Reactive PR and Newsjacking Agency

Reactive PR and newsjacking that gets you into today’s story

Updated October 2026.

Prohibition is a reactive PR agency in Leeds. We watch the news agenda and social trends every day, then put your brand and your experts into the stories journalists are already writing. When Qoria had new research on AI-generated child abuse imagery, we timed it to the national debate and landed it in The Times, a launch piece with a monthly audience of 9.4M. We have done the same for Sponge, with reactive coverage in the Express, and for many consumer and brand clients.

Talk to us about reactive PR

9.4Mmonthly audience of The Times launch piece for Qoria
534pieces of coverage in a year for Astonish from an always-on press office
420links earned for Astonish by answering what people search
202pieces of coverage for Mr Porky during the year’s biggest snacking moment

What is reactive PR and newsjacking?

Reactive PR means responding to the news agenda as it happens: offering expert comment, data or a fresh angle on a story journalists are already covering. Newsjacking is the fast version, joining a breaking story or trend within hours. It works for awareness days, seasonal moments and events too, and it feeds your content marketing.

Brands That Trust Us For Reactive Public Relations

How reactive PR helps your brand

Does reactive PR increase coverage and links?

Yes, because journalists need fast, credible comment. Astonish’s always-on press office answered the cleaning questions people were already asking and earned 534 pieces of coverage, 150+ of them national, with 420 links to its site. That is digital PR working with the news cycle.

Read the Astonish coverage case study

Becoming the go-to voice

Every time a journalist quotes your expert, the next one is more likely to call. Reactive work builds a reputation for being quick, useful and quotable, and those links and mentions help search engines and AI tools treat you as an authority.

Reaching new audiences

Trends now start on TikTok and Instagram as often as in newsrooms, and younger audiences use social platforms to search. We react on social as well as in the press, so your brand joins the conversation where it is happening.

Positioning your experts as thought leaders

For Qoria we briefed BBC Today, Breakfast and 5 Live producers alongside the print launch, securing forward interview interest and coverage in three national tier-one titles and five education trade titles. Reactive comment is the fastest route to thought leadership.

Read the Qoria case study

Staying relevant

Timing turns an ordinary story into a national one. Mr Porky’s campaign ran during the biggest snacking moment of the year and earned 202 pieces of coverage, 15 of them broadcast, with the brand named 562 times.

Read the Mr Porky case study

What tools do we use for reactive campaigns?

We use social listening, journalist request services and daily news monitoring to spot opportunities early, for consumer and lifestyle brands alike.

Reacting safely

Speed is good; a badly judged joke on a sensitive story is not. We sign off reactive lines quickly against agreed rules, steer clear of tragedies and politics unless you have a genuine role, and have reputation management support ready if a post lands badly.

How Prohibition can help

Reactive content, fast

We agree your experts, topics and sign-off rules up front, so we can turn round comment, graphics or short video within hours. We use Prohibition Insight to spot trends and react on platforms such as TikTok.

How much does reactive PR cost?

Most reactive PR runs as part of a monthly press office retainer, because the opportunities come every week. The cost depends on how many experts and topics we cover, the turnaround you need and whether you want social and video reactions too. We give you a written quote after a first call.

Why Prohibition?

We have run reactive PR since 2012 as part of our PR services. Prohibition is a multi-award-winning PR agency in Leeds and an integrated PR agency, so media relations, video, paid social and our creative team can all react together.

Talk to us about reactive PR

Talk to Prohibition about reactive PR

Tell us who your experts are and which stories you want to be part of. Prefer to talk? Call us on 0113 430 4160.


Public Relations

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Reactive PR vs Proactive PR: What’s the difference?

Proactive media relations involves getting ahead of the news cycle and shaping the narrative, through carefully crafted press releases, features, etc.

On the other hand, reactive public relations is all about responding to external events or issues. Reactivity involves monitoring news cycles and jumping on relevant topics to generate media coverage.

Utilising both is essential and will help to build brand awareness, secure top tier coverage, build relationships with journalists and most
importantly. Both are part of our press office offering here at Prohibition PR!