5 PR Lessons Heard Inside MACIAS PR

Posted on October 2, 2026 by Mark Macias

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

The best journalists are always listening and learning. So are the best publicists. The framed photo above was a gift from an intern, highlighting some of the PR lessons she learned inside MACIAS PR. Some of those quotes require context. But five of them capture how our agency thinks about public relations – an approach that separates our PR firm from others.

“You Can’t Put a Today Story in Tomorrow’s Paper.”

Timing in PR matters more than many executives understand. A great story idea can become worthless if the timing is off. Newsrooms operate on deadlines that most businesses don’t experience. When I worked in TV news, we didn’t have the luxury of saying, “That’s a great story. Let’s get around to it next week.” If the story was happening today, we needed the interviews, characters, video and information today.

Print and online reporters operate on their own deadlines, but the principle is the same. News has a shelf life.

This is one reason PR can become frustrating for companies with too many approval layers. By the time legal reviews the quote, the CEO approves the language, marketing changes three words and everyone schedules another call, the reporter may already have filed the story.

You can’t control the news cycle but you can control how prepared you are to move when it creates an opening.

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How to Follow Up With Reporters Without Hurting Your PR Strategy

Posted on September 20, 2026 by Mark Macias

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

When I was an Executive Producer with NBC in New York, I was the boss. I helped determine which stories we pursued, but that didn’t mean I walked around the newsroom telling experienced journalists exactly how to report their stories. That would have been a fast way to damage the creative process—and probably my relationship with the people producing the journalism.

Good journalists are independent thinkers. They want to investigate, ask their own questions and reach their own conclusions. You can give them direction. You can point out what they’re missing, and sometimes challenge them to look deeper. But there’s a difference between guiding a journalist and telling a journalist what to do.

That distinction is just as important in public relations, especially if you’re a CEO who typically tells others what to do. Persistence is necessary in PR. Aggression is different. And when you’re dealing with journalists, your approach can be just as important as your strategy.

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How Startups Can Get Media Attention: You Don’t Have to Be the Biggest Dog

Posted on September 18, 2026 by Mark Macias

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

The little dog in this photo is Einstein. He’s my dog, and despite his size, he has never had much trouble getting attention.

There’s a lesson here for startups trying to compete for media coverage against much larger companies: You don’t have to be the biggest dog to get attention. You just need to give people a reason to notice you.

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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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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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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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Guaranteed Media Coverage – A Closer Look at the Claim

Posted on May 20, 2026 by Mark Macias

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

“How many media stories can you guarantee?”

That is one of the most popular questions I hear from potential clients during our initial conversations. It’s a telling question because it helps me better understand how much they know about PR.

No matter what any publicist or PR agency tells you, no one can guarantee earned media coverage. You can’t buy a story with any major news organization. Yes, you can buy an advertisement or a commercial on TV but that is not the same as a news segment or article that relinquishes control to the editorial leaders.

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