During President Bill Clinton's second term, 128 million taxpayer dollars were paid to public relations agencies in the U.S. to help leverage federal policy decisions.  President George W. Bush's administration spent nearly twice that with PR agencies during his first term, and at an even faster rate today.  Why, taxpayers may wonder, does the President of the United States, who can summon the world's most powerful and influential newspapers and television networks to his doorstep with a snap of his fingers, need so much public relations help?

It's because publicity is only one slice of the public relations pie.  The process of telling business stories begins by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the clients' offerings; then prioritizing target audiences; identifying a few markets where things might get started; honing a handful of messages; and then creating some fresh selling tools to deliver the message succinctly. 

Once that ground work has been done, we might want to invite the media in for a look around, and encourage their visit. 

And for the record, please, so as to clearly distinguish public relations from advertising and any other form of marketing, a dictionary definition:

Public relations serves the function of inducing the public to have a better understanding for, and goodwill toward, the persons, products and services being featured. 

That said, it is understood that publicity is the backbone of most public relations programs.  Favorable publicity is powerful.  That implicit "third party endorsement" a company gets from news editors when they run your story is the reason 20th century business tycoon and philanthropist Armand Hammer believed publicity was "ten times more powerful than advertising."

Maybe it is.  Maybe not.  But what's worth remembering is that publicity, unlike advertising, cannot be guaranteed.  

One final word to the wise, direct from the media gatekeepers (editors and news directors):  "If it's news, we'll consider it. If not, speak to our advertising department."