By Mark Macias
It seems like there is new speculation everyday when it comes to media mergers. If you’re looking to get your brand in front of these media outlets, you really have to pay attention because it does impact the way publicists sell stories.
I recently wrote a story for Forbes on this topic, which you can read here. If you’re short on time, I’ll give you a quick summary.
This new alignment of media conglomerates has a huge impact on the overall news industry and the way publicists sell stories to reporters.
Back in 2003, I was Executive Producer with NBC at the time of the Telemundo acquisition. Many of my Hispanic colleagues said the new acquisition would create a stronger news force for our community.
We would have the power of NBC behind us — they said — giving us more journalists to pursue stories in our community. Sadly, I predicted it wouldnt work like that and today we can see the results. Emails for the Telemundo news department have been converted to nbcuni.com addresses. And the news desks in New York for NBC and Telemundo are combined into one desk.
News organizations need to turn a profit. And the larger organizations that have shareholders are even more beholden to the bottom line. Many business owners tell me why the media has a responsibility to do certain stories. And many times, I agree.
But capitalism ranks higher than journalism based on my media experience. If the news story doesn’t generate an audience, it’s unlikely to move forward.
This is one of the strategies behind our agency. We look for that commercial angle before we pitch any reporter.
If you want to learn more, you can read my Forbes article that gives you more background on this topic. I elaborate on what publicists need to do to stand out in this new world.
And if you’re short on time, you can catch many of our blogs and articles on our podcast, Always Fresh PR. You can listen on your favorite channel by clicking here. If you were subscribed, you could have listened to this story while commuting or doing errands on the go. It’s like me speaking directly in your ears by clicking here.
ABOUT MACIAS PR
Marketing peers named MACIAS PR the 2017-2020 Strategic PR Firm of the Year. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, Finance Monthly named MACIAS PR the Financial PR Firm of the Year. The founder – Mark Macias – is a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. City & State Magazine named him a PR Political Power Player in 2021.