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Your Competitors Are Getting Press During Crises. Here's How You Can Too.
Ash + Lizzy
April 05, 2025
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Chaotic news cycles can be a golden PR opportunity—if you know what to say.
When major stories hit (tarriffs, LA wildfires, Deepseek), journalists scramble for expert voices. Just today we’ve seen tariff stories quoting economists, business owners, supply chain experts, and consumers explaining what’s happening from all different angles.
A great PR team can find a way to slot you into the conversation. The catch? You need to shed the company spokesperson hat and offer neutral, unbiased commentary.
We get it—as a busy founder, spending time on press that doesn't directly promote your mission can feel like a distraction. But when you decline these opportunities, your competitors step in and you miss a chance to establish yourself as a true industry expert.
So the next time you need to navigate tricky topics, political or otherwise, here’s what to keep in mind to land great press without taking sides.
Neutral & informative
For a good example of this, look at Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's recent book tour for "Abundance." Despite writing what's essentially a blueprint for the Democratic party's future (they're both self-proclaimed liberals), their approach has been masterfully balanced.
They never bash Trump, attack policies, or reveal their specific politics. When asked about personal views, they pivot to examining broader trends from 30,000 feet, remaining noticeably neutral even when discussing policies they clearly oppose.
This approach has paid off, landing them on shows from hyper-left Pod Save America and Jon Stewart to right-wing The Free Press and Ben Shapiro—doubling their audience and establishing them as curious, intellectual thought leaders rather than partisan shills.
As the media landscape increasingly values individuals’ opinions over corporate statements, this approach builds your personal authority and sets you up as a source that gets called on again and again.
5 tips for balanced commentary
Want to land this kind of press? Here are five strategies any founder or executive can use to comment on complex issues with multiple stakeholders:
Explain rather than advocate: Focus on describing what is happening instead of what should happen.
✅ "Here's how different segments of the market are responding..."
❌ "The right approach would be..."Present multiple perspectives: Acknowledge how different stakeholders are experiencing the situation, even if they’re not your direct audience.
✅ "While retailers face immediate pricing challenges, manufacturers are concerned with supply chain restructuring."
❌ "Retailers are being hit hardest by these changes."Show off your depth of knowledge: Share specific data points and anecdotes.
✅ "We're seeing a 15-20% shift in sourcing patterns, similar to the adjustment period following the 2018 tariffs."❌ "This is definitely going to cause disrupt within the industry."
Zoom out: Connect current events to historical patterns and broader economic or social trends.
✅ "This shift mirrors what we saw during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, where we saw X happen”❌ "Our customers are going to immediately feel the hit of this policy”
Mention your company, but only to establish trust: It's fine to reference your company as context for your expertise, but don’t overly promote.
✅ "Having helped companies navigate similar situations at [Company], we know X”
❌ "At [Company], we've developed the leading solution for this exact problem."
When you refuse to talk about issues facing your industry, you leave high-quality press hits on the table. In order to maximize your media strategy, lean on your PR team and learn how to speak about topics objectively and in an unbiased way. Talk about the pros, cons, and expected outcomes for everyone who will be impacted - no opinion required.
📱 New in non-traditional media
Tracking the newsletters, podcasts, and creators reshaping media influence.
📰 In the news
Everyone’s joining Substack
Rare Beauty joined Substack this week, alongside Jones Road, The Real Real, and Tory Burch who are looking to tap Substack’s audience and connect with users through behind the scenes content.Former WSJ reporter still advocates for email
Agam Shah, a freelance reporter, responded to some PR hot takes on LinkedIn. TLDR: A great simple email pitch still works best for landing coverage.Quartz sells for fourth time in seven years
Software firm, Redbrick, acquired Quartz from G/O Media, planning to integrate it with newsletter ad platform Paved to monetize Quartz's million-plus subscriber base.
🎤 Spotlight on Defense Tech creators
Defense tech startups are on the rise, both in funding and attracting new grads. If you’ve got a defense tech story here are a few non-traditional media outlets to pitch:
Hosted by Stanford students & alumni
Semi-regular podcasts featuring interviews with founders, VCs, operators, and military professionals
Daily newsletter covering defense innovation news
Features contract awards, policy updates, and emerging technologies
🎧️ Defense and Aerospace Report
Industry-focused podcast with senior leadership interviews
Covers major defense programs, budget developments, and strategic trends
Explores the intersection of commercial tech and defense innovation
Weekly episodes featuring guests from military and startups building AI, cyber, and autonomous systems
⭐️ Favorite story of the week:
Can Granola’s AI meeting notes eat bigger apps for breakfast? - Upstarts
Alex Konrad's new media startup published its first article this week. As TechCrunch's influence wanes, Upstarts' startup deep dives position it as a potential successor to become the new top target publication for coverage and funding announcements.
⚡️ Steal this pitch
Here’s a real pitch we used to land expert commentary coverage for our client.
As you plan your coverage of Qualcomm's global antitrust campaign against Arm Holdings, [EXECUTIVE], is available to provide expert insights.
The legal battle speaks to a broader struggle for dominance in the semiconductor market, with significant implications for licensing models, innovation, and competition. [EXECUTIVE] is well-versed in the details and can discuss critical industry shifts, including the tension between proprietary licensing models and open-source alternatives, alongside how these developments impact existing ecosystems, competition dynamics, and the future of semiconductor innovation.
Please let me know if you're interested in booking [EXECUTIVE]; I'm happy to coordinate.
💫 Client Wins
Our clients are making headlines. Check out coverage our clients got in US News Money, Yahoo Finance, and IOT World Today.
Want coverage like this? Say hello.
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