Although "media" as a singular noun is - like data - fast
gaining ground and I suppose as a non-prescriptive grammarian I
should accept that, I'm afraid I also flinched at that
announcement. What I want to know is, what do people MEAN when
they say "the media is..."? It is surely useful to have a word
that refers to film television, radio, books, etc etc, isn't it?
So why limit its usefulness by treating it as a singular, which
presumably refers to one sector - usually television-and-press,
I suspect - or purports to lump them all together as one
indistinguishable mass. Maybe the people who say "the media
is..." are the same people who want to make sweeping statements
about media effects?
Cary
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