Media refers to the communication outlets or tools used to store and deliver information or data). It includes all channels of communication, from printed paper to digital data. The term refers to components of the mass media communications industry, such as print media, publishing, the news media, photography, cinema, broadcasting (radio and television), digital media, and advertising). The development of early writing and paper enabling longer-distance communication systems such as mail, including in the Persian Empire and Roman Empire, can be interpreted as early forms of media). The history of media can also be framed as starting with the Chauvet Cave paintings and continuing with other ways to carry human communication beyond the short range of voice, such as smoke signals, trail markers, and sculpture).
Different types of media include mass media, which refers to reaching a very large number of people, and local media, which refers to local/regional TV/radio channels and newspapers. Today, the Internet is gradually taking over as a means of communication, and print newspapers are struggling as more people switch to online news sources.
