Media Industry

The media can also refer to the group of journalists and others who constitute the industry involved in providing these forms of communication. The media industry has continued to grow as demand for information has increased. Significant improvements in technology have allowed the industry to develop and duplicate products efficiently with very low production costs. Examples of this include developments in printing presses, advances in television and radio technology and the introduction of the internet as a new medium.

Such rapid developments in production methods have made the media industry very profitable, allowing media conglomerates to develop. Serious concerns have been raised about the issue of media ownership, with large corporations such as News Corporation and Time Warner leading a small group of media conglomerates that control a large proportion of the world's media. Many of the concerns raised relate to the apparent political and other viewpoints these corporations express through their media assets. However, the corporations themselves strongly deny that their assets reflect the opinions of the corporation.

Types of News Coverage

• Brief Reports: Brief summaries of news events are quite common and offer quick access to particular stories. They may be used for anything from a summary of top world news stories to minor local news stories that have little news value or for which very little information is available.


• Breaking News Updates: News is a continuing story that is happening as it is reported. It may lead a broadcaster to postpone or cancel current programming to cover the story. The internet is known to be a good medium for covering breaking news stories.


• Extensive Coverage: Extensive news coverage is usually based around an issue which usually is of high news value. Such coverage is usually offered by current affairs programs broadcasted on television and radio or by written media. It also holds long-term value.


• Opinionative Columns: Columns and editorials published on the internet, internet web logs, talkback radio programs and comment segments on television and radio are examples of news coverage that is specifically and clearly opinionative in nature. While opinionative coverage of news issues may not include events or facts that do not support the perspective given, they still continue to be popular and are often thought to be insightful.


• Press Releases: Press releases are issued directly from a business or organization. They are an aspect of public relations and therefore a marketing tool that aims to give a positive view of the business or organization issuing them, but they can offer some factual value. Press releases are also an important research tool to the media.

Related Public Forum Threads

News: Where do you get yours? - Do you get your news from television, radio, newspapers, the internet, or elsewhere?

Types of Media

A medium is a way in which information is presented or communicated. Some media include:

• The print medium, which includes printed publications such as newspapers and magazines, is probably the best-known example and during the twentieth century it became very popular as a source of news and information.


• The audio medium, which is somewhat similar to the print medium and is broadcast over a radio frequency. Unlike the print medium it uses the sense of sound rather than sight.
  
• The video medium, which is currently the most popular medium. Video provides movement on a screen which one can see and normally has sound which one can hear. Often it is broadcast live, which means that one sees it as it is happening. The most well-known forms are television and movies. Before televisions were a common household item, many people watched newsreels, such as Movietone Newsreels, at their local cinema or movie theater.


• The internet medium, which is becoming more popular because it offers written news almost instantaneously as it happens as well as audio and video news.

Overview

Media is the plural form of medium. It refers to methods of communication, particularly to those that can deliver news. Mass media is capable of mass communication and can reach a mass audience, often over an entire state or country or the entire world. Newspapers, magazines, radio, television and the internet are all examples of mediums that can be used for mass communication.