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Against the backdrop of the rapid growth of the Internet, this research study investigates the intersection between corporate World Wide Web pages and the publics they serue. Content analysis revealed that, while the typical corporate Web page is used to service news media, customers, and thefinancial community, it is not being used to its fullest potential to communicatesimultaneously with otheraudiences. Through a cluster analysis procedure, the researchers found about one-third of corporate Web sites are assertively used to communicate with a multiplicity of audiences in a variety of information formats.The ultimate impact of developing computer-mediated communication technology is not easily forecasted, given a complicated series of technical, political, and economic factors that must still play out to a conclusion.' Despite optimistic proclamations that these innovations will empower individuals,' and equally extreme projections that they may create dire social and economic hazards: the actual impact of new communication technologies usually falls somewhere between these predicted extremes4 As well, predictions about the future are often wrong because of the consistent unintended consequences, both good and bad, of social and technological innovation^.^ But while no one can accurately predict the impact of information technologies, no one can deny their rapid expansion and diffusion throughout society. One recent study suggests 56 million adults, or 27 percent of the U.S. population aged 16 or older, are now "on-line" with an annual growth rate of about 40 percent.h The developing Internet and the associated World Wide Web (WWW) embody the expansion of information technology and how individuals have embraced the concept of an information era.Another way this trend manifests itself is in how organizations have hopped onto the Internet bandwagon. A corporate Web page is no longer an anomaly. In fact, among the nation's largest corporations, the organization that does not have a Web page is in a dwindling m i n~r i t y .~ Web pages have several attractive features for corporations. They tend to serve more active, information-seeking audiences than the more passive publics who are reached via traditional mass media. Accordingly, an organization can assume that visitors to its Web site have some kind of active interest in the entity. Web pages can also employ interactive features to collect information, monitor public opinion on issues, and proactively engage citiStuart L. Esrock is an assistant professor and Greg B. Leichty is an associate professor in the Department ofCominunication at the University oflouisville.

This study investigated the structure of public relations roles. Broom and Smith's role questionnaire was factor analyzed in conjunction with items used in studies of organizational boundary spanning. Eight activity factors were extracted in the analysis. Four primary practitioner roles and one minor role were subsequently identified in a cluster analysis. The clusters refined and elaborated previous PR roles concepts in important ways. Two practitioner types give high priority to technical activities even though they also scored high on managerial and boundary spanning activities. A validation analysis showed that the practitioner groups could be differentiated on relevant criterion variables.

In this study researchers content coded advertising images in traditional and nontraditional women's magazines in 1959, 1969, 1979 and 1989 to determine the impact of the feminist movement on consumer imagery. This timeframe allowed analysis from several historical vantages: 1959 (pre-feminist movement), 1969 (developing feminist ideology), 1979 (social implementation of ideology), 1989 (post feminist movement). The data were analyzed from the perspective of three major variables, the first being time (a specific decade); the second being magazine type (traditional or nontraditional women's magazines); and the third being product category. The study answers a primary research question: To what extent do ads in women's magazines (traditional and nontraditional) reflect the goals of the second feminist movement? A secondary research question is explored: Are advertising and the feminist movement incompatable, thus dooming “feminist publications” depending on ad dollars to demise?