Mass Media Formats

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Mass media is a way for information to reach a large audience. There are various forms of mass media including print media, broadcast media, and digital media. Print includes newspapers, journals, books, and magazines; broadcast media includes television, radio, and video; digital media includes websites, podcasts, and social media.

Most popular platforms for daily news consumption in the United States as of February 2022, by age group.

The public relies on mass media to inform them of political and social issues, entertainment, and news in pop culture. Because different forms of mass media appeal to different audiences, mass media can be used in an effort to reach specific audiences. For example, 73% of those ages 65+ consume their daily news through network or cable news, while 62% of those ages 18 to 34 consume their daily news through social media or online-only news sites (Watson, 2022). 

However, the speed of information reaching an audience varies by mass media as well- newspapers and print media are published daily, weekly, or monthly, whereas television and the internet are running constantly. And online platforms like websites and social media have an advantage over television as television is typically pre-programmed. Though broadcast news stations allow breaking news developments to interrupt their schedule, digital media spreads information the fastest. This is because the internet is instantaneous: posts can quickly be shared to social media platforms which then reach other social media users through smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other electronic devices.



References

Watson, A. (2022, August 18). Most used news platforms U.S. by age 2022. Statista. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/717651/most-popular- news-platforms/

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