Pr Check

PR Check

The pre-send gate for anything going to press — pitches, press releases, embargoed materials, founder quotes. Sits to PR what ai-check sits to copy: nothing reaches a journalist's inbox without passing it. A bad pitch doesn't just fail; it burns the outlet for the next launch.

When to invoke

• A press pitch, release, one-pager, or embargo package is drafted and about to send
• "Check this pitch," "is this ready to send to [journalist/outlet]"
• A launch's PR plan reaches its send dates (Week 7–8)
• Reviewing founder quotes or spokesperson materials before external use

The checks, in order

1. Named human, verified beat. The pitch targets a specific journalist. Live-check (search, cited) what they've actually covered in the last ~90 days — a pitch to someone who left the beat, or the outlet, is the most common self-burn. No blast templates, ever (craft/press-comms rule).
2. The angle passes the outlet's lens, not ours. State in one line why their reader cares. If the only answer is our launch date, there's no story yet — say so rather than softening the pitch into shipping.
3. Why-now holds. The newsworthiness test from the launch narrative: what changed in the world that makes this a story this week? "We shipped" is not a why-now.
4. Claims cleared. Every stat, customer count, price, and named customer in the materials appears in the launch's claims-clearance table as CLEARED. Journalists fact-check; an UNVERIFIED claim in a pitch is a credibility grenade.
5. Quote hygiene. Attributed quotes approved in writing by the person quoted. Testimonials carry logged permission.
6. Embargo/exclusive logic is coherent. One exclusive per story; embargo time zone stated; no outlet offered something already given to another. Check the send list against itself.
7. Mechanics. Subject line + first sentence carry the whole pitch (they're all that gets read). Under ~150 words to the ask. Assets linked, never attached. ai-check and every-style pass on the text itself.

Output

A pass/fix verdict per check, in order, with the failing text quoted and the fix proposed — never a silent rewrite. A pitch failing checks 2 or 3 gets a "don't send" verdict with the reason; that verdict is the skill working, not failing.

Dependencies

• foundation/marketing-os
• craft/press-comms (the pitch-writing skill this gates)
• launches/claims-clearance (clearance table in)
• brand-voice/{relevant brand} (dynamically)
• organization/ai-check · organization/every-style equivalents (mandatory text passes)

Quick checklist

• Journalist named; beat live-verified with a cited source
• Angle stated in the outlet's terms; why-now survives the "we shipped" test
• Every claim CLEARED; every quote permissioned in writing
• Exclusive/embargo logic checked across the full send list
• Subject + first line do the work; under ~150 words; links not attachments
• Verdict delivered per check — including "don't send" when earned