24 FEBRUARY 1996, Page 24

Media reaction

Sir: Dot Wordsworth's defence of the use of media as a singular noun is pretty weak (Mind your language, 17 February). Omnibus has indeed a plural form but it is in the dative, implying reference to a car- riage, book or whatever. Politics, physics and mathematics have no different singular or plural forms.

Media should remain plural because there is a perfectly good singular form in common usage. The word is only mistaken for singular when used to refer to the news, information and entertainment media and then usually means those who use them to communicate with us rather than the media themselves. I suggest that those who wish to have a singular noun to refer to these peo- ple adopt the spelling `meeja' and leave us pedants in peace.

James Cope

Hillocks of Gourdie, Essendy, Blairgowrie, Perthshire