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Media (Singular or Plural?)
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Should I write "the media is" or "the media are"?
"Media" is a collective noun, which means you can treat it as singular or plural depending on the sense of your sentence. If your sentence does not convey the idea of lots of individuals within the media, then you should treat "media" as singular.
(This image from Google's Ngram Viewer shows that "media are" is marginally more popular than "media is.")
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Is "Media" Singular or Plural?
"Media" derives from the Latin plural of "medium." However, it does not follow that "media" should always be treated as a plural word in modern English. "Media" is no longer the plural of "medium." The plural of "medium" is "mediums." The term "media" now means:- "Those who message through television, radio, the printed press or the electronic "press" (i.e., the internet)." (Using this definition, "media" is a collective noun, i.e., a word that represents a group of people, animals, or things.)
- The media are present with vans, lorries, scooters, and bicycles.
- The media is present.
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