I cannot confirm the following story, but…
King Frederick William of Prussia (number?) asked Sir Moses Mendelsohn what he thought of the idea of a Jewish state.
Mendelsohn: My king, I wish to serve the Jewish state as ambassador in Berlin.
(Of course, the whole idea of ambassadors is outdated, and “diplomats” everywhere are just slimy spies and/or agents of corrupt superrich multinationals.)
It’s called “matte release distribution”. These items are often published without any hint as to their self-serving nature.
Businesses send these articles out to newspapers either “for free”, or as “press releases”. The laws are mysteriously vague.
Of course, it’s all up to the editors. No pressure! But, well, if a specific paper decides not to publish, or to overly edit or fact-check the business, the business in question may well also decide not to run paid advertising by that paper. Now, for the big newspapers, that doesn’t matter, but… how do you think they got so big, in the first place, eh?
Sanhedrin 76b:
ואמר רב כהנא משום רבי עקיבא הוי זהיר מן היועצך לפי דרכו.
גמרא שבת י”ב א’:
תניא חנניא אומר חייב אדם למשמש בבגדו ערב שבת עם חשכה אמר רב יוסף הלכתא רבתי לשבת.
ואין המדובר במוקצה, כמ”ש רש”י שם וכן תוספות לעיל י”א א’.
רש”י:
למשמש בבגדו, שלא יהא כרוך בשום דבר, פן יוציאנו.
הלכתא רבתי, דבר גדול יש כאן להפרישו מאיסור שבת.
Among the general public:
Among our beloved subscribers:
Enjoy, and bring along a friend!
A friend of mine is currently working for a hand-matzah bakery (yes, already!). He told me when the Health Ministry came knocking, they had to close the windows, for reasons of supposed food safety. Then, when the Israeli Fire Department inspectors arrived to ensure fire safety, they had to open the windows…
At least they don’t arrive together at once!
Speaking of conflicting diktats, see this list of instructive examples.