What category includes “document” and “video”?

Question

I want a common word that could categorise both document (like presentation/portfolio etc.) and video. Any good ideas?

I need something simple enough that everyone can understand & not just the language experts.

Answer 1

The word media could cover both. The definition of the singular medium refers to:

• one of the means or channels of general communication, information, or entertainment in society, as newspapers, radio, or television.
• an intervening agency, means, or instrument by which something is conveyed or accomplished: Words are a medium of expression.

That is, both a document and video are forms of media, because they can carry or convey something. You could further refer to a video as "visual media" and a document as "written media".

Answer 2

I learned linguistics while I was in Year 12, and I learned that text was the technical term, to include documents and videos, as the definition of a text was:

A text is any piece of written, spoken, non-verbal, visual, or auditory material that communicates a message.

This is taken from Heinemann English Language 3&4.

A document would come under a written/visual text, that is, a text that has been written, and a text that can be seen. A video would come under the visual/auditory text type.

The definitions of "written", "visual", "auditory" texts are(from the textbook):

Written text includes newspaper and magazine reports and articles, novels, texts on computer screens, instructional manuals, shopping lists, etc.

Visual text is the use of a range of visual images to communicate meaning.
Auditory text includes materials such as sound effets or background music that can either communicate meaning on its own or add meaning when it is used with another text.

Thus, the general term I would advise, would be text, as the term that would encompass both a document and a video.