n.
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural me · di · as
Usage: often attrib
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 apparently still so used without stigma in that specialized field. In most other applications media is used as a plural of medium. The great 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.