massemedium

Mass medium, or mass media, is a channel of communication designed to reach large, heterogeneous audiences with relatively standardized content and limited direct feedback from individual recipients. A mass medium enables organizations to disseminate information, entertainment, or advertising to many people at scale.

Common mass media include newspapers, magazines, radio, television, film, and increasingly digital platforms such as news websites and social networks. Traditionally, mass media operate through professional content production, centralized distribution, and gatekeeping by editors, producers, or platform curators, which shapes what information reaches the public.

Historically, the mass media emerged with the printing press and the rise of circulation newspapers in the 18th–19th centuries, expanded with radio in the early 20th century and television midcentury, and was transformed by the internet and mobile devices from the 1990s onward. The digital era has introduced new forms of interaction and audience measurement, blurring lines between mass and personal communication.

Functions commonly associated with mass media include surveillance of social events, correlation or interpretation of those events, entertainment, and cultural transmission. They also influence public opinion through agenda-setting and framing, and they support advertising-based business models that underwrite content production.

Key considerations today include audience reach and metrics, ownership concentration, regulation and ethics, media literacy, and the impact of algorithms and platforms on access to information. While mass media can inform and mobilize, they can also propagate bias, misinformation, or propaganda, making critical consumption essential.