Studying promotion expenses, the digital media has had as an emphasis

Question

Studying promotion expenses, the digital media has had as an emphasis  the increased costs and decreased integrity of the marketing department, but they have generally ignored the cost of actually operating promotional centers, which includes staffing, amenities, conveyance, publishing, and technology.

A. Studying promotion expenses, the digital media has had as an emphasis
B. Studies of promotion expenses by the digital media has been an emphasis on
C. In studying promotion expenses, the digital media have emphasized on
D. Digital media studies of promotion expenses have had as an emphasis
E. In their study of promotion expenses, the digital media has been emphasizing on

GMAT VERBAL Daily Challenge RC/CR/SC (2022) Project

QMG · Answer

IMO answer D:

A is wrong because the digital media itself cannot study promotion expenses -> false modifier
B is wrong as "studies" are plural and "has" is singular
C is wrong as "digital media" is singular and "have" is plural
E is wrong as "digital media" is singular and "their" is suited for plural nouns

Therefore, only choice D is left.

Carcass · Answer

Nope sorry

DinoPen · Answer

Studying promotion expenses, the digital media has had as an emphasis  the increased costs and decreased integrity of the marketing department, but they have generally ignored the cost of actually operating promotional centers, which includes staffing, amenities, conveyance, publishing, and technology.

A. Studying promotion expenses, the digital media has had as an emphasis
 SV agreement error. Digital medial is plural as seen in 'but they have generally...'

B. Studies of promotion expenses by the digital media has been an emphasis on
 SV agreement error. Studies + has is incorrect.
 
 C. In studying promotion expenses, the digital media have emphasized on

D. Digital media studies of promotion expenses have had as an emphasis
 'have had as an emphasis' is awkward

E. In their study of promotion expenses, the digital media has been emphasizing on
 SV agreement error. 'their' and 'digital media has...'

QMG · Answer

but then why is digital media with a plural verb? isn't "media" singular?

behlmanmeet · Answer

Hi  QMG

"Media" is a collective noun, which means you can treat it as singular or plural depending on the sense of your sentence.

behlmanmeet · Answer

Hi  carcass

There's something I am a bit confused about in this sentence. In option C: "In studying promotion expenses, the digital media". From my understanding, digital media is video, audio, software, or other content that is created, edited, stored, or accessed in digital form. So, this content performing the action of studying seems wrong to me.

Carcass · Answer

MMhhh Good question. However, in my view, digital media can be also identified as a company. The New York Times is a digital media.

Nowadays all the definitions might be true and untrue at the same time. Everything is so fluid and variegated.

In the sense above the meaning tend toward the sense of "companies"

Studying promotion expenses, the digital media  has had as an emphasis the increased costs and decreased integrity of the marketing department ,  but  they  have generally

Hope this helps

behlmanmeet · Answer

I understand but at the same time, it's a bit vague because Digital media can be used to mention simply digital content. I cannot say with absolute certainty and I might be mistaken here but I don't think we can say that the New York times is a digital media but we can say it's a digital media company. By saying a digital media company we can remove the ambiguity. Also, I understand I might be getting very pedantic here.

I cannot seem to negate Option D as wrong either, though you are right that the sentence might be conveying or intending to convey Digital media companies' emphasis on promotion expense. To me, "Digital media studies of promotion expenses" makes more sense than "In studying promotion expenses, the digital media". The later part of Option D "Digital media studies of promotion expenses  have had as an emphasis " might be wrong because of idiom usage but I am not sure, I'll need to check the idiom usage of emphasis I guess.

Overall, I guess the answer option is a bit shaky but we have to select the correct one among 5, not the best one out there.

Carcass · Answer

You are not pedantic sir. It is just a legit question we discuss on

brt · Answer

Even I was confused between option C and D. I had also eliminated the ans C because of subject verb agreement. I felt digital media is singular. Even though digital media refers to the entire digital media society the usage of has is appropriate. So I guess options has to be corrected.

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  brt ,

We hope this finds you well.

To clarify, "media" can be used as a collective noun to refer to an entire body of media, but it can also be used as the plural form of the word "medium" - in this context, medium of communication.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Studying promotion expenses, the digital media has had as an emphasis

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Studying promotion expenses, the digital media has had as an emphasis

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