Abstract: In modern society, media has increasingly intervened in deliberative practices, emerging as an important agent of deliberative governance. Yet academic exploration on this topic remains insufficient. Through literature review and multi-case inductive analysis, this study examines the roles of the media, conceptualizing them as a five-tiered ladder: information provision, discursive deliberation, dissemination facilitation, collaborative platform, and deliberation organization. These roles are further typologized into three modes: indirect, embedded, and leading participation. By analyzing empirical cases of media participation in deliberation, the study reveals the hierarchical functions and forms of media in deliberative processes. This ladder framework provides an analytical tool for understanding the roles and impact of media in deliberation, while also offering theoretical guidance for more conscious and effective media involvement in deliberative practices.