Media Enquiry Form Template

Journalists don't browse websites; they work stories against clocks. A media enquiry that sits unread for six hours isn't answered late — it's answered never, because the piece ran with "did not respond to requests for comment" where your perspective should have been. This form is built backwards from that clock: deadline first, needs explicit, and a routing promise the newsroom can feel.

Why these fields. The deadline question leads because it determines everything downstream — a same-day flag should interrupt someone's afternoon, while a flexible feature request can wait for Monday's comms review; three honest tiers sort those without negotiation. The needs checklist is the field journalists silently thank you for: "a quote, an interview, or just the press kit?" is the clarifying email you'd otherwise send, and its absence from most press pages is why journalists dread contacting companies. Asking the story angle — including who else they're talking to — isn't vetting, it's preparation: the difference between a usable quote and a generic one is knowing the frame it will land in. The outlet field's placeholder explicitly welcomes freelance and student press, which costs nothing and occasionally befriends the reporter who covers you for a decade.

What we left out. Phone numbers as a requirement (journalists guard their numbers; email-first respects that, and interview logistics move to scheduling once you've said yes), PR-agency screening questions, and embargo checkboxes — embargo terms belong in the correspondence where they're enforceable, not in form metadata.

Who uses this. Startups whose press@ inbox is a black hole, established companies routing regional and trade press, universities and hospitals fielding expert-comment requests, and nonprofits whose spokespeople need context before commenting on sensitive stories.

Make it yours. Put this behind a /press link with your press kit beside it — half of enquiries are solved by assets alone, and the checklist tells you which half. Turn on notifications and route by webhook to wherever your comms people actually live (usually a chat channel, not an inbox). The ending promises a reply from someone authorized to speak; align internally so that's true, because journalists remember which companies answer. The responses log doubles as your media-contacts history — export it before your next comms review.

Deadline is the covenant. Everything in this form exists to get the right answer to a writing journalist before their editor stops caring. Build your handling process to the same clock.