Main Entry: ²media

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural me·di·as

Usage: often attributive

Etymology: plural of medium

Date: 1923

1 : a medium of cultivation, conveyance, or expression; especially : medium 2b
2 a singular or plural in construction : mass media b plural : members of the mass media

usage The singular media and its plural medias seem to have originated in the field of advertising over 70 years ago; they are still so used without stigma in that specialized field. In most other applications media is used as a plural of medium. The popularity of the word in references to the agencies of mass communication is leading to the formation of a mass noun, construed as a singular <there's no basis for it. You know, the news media gets on to something — Edwin Meese 3d> <the media is less interested in the party's policies — James Lewis, Guardian Weekly>. This use is not as well established as the mass-noun use of data and is likely to incur criticism especially in writing.