Can a company pay for its press release to be published?

Once a press release is issued, a company should have no control over the placement of any subsequent article and nor should it, or its agent, make any payment in relation to an article’s publication. Whether and where articles appear in the press should be solely at the publisher’s discretion and articles should be printed wholly at the publisher’s expense. If a company, or its agent, controls or in any way pays for the placement of an article about a product, then that article will be regarded as an advertisement for the product. Similarly it is likely that any payment will be regarded as turning the resulting article into an advertisement.