The reality of advertisement for established products is that they need to do it to maintain good will from the media. For example, in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, BP spent billions of dollars in advertisement in all kinds of media. It became very difficult for the media to be too harsh on BP, since in the midsts of the Great Recession, they were one or the largest advertisers. Similarly it is very difficult for the media to say bad things about Coke or the Big automakers when so much of their revenue comes from these big accounts.
Another example (this one not in advertisement) is the situation of Bloomberg. They have one of the largest financial journalism organizations and, AT THE SAME TIME, they sell overvalued software to the largest financial companies in the world. One can only guess what can happen to a financial company that stops paying the fees to Bloomberg. Even though there is no real threat (and most certainly this was never expressed by the company), every financial outlet wants to be on the good side of Bloomberg reporting. The conclusion is that having a journalist institution receiving money from companies that they are covering is a kind of moral hazard that very few people understand, unless you are part of the business.
Another example (this one not in advertisement) is the situation of Bloomberg. They have one of the largest financial journalism organizations and, AT THE SAME TIME, they sell overvalued software to the largest financial companies in the world. One can only guess what can happen to a financial company that stops paying the fees to Bloomberg. Even though there is no real threat (and most certainly this was never expressed by the company), every financial outlet wants to be on the good side of Bloomberg reporting. The conclusion is that having a journalist institution receiving money from companies that they are covering is a kind of moral hazard that very few people understand, unless you are part of the business.