece of news?
- When does the triage table break down?
- FAQ
- Should I publish on my blog before or after press coverage?
- Is it okay to pitch the same news to several reporters at once?
- What if a reporter declines news that scored 6?
- How often should an early-stage startup pitch journalists?
Company news should go to press only when someone outside your company and your community would care about it, it's new right now, and you can prove it. Everything else belongs on your own channels: the company blog, an X thread, your newsletter or a partner's channel. In my experience most announcements fail at least one of those tests, and that's fine, because owned channels exist for exactly that news.
Getting this wrong in either direction costs you. Pitch too much and reporters learn to ignore you. Pitch too little and real stories die on your blog.
Why shouldn't every announcement go to journalists?
Because reporters work for their readers, not for you.
the journos are not on the project's payroll but rather media's payroll! Shilika Jain on X, 20 Sep 2023
Every pitch spends a little of your credibility with that reporter. A good pitch earns it back with interest. A pitch for a minor integration, a new team member or a UI refresh spends it and earns nothing. After a few of those, your name in their inbox reads as "probably not news," and the important pitch gets skimmed with the rest.
PR is news-heavy work. I made it one of my four tests for whether a Web3 company is ready for PR at all.
the only web3 companies that should do PR: - who understand what PR actually is (earned v/s paid) - who understand how to create a long term narrative & build a brand - who understand that PR is news heavy - who understand that web3 PR is different than Web2 Shilika Jain on X, 19 Jan 2024
Sorting your news isn't about holding back. It's about putting each item where it will actually be read.
What are the three tests for press-worthy news?
I score every announcement on three tests, from 0 to 2 each. I call it the OTP score: outsider, timing, proof.
| Test | 0 points | 1 point | 2 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outsider: would someone outside your users care? | Only your team and users | Your ecosystem or niche | A reporter's general readership |
| Timing: is it new, and does it connect to now? | Already public, or no reason it's today | New, but not tied to anything wider | New, and tied to a trend, event or debate people are following |
| Proof: can you back it with specifics? | Claims only | Some numbers or named partners | Hard data, named and approved partners, a founder who can explain it |
Add the three scores together. The total tells you where the news should go.
- 0 to 2: owned channels only. Blog, changelog, community post.
- 3 to 4: owned channels plus targeted distribution. X thread, newsletter, partner channels, possibly a trade or ecosystem outlet.
- 5 to 6: worth a journalist pitch, with a release prepared as a fact sheet.
Two caveats. A zero on proof caps the item at owned channels, whatever else it scores, because you can't pitch claims you can't back. And timing can change: an item that scores a 1 today can score a 2 next month if the market turns toward it.
Where does each channel fit?
Each channel has a different reader and a different job. This is the routing table I use once the score is in.
| Channel | Who reads it | Best for | Not for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company blog | Users, prospects, search engines, AI assistants | Full detail, technical explanation, the permanent record | Getting attention you don't already have |
| X thread | Your followers and their networks | Fast, visual summaries, founder voice, community reaction | Anything that needs nuance or a correction later |
| Newsletter | People who opted in | Context across several updates, the "why" behind the month | One-off urgent news |
| Partner channel | The partner's audience | Integrations and joint launches | Your own news with no partner angle |
| Journalist pitch | One reporter at a time | News that passes the OTP score at 5 or 6 | Anything you'd be embarrassed to have rejected in writing |
| Press release | Reporters checking facts, your own archive | Backing up a pitch, a public record of a material event | Standing in for the pitch itself |
The release row is the one founders get backwards. A release supports the pitch. It isn't the pitch, and it isn't the campaign. My sibling post on the press release as a fact sheet covers what goes in it and when it ships. If you're unclear on how a release, a pitch and an exclusive differ, start with press release vs pitch vs exclusive.
What does triage look like on a real quarter of news?
Here's a typical quarter for an early-stage DeFi or infrastructure team, scored and routed. These are composite examples, not a specific client.
| News item | O | T | P | Total | Route |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New dashboard design | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Blog post, short X post |
| Integration with a mid-size wallet | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Joint X thread, partner's blog, newsletter |
| Two senior hires from a known exchange | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | Blog, LinkedIn, trade or ecosystem outlet |
| Audit report published | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | Blog, X thread, newsletter, security-focused outlets |
| Seed round led by a known fund | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | Embargoed pitch, release as fact sheet, then owned channels |
| Original data on user behaviour in your sector | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | Exclusive pitch to one reporter, then broad pitch |
| Mainnet launch with a sharp industry angle | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | Embargoed pitch, podcast tour, blog, thread |
| Mainnet launch with no angle | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Owned channels, ecosystem media, then rework the story |
That last row is the one to watch. The same event can score 3 or 6 depending on how you frame it. If a big moment scores low, don't downgrade the channel first. Go back and work on the story, which is what turning a product update into a story is about.
Funding news usually scores high on outsider interest even for small teams, because it's still one of the clearest signals in crypto.
How do you sequence owned and earned channels for one piece of news?
For a 5 or 6, order matters. If your blog or X goes first, there's no news left to offer a reporter.
- Embargoed pitch first. A short list of reporters gets the news under embargo with the release attached, a few days to a week before.
- Coverage goes live at the embargo time.
- Owned channels publish right after. Blog post with full detail, X thread linking to the coverage, newsletter the same day or next.
- Partners and community amplify. Partner channels, ecosystem accounts, KOLs if you're using them.
- Follow-up content in the following weeks. Founder commentary, a podcast, a deeper technical post.
For a 3 or 4, skip step 1 and start at step 3. For a 0 to 2, a blog post and a single social post is enough.
When I see a launch I can usually tell which outlets and reporters would cover it first. That's not magic. It's what comes from reading the same beats every day.
my biggest flex is that when i see a launch announcement i can exactly tell you which publications + reporters would cover that first. Shilika Jain on X, 29 Sep 2026
You can build a version of that yourself by reading what your target reporters wrote over the last three months before you score anything.
When does the triage table break down?
It's a starting point, not a rule. A few situations override the score:
- Regulated or listed companies may need to publish material news publicly at a set time, regardless of how it scores for press. Disclosure rules come first.
- Crisis news doesn't get triaged this way. If something has gone wrong, you go direct, fast, on every channel at once.
- Regional markets score differently. A raise that's a 3 in global crypto press can be a 6 in a founder's home market, the way an Indian team's round can run as a mainstream business story in India.
- Developer-first products may get more from a great technical blog post than from any press pitch, even for high-scoring news.
There's also a cost to being strict: fewer pitches means fewer chances, and some founders find that uncomfortable. I'd still rather send five pitches a year that land than twenty that train reporters to skip you.
If you want help building owned channels that carry the 0-to-4 news well, the content writing service is set up for exactly that.
FAQ
Should I publish on my blog before or after press coverage?
After, for anything you're pitching. Publishing first makes the news public and takes away the reason for a reporter to cover it. For news you aren't pitching, publish on your blog whenever it's ready.
Is it okay to pitch the same news to several reporters at once?
Yes, under a shared embargo, as long as you tell them it's not exclusive. If you offer an exclusive, give it to one reporter only and wait for their answer before going wider. Mixing the two is how reporters stop trusting you.
What if a reporter declines news that scored 6?
Ask, once, whether a different angle would interest them, then move on. A decline usually means timing or fit, not quality. Publish on owned channels on your planned date and keep the reporter on your list for the next one.
How often should an early-stage startup pitch journalists?
Only as often as you have news that passes the score. For most early-stage teams that's a handful of times a year, plus reactive commentary when your sector is in the news. Commentary keeps you in touch without spending credibility on minor updates.
If you've got a backlog of announcements and no idea which deserve a pitch, send me the list and I'll score it with you.
