Four features characterize the current global scene in mass communications: (1) an imbalance of resources between industrialized and developing countries, (2) an imbalance of information flow between countries, (3) an irrelevance of media content to the social and cultural problems of the Third World, and (4) a considerable impact on the operation of the mass media by the type of social system in a country. The present is a time of great potential for the development of more effective mass media. In order to realize this potential, a reappraisal of past theories and practices, as well as a realization of the interrelationship between political, economic, and communications systems, is needed. (STS)