There&#x27;s a pretty big difference between research funding from a private group that wants support&#x2F;pr for actions it&#x27;s already decided to take, and research funding that&#x27;s allocated by a group of one&#x27;s scientific peers. Even if there&#x27;s some element of &quot;corruption&quot; in pandering to granting agencies, paying for PR cover under the guise of research is a lot worse.