Why it still works
Newsrooms are smaller and deadlines are shorter than they have ever been. A well-written expert quote delivered fast solves a real problem for a journalist filing in an hour.
It also compounds. Journalists reuse sources who were useful once.
Set it up properly
Alerts on your topics, a named person authorised to comment without three rounds of sign-off, and a template that gets you from news breaking to email sent in under thirty minutes.
The internal approval process is what kills most reactive programmes. The writing is rarely the bottleneck.
Where it goes wrong
Commenting on tragedy, commenting outside your competence, and commenting on something purely because it is trending. All three get remembered for the wrong reasons. If you cannot add expertise, stay out of it.