Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies that are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media (also known as electronic media) transmit their information electronically and comprise television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other devices like cameras and video consoles. Alternatively, print media use a physical object as a means of sending their information, such as a newspaper, magazines, brochures, newsletters, books, leaflets and pamphlets. The term also refers to the organizations which control these technologies, such as television stations or publishing companies. Internet media is able to achieve mass media status in its own right, due to the many mass media services it provides, such as email, websites, blogging, Internet and television. For this reason, many mass media outlets have a presence on the web, by such things as having TV ads which link to a website, or having games in their sites to entice gamers to visit their website. In this way, they can utilise the easy accessibility that the Internet has, and the outreach that Internet affords, as information can easily be broadcast to many different regions of the world simultaneously and cost-efficiently. Outdoor media is a form of mass media which comprises billboards, signs, placards placed inside and outside of commercial buildings and /objects like shops and buses, flying billboards (signs in tow of airplanes), blimps, and skywriting. Public speaking and event organising can also be considered as forms of mass media.

Massenmedien sind Kommunikationsmittel, die durch technische Vervielfältigung und Verbreitung mittels Schrift, Bild oder Ton Inhalte an eine unbestimmte (weder eindeutig festgelegte, noch quantitativ begrenzte) Zahl von Menschen vermitteln und somit öffentlich an ein anonymes, räumlich verstreutes Publikum weitergeben. Neben den klassischen Massenmedien wie Printmedien (Zeitungen und Zeitschriften) und elektronischen Medien (Hörfunk und Fernsehen), wächst seit den 1990er-Jahren bis heute, die Bedeutung des World Wide Webs.

On appelle médias de masse ( mass media) les médias à même de toucher une large audience. Ce terme a été créé dans les années 1920. L'un de leurs théoriciens les plus connus est le sociologue Marshall McLuhan, pour qui les caractéristiques principales du média de masse sont :

• la communication de un vers plusieurs
• l'unilatéralité du message (le public n'interagit pas avec le véhicule du message)

Il est généralement admis que la télévision est le média de masse par excellence.

Środki masowego przekazu (mass media, publikatory) – środki społecznego komunikowania o szerokim zasięgu, czyli prasa, radio, telewizja, internet, a w szerszym znaczeniu także książka, film, plakat. Środki masowego przekazu to element kultury masowej.