Media enquiry management software: what to look for

Most communications teams don't set out to buy media enquiry management software. They set out to fix a problem: a shared inbox that is frustrating to manage, forwarding chains where context gets lost, and no clear record of who approved what.

If that sounds familiar, this guide covers the eight things worth looking for in an enquiry platform, a few traps to avoid, and the questions to put to any vendor, including us.

What this software is, and what it isn't

Media enquiry management software gives in-house communications teams one system for capturing, assessing, drafting and responding to journalist enquiries, with a proper record behind every response.

The category often gets confused with two adjacent tools that don't address this problem, so it helps to separate them early.

Media monitoring tools tell you what is being published about you. They don't manage the enquiries arriving in your inbox, the approvals behind your responses, or the record of what was said.

Customer ticketing and CRM systems are built for high volumes of low-stakes requests. Media enquiries are the opposite: low volume, high stakes, and often involving legal and the executive.

The eight capabilities that matter

1. Capture that doesn't change how journalists reach you

The fastest way to make things difficult is to ask journalists to use a new contact portal, or to ask your team to abandon the media inbox. Look for a platform that takes enquiries from your existing channels, usually by forwarding your press address, and threads related messages into a single record.

A simple test: could you implement this new software before your next enquiry arrives? If setup needs an IT ticket or an integration project, the tool will sit half-adopted for months.

2. Consistent assessment

Every comms team triages enquiries. The question is whether they do it consistently. When assessment lives in the heads of one or two senior people, it disappears when they're on leave, and leadership never sees how decisions are made.

A good platform assesses every enquiry when it lands: the risk it carries, the opportunity it represents, the urgency of the deadline, and a recommended way to respond. The better ones use real context, such as the journalist's recent work and your past responses, rather than keyword matching. Ask the vendor to assess one of your real enquiries, not their demo scenario.

3. Drafting in your organisation's voice

Most tools now offer AI drafting. The difference is whether the draft reflects your tone and prior positions, and whether the platform is clear about what is verified and what is suggested. A draft that confidently includes an invented figure is worse than no draft. Ask how the tool flags content that needs checking before it goes out.

4. Collaboration and approvals in one place

On a sensitive enquiry, the work usually involves a media manager, a legal reviewer and an executive-level approver, spread across several email threads, tools and a group chat. Look for commenting, reviewer tagging and sign-off inside the enquiry record itself. If approval still happens in a side email, you haven't fixed the problem. You've added a tool to it.

5. A complete audit trail

When a response is questioned, whether by an exec, legal or a review after the fact, you need to show what was asked, what was said, who drafted it, who approved it and when. That record should build itself. Check that every assignment, revision and send is logged with a name and timestamp, and that you can export it.

6. Organisational memory

The third time your team writes a response on the same topic from scratch is usually the moment a spreadsheet stops being enough. The platform should surface similar past enquiries and prior approved positions, so consistency holds even as people come and go.

7. Security your CISO will accept

Media enquiries can contain pre-announcement material, legal matters and crisis detail. The minimum bar: encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access, single sign-on, and a clear answer on where data is hosted. For Australian regulated and government-adjacent organisations, local hosting and Privacy Act alignment can be the difference between a short procurement and a long one. Ask early.

8. Reporting your leadership will use

Response times, enquiry volumes by topic and outlet, risk trends over time. If monthly reporting still means compiling a spreadsheet by hand, the tool has only done half the job.

Three traps to avoid

Seat-based pricing in a small team. Most in-house media teams are three to eight people, but the value of an enquiry platform comes from the volume and stakes of the enquiries, not headcount. Per-seat pricing also discourages you from adding legal and executive reviewers, who are exactly the people the workflow should include.

Vague AI claims. "AI-powered" can mean a real assessment engine or a summarise button. Ask what the AI does when an enquiry arrives, without being prompted. Ask what context it uses, and how it handles things it can't verify. Vendors with real capability will have clear answers.

Questions to put to any vendor

1. How long from signup to our first live enquiry, and what does our IT team need to do?
2. Can you assess a real enquiry we provide, rather than your demo?
3. Where is our data hosted, and who can access it?
4. How does the AI flag unverified content in drafts?
5. What does the audit trail capture, and can we export it?
6. How does pricing change as we add reviewers from legal and the executive?

Where Pressia fits

Pressia was built by people who managed media enquiries and ran into every gap described above. Enquiries are captured by forwarding your existing media inbox, assessed for risk and opportunity when they land, drafted in your tone, approved with a full audit trail, and reported on automatically. Built and hosted in Australia.

If you're weighing up options, run the questions above on us. Join the waitlist.