Forms of Media

Forms of Media

Media exist in many forms, the three main categories being: print, broadcast, and new media. These differ mainly in the platform that they use.

  l  Print media - refers to paper publications like newspaper, books, magazines, newsletters, and journals. It also includes brochure, posters, flyers, banners, and billboards. Is also considered the oldest form of media as it is closely tied to the emergence of the printing press.

  l  Broadcast media - includes radio and television - media that initially used the airwaves to reach their audience. Nowadays, radio and television both use directly satellite broadcasting, which helps them reach audiences worldwide. One example of this is the sample weather report presented in the first part of the lesson.

    l  New media - is composed of media that use digital technologies like the Internet to distribute or exhibit content. Under this category are social media, blogs, websites, and streaming media. Producers of print media and broadcast media have increasingly relied on new media as a platform because it helps them gain a wider audience and because more and more people are now using new media as a means of communication. Some examples of new media are Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Wordpress.