The media is/the media are…

"Media" is being used as a single entity lumping them all as one, hence 'the media is . . .'

Another vote for 'the media is'

I think I say the media are, and they aren’t all the same.
Originally ‘the news’ was plural but that’s long gone.

I think of it as a collective noun, so can be used as singular or plural, depending on the meaning. Similar to herd or flock.

The media is gathered across the street. (they are a singular group)
The media are surrounding the celebrity. (they are moving as individuals)

Does that make sense?

‘The media is…’ still sounds all wrong to me.

The medium is, the media are.

M0nica

The medium is, the media are.

This is how I use the words.

I'd say "is", but then I don't understand the rules.

Media is plural because it refers to several different medium.

According to google. The word comes out of the advertising industry. They use the word 'media' to refer to newspapers, radio and tv - the mass media. It follows that one of them is the medium. Therefore medium is, media are.

The media are channels of communication - radio, tv, cinema, newspapers, social media, discussion boards, even text messages and WhatsApp groups. Think of the jokey reference to the medium of interpretive dance .

It's unusual to use the word in a singular form - people would be more likely to say 'type' or 'channel', which mean pretty much the same thing, or just refer to the medium itself, and say 'tv' or whatever, but when talking about 'the media', as in ways of getting messages across, they are referring to several media (or mediums, if you like), so use the plural.

The terms are used in advertising, but are also part of broader Communication Theory, which is used to describe various ways of passing on messages.

Either

This takes me back to doing Latin at school. It's definitely
medium = single - therefore medium is
media = plural - therefore media are

Just think of other Latin words:
aquarium single/aquaria plural
auditorium single/auditoria plural

These nouns form their plurals by changing the ending from -ium to -ia

Latin. Medium singular. Media plural. So media are.

American English has a far greater influence on everyday communication than Latin, so insisting on Latin-based 'corrections' often ignores how language naturally evolves.
Ultimately the majority will follow American English and "media are" will be seen as old fashioned and an indicator of age (probably already is), for now, both are acceptable.

It's the same with the use of of the word 'data'. I always understood that data are plural.