If Nobody Can Find Your Story, Does It Matter?

Posted on August 28, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

Walk into a bookstore with millions of titles and every book has the same fundamental problem: story discovery.

Somewhere on those shelves could be the most insightful business book ever written. It could contain an idea that changes an industry. But if nobody knows where to look for it, its potential influence remains trapped between two covers.

It’s the same challenge with public relations.

Companies frequently come to MACIAS PR convinced they need help “telling their story.” After looking deeper into the business, I often discover a different problem. The company already has stories. What it lacks is a strategy for making the right story discoverable by the right audience at the right moment.

The approach is no different than my time as an Executive Producer with NBC and CBS in New York. That distinction shapes how I’ve approached PR since founding MACIAS PR in 2009.

PR Is Increasingly a Discovery Business

The old model of publicity centered heavily on distribution. Write the announcement, assemble a media list and push the information outward.

Distribution is no longer the scarce resource. Anyone can publish a blog, issue a press release, post on LinkedIn or send thousands of emails. AI has made producing more content even easier. Scarcity has moved somewhere else: discovery.

The strategic question is no longer merely, “How do we distribute this message?” It’s “What will make this particular piece of information discoverable among everything competing with it?”

That requires understanding how journalists categorize information.

During my years as an Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS, I reviewed and approved story ideas from reporters, producers and publicists. The ideas that moved forward weren’t necessarily attached to the biggest organizations. They were the ones that gave us a clear editorial reason to care.

A PR campaign should create that reason before it worries about reach.

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What Andy Warhol Can Teach Entrepreneurs About PR, Creativity and Business Growth

Posted on August 26, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

Andy Warhol built his reputation as an artist, but his approach to creativity, collaboration and publicity offers lessons that still apply to entrepreneurs and business leaders today.

I originally explored these ideas in an article I wrote for Forbes, which you can read here. But here is a different take on what we can learn from Warhol in this new era of AI.

Warhol was a great publicist as much as he was a great artist. He knew how to attract attention to his work, and every publicist today can learn from him. He understood how to frame ideas in ways that made people want to talk about them. More importantly, he repeatedly converted that attention into greater value for his work and his brand.

The media landscape has changed dramatically since Warhol’s era but the principles behind his success haven’t disappeared. Here are four lessons entrepreneurs can take from his approach.

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What Makes a PR Agency One of the Best?

Posted on August 25, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

Companies frequently search for the best PR agency, top PR firm for startups, or a public relations firm capable of securing national media coverage. Those searches tend to focus on what an agency can deliver tomorrow.

A better way to evaluate a PR firm is to look at what it has consistently built over time.

Yes, awards matter and media placements reinforce your ability to secure coverage. Newsroom experience plays a critical role in securing media coverage since editorial drives story flow. But none of these exists independently. The strongest indicator of a PR firm’s capabilities is whether it can repeatedly turn strategy and storytelling into meaningful media coverage across different clients, industries and news cycles.

That’s the foundation we’ve been building at MACIAS PR since 2009.

What Should You Look for When Choosing a PR Agency?

Business owners often ask: How do I choose the best PR agency for my company? Start with the work.

Look beyond promises about media relationships and ask which stories the agency has actually secured. Examine whether the coverage appeared in publications that influence the client’s customers, investors or industry. Review case studies to see whether the firm can explain the strategy behind those results.

Recognition from independent organizations can provide another signal.

City & State New York named Mark Macias to its list of the Top PR Power Players in New York, recognizing the communications professionals influencing the media and political landscape in New York. MACIAS PR has also received multiple industry awards over the years, including recognition from Finance Monthly and ACQ Global Awards.

Those honors are appreciated, but the more important question is what produced them.

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Best PR Agencies Dive Deeper to Find Stories for Earned Media Coverage

Posted on August 23, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

A company can have dozens of untold stories hiding inside its business and still struggle to earn meaningful media coverage. The best PR agencies dive deeper to uncover these stories for the media.

This approach is at the root of MACIAS PR. We launch every campaign with a deep dive on the business. We ask targeted questions around data, leadership, customers, competitors and market environment. And we find the news cycle and reporter to attach to these angles. Our philosophy is simple: the strongest PR stories are frequently below the surface.

What Does It Mean to Dig Deeper in PR?

Going deeper in public relations means examining a company through the eyes of an editor rather than through the eyes of its marketing department. A CEO might be focused on a product feature that took a year to develop. An editor could find something completely different more compelling: customer behavior revealed by the product, a regulatory shift affecting the market, an unexpected data point, or an industry problem the company is uniquely positioned to explain.

Finding that distinction requires investigation.

At MACIAS PR, the initial work involves understanding where the company possesses information, expertise or access that journalists don’t already have. That can involve conversations with executives, reviewing internal data, studying competitors, examining industry developments and identifying changes in the broader news cycle.

The objective isn’t to manufacture a story. It’s to uncover the one that already exists.

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There Is No Template for Great PR: Why Every Strategy is Different

Posted on August 21, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

There is a recurring mistake in public relations that rarely gets discussed: companies often buy a PR process when they should be buying a strategy.

The PR process sounds reasonable. Develop messaging, write a press release, build a media list, pitch reporters, follow up and repeat. Those steps can organize a campaign, but they don’t explain why a journalist would cover one company instead of another.

After working inside newsrooms at NBC and CBS and later founding MACIAS PR, I’ve seen the same principle from both sides of the editorial equation. The path to coverage changes with the company, the story, the audience and the moment in the news cycle.

There is no template for great PR because there is no template for a great story.

Why One PR Strategy Doesn’t Work for Every Company

A healthcare startup, hedge fund, drone manufacturer and consumer brand might all want national media coverage. That doesn’t mean they should pursue it the same way.

Healthcare reporters frequently need evidence, patient relevance, clinical expertise or data that demonstrates why a development matters. Financial journalists are looking for market implications, investment insight, economic trends and credible analysis. A technology company may have an opportunity when its product illustrates a much larger change taking place across an industry.

Consumer PR introduces another set of considerations. Culture, behavior, visual elements and trends can become more important than technical expertise. The mistake is assuming the media outlet is the strategy.

“We want to be in the Wall Street Journal” is a goal. It doesn’t tell you what story the Wall Street Journal has a reason to pursue.

A stronger PR strategy works backward from the editorial opportunity: What is happening in the world right now, where does this company intersect with it, and what can it contribute that a journalist cannot easily get somewhere else?

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Formula for Earned Media Coverage Revealed

Posted on August 20, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

There is a formula behind successful media coverage, and it isn’t as simple as writing a strong pitch and sending it to the right reporter.

A story can have a compelling headline and still fail because the timing is wrong. An executive can possess deep expertise but lack the evidence needed to establish authority. Proprietary data can be genuinely revealing, yet never generate coverage because no one identified the larger trend hiding inside the numbers.

Earned media is the intersection of multiple variables: story, timing, news value, credibility, audience, reporter, evidence and execution.

Understanding how those variables interact is where MACIAS PR has an advantage. Our approach wasn’t developed from a PR textbook. It was shaped inside newsrooms, refined through journalism, and tested over 17 years of securing media coverage.

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Why Scrappy PR Agencies Often Find Better Media Opportunities

Posted on August 19, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

PR and media campaigns rarely unfold exactly as planned.

A reporter who expressed interest can get pulled into breaking news. A product launch that appears important internally may not generate enough news value for a national publication. An editor may like the subject but reject the original angle. Sometimes a company simply doesn’t have an obvious announcement to pitch.

These situations are where PR strategy, creativity and experience become important.

At MACIAS PR, we describe this approach as being scrappy. That doesn’t mean cutting corners or sending more pitches. In public relations, being scrappy means understanding the objective, recognizing when an approach isn’t working and finding another credible route to media coverage.

My experience as an Executive Producer with NBC taught me that journalists aren’t evaluating how much work went into a PR campaign. They are evaluating the story in front of them. Does it reveal something new? Is it timely? Does it affect their audience? Is there credible evidence supporting it?

Successful media relations requires answering those questions—even when the original PR plan doesn’t.

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Our Sources are Everywhere – How Media Experience and Colleagues Work Together

Posted on August 18, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

“Our sources are everywhere.” Yes, it’s playful, but there is a serious approach when it comes to newsrooms.

Successful PR requires access—to journalists, information, trends, industries and the conversations shaping the news. But access alone doesn’t get a company media coverage. You also need to know what to do with it.

I founded MACIAS PR in 2009 after spending years inside newsrooms, including as an Executive Producer with NBC and CBS in New York. That experience shaped a different approach to PR and media relations. We don’t begin campaigns by asking, “What does the client want to announce?” We start by asking the question I heard every day inside the newsroom:

That distinction influences everything we do.

MACIAS PR Approaches Publicity From the Newsroom Perspective

Most companies understandably approach PR from their own perspective. They want to promote a product, announce a funding round, introduce a new executive or tell reporters about a partnership.

Journalists don’t approach stories that way. A reporter wants to know why the development matters to readers or viewers. An editor wants to know why the story deserves space. A television producer needs to understand why audiences won’t change the channel. I sat on that side of the editorial table.

As an Executive Producer, I reviewed and approved story ideas while reporters and producers competed for limited airtime. That experience taught me how quickly journalists evaluate stories—and how quickly they reject ideas that sound like marketing.

Today, MACIAS PR applies that newsroom perspective before we ever contact a reporter.

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Where Do Great PR Stories Come From? Everywhere

Posted on August 17, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

Great stories rarely begin with a press release. They can come from a conversation with a customer, an unexpected piece of internal data, a cultural shift, a competitor’s mistake, a frustrated employee, a changing regulation or even something happening thousands of miles away.

The challenge isn’t finding information. Every company is surrounded by information. The skill is recognizing which pieces contain a story.

Before founding MACIAS PR, I spent years inside newsrooms, including as an Executive Producer with NBC. One of the most important lessons I learned during that time was that journalists see the world differently. A reporter can walk into an ordinary situation and notice the one detail everyone else overlooked.

That same curiosity should drive public relations.

The best PR professionals don’t sit around waiting for companies to announce something. They constantly look at business, culture, data and the news cycle and ask: Where is the story hiding?

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Who Really Controls Your Media Story? Inside the PR Ecosystem

Posted on August 15, 2026 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias
Founder of MACIAS PR | Former NBC Executive Producer

Every company wants to be the one getting all the attention.

The CEO wants the interview. Investors want to see the company in respected business publications. Marketing wants the exposure. Competitors notice when another brand suddenly seems to be everywhere.

But there is an entire ecosystem between wanting media coverage and actually getting it.

The image accompanying this article is playful, but the hierarchy behind it is real. The client may be at the center of the story, but reporters decide whether to pursue it. Editors and producers determine whether it makes the cut. Audiences ultimately decide whether it matters. And competitors are always watching to see who is winning the conversation.

Before founding MACIAS PR, I worked inside this ecosystem as an Executive Producer with NBC and later at CBS. I reviewed and approved story ideas, worked with reporters and producers, and saw firsthand why some pitches moved forward while hundreds of others disappeared.

Understanding those different players—and what each of them needs—is one of the most important lessons in public relations.

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