Good question, Const. As I see it. PR is putting a shine on outright propaganda. The latter does not invite feedback, the PR does though and is equipped to provide answers, in a way. Of course, they are one sided answers. I do not know where you are based now but you have lived in Istanbul so have certainly seen the "sell job" they do there. Not as bad as most, IMO, As I said, everybody uses both techniques. From celebrities to countries.
I recently received an email advert for a trip to Albania [?!] I have no intention of going there anytime soon, but it was so obvious they used an advertising agency to get out their message. I also recently received a catalogue of Russian tours. I do not use tours usually, but they certainly painted a different picture from what I know, especially after 4 visits.
In the case of the Romanovs, I think they simply did not know how to use these tools. As has been mentioned, they thought they need not justify their actions. Well, that proved fatal. The subsequent regimes were much more savvy about it though. I think Lenin was a master at it, Stalin had a whole staff of poster people at hand to get his message out.