They care about PR quite a bit. It could affect funding and could affect appeal for new recruits.

No matter if they torture and assassinate people, it is important for them that they are seen as protecting American ideals and all that. That sounds too abstract sometimes, so a little story about "oh look they are cool people just like you, drinking Starbucks" does that very well.

I'd say those are the most visible things they do, since those are pretty hard to hide. But I'd wager the lions share of the work CIA does is actually in the more boring intelligence for diplomatic operations.

True, but in theory - to some extent - Congress has some oversight of the CIA and (again, in theory) the will of The People can influence the CIA's budget and authority, etc. All in all, I'd guess that CIA leadership would prefer people see them as benevolent guardians of peace and democracy as much as possible.

But I could be wrong. Maybe they are effectively untouchable, know it, and don't give a flap what people like us think. shrug

It is a new world after at least 1989 (probably decades older), the CIA almost only destabilize non-democratic juntas. Personally, I don't really care about the working situation for the juntas, they are generally criminal thieves that have stolen a country.