Journalism and mass communication programs have been forced to take long, hard looks at their curricula as they join the media industry in eyeing the encroachment of interactive media technology (Yavovich, 1996). The newspaper industry has embraced electronic publishing with a fervor that has made the establishment of on-line editions almost a necessity, evidenced by the fact that 1,600 daily and weekly newspapers had launched on-line publishing endeavors by the end of 1996 (Levins, 1997). Advertising agencies and public relations firms have enthusiastically eyed the Internet's new marketing and promotional possibilities among a psychographically unique, computer-oriented consumer culture …