Public Relations Spending: Reported Data on Related Federal Activities, GAO-16-877R: Published: Sep 30, 2016. Publicly Released: Oct 5, 2016.

“The rise of Facebook, Twitter, and other new platforms has changed the ways in which the federal government communicates with the public. But what is the total scope of federal public relations activities? We found that the federal government spent about $1 billion a year during fiscal years 2006-2015 on advertising and PR contracts, with 10 agencies responsible for 95% of this spending. Total salaries for federal PR employees averaged about $430 million per year during fiscal years 2006-2014.”