The subject of the work is to assess the manner and power of the influence of various types of mass media on the decisions made by people and on the functioning of a rural community. A particular purpose of the work is to assess the influence of mass media on the residents’ decisions in the sphere of economy, education, culture and entertainment. The work includes the theoretical part written using the literature and the empirical part written using surveys of the population of a 100 residents who visited the municipality’s office. The studies confirmed the assumed hypotheses about the widespread use of various mass media to obtain information useful for purchasing, educational and cultural purposes. The studies show that the residents have a valuating, often critical, attitude to the credibility of information provided by mass media.