ABSTRACT
Mass communication has traditionally been defined as messages distributed by book publishers, Hollywood studios, record companies, newspapers, and television and radio stations to a large and heterogeneous audience. The ultimate goal of most media corporations is to maximize profits. To do so, they must attract a large number of readers, viewers, and listeners to generate economic returns in the form of advertising revenues. Alternatively profits are garnered through the sale of media products such as compact disks (CDs and DVDs) and videotapes or to generate revenue in the form of the box of fice receipts. The Internet and the WWW have also become important sources of mediated information, entertainment, advertising, and commerce as the virtual shopping mall continues to evolve. Direct mail, telemarketing, and outdoor advertising may also be considered mass media, although they do not fit the classical definition (Folkerts, Lacy, & Davenport, 1998).
