Why do companies choose PR?

Many people who hire a PR firm often do so without knowing what PR really is. For instance, recently I was in London and two PR practitioners said that their clients often thought that PR should boost sales. They also had the problem with clients wanting advertorials placed in publications rather than features and news. There clearly is a lot of confusion as to what PR is and how it should be used. Many clients often go to PR because they can't afford advertising and see PR as a cheaper alternative (which it is) but do not understand that it is also very different to advertising.

Ethics in PR

Hello again. I have just finished reading this week's PR Week and I was reading the section on how to win friends. I was disappointed to read that Lord Bell of Chime Communications has a close circle of friends which include Boris Berezovsky. I have to admit I am concerned about the ethics of this. Berezovksy is undoubtedly a powerful man who is well connected but he is also a Russian oligarch, like Roman Abromavich, who has made his money in an unethical manner. Is it really ethical to do business and represent someone like this. Personally, if I were Lord Bell I would refuse to represent Mr Berezovsky because of his background. PR is an industry which is developing quickly and it is important for the industry that it is done ethically otherwise it will be in the newspapers for the wrong reasons. This has happened quite a lot over the last decade with public affairs and now lobbyists are afraid to admit what they do for fear of rotten tomatoes being thrown at them.

News

My thoughts are that the media is based too much around entertainment and not enough around hard news. I was shocked that the BBC ran a news story on Anna Nicole Smith on its 6 o'clock bulletin. I thought such stories were meat and drink for the Daily Sport not the well respected BBC.
Does anyone agree or is it just me?