Media and data

The two nouns 'media' and 'data' are a bit problematic when it comes to deciding whether they are singular or plural.

Having done some research on the different uses of 'media', I would like to hereby inform you that it can be used in both the singular and plural as in the following examples:

• The mass media is/are interested in a comprehensive coverage of the events in Libya. (Here both singular and plural usage are acceptable, although I would not use it in the plural myself).
• The Japanese media has a better insight into the disaster than the American media.
• The Japanese and the American media have different perspectives on what happened.

One thing is for sure: do not use the noun 'medium' when you want to use the word in the singular in this sense.

Although the word 'data' is the plural form of 'datum', it is used as an uncountable noun, almost as a synonym of 'information' as can be seen in the following example:
The data we sent you is essential for the report.