According to the frequency of issuance, they can be daily, weekly, (bi) monthly,
quarterly, or annual.
According to the format, they can be: magazines (A4), standard newspapers (A2), or
tabloids (A3).
According to the circulation, there are international, national, regional, local, and internal
press.
According to the contents, the written press can have general contents (big daily
newspapers that approach varied topics) or specialized (most are weekly or monthly),
function of their readers (gender-specific: women, men; age-specific: children, young
people, elderly people; residence-specific: rural, urban; profession-specific: engineers,
car-lovers, doctors, teachers, etc.) or the contents (economic, sports, cultural, educational,
religious, etc.).
The audio-visual press
The criteria for written press apply here in part.
According to the broadcasting area, stations (radio or TV) can be local, regional, national,
international.
According to the contents, stations can be general or specific, with local, regional,
national, international broadcasting.
According to the role, stations (usually public) have cultural-educational contents, and the
commercial ones broadcast entertainment shows.
The financing differentiates stations into public and commercial.
Sources of power (influence) of mass-media have their roots in information held and
broadcasted, necessary for the safety of people, as well as the need of relaxation. The
influence of the media is more intense when: the prestige of the source is greater, the
monopoly of source is stronger, or the messages from the source are in agreement with
the opinions of the beneficiaries. The influence of media also depends on how cultured
the public is, how qualified to understand the functioning of the media, as well as the
motivations, interests, or values of the beneficiaries.
Generally, in mass communication research two types of analysis have prevailed:
contents (of communication, messages) and effects (changes in attitude, behaviour of the
public as a consequence of contact with the media) (Cucu, 2000).
The media requires today due to its unprecedented expansion “ professional
communicators, specialized in conveying messages through various media and a control
system of communication, through institutions (...)” (Coman, 2004).