Canadian communication
professor, Marshall McLuhan, 40 years after his death, has been shown to be a
fortuneteller more than a communications theorist.
The unlikely rapid rise of
businessman Donald Trump as a presidential candidate, and what may be the even
more dramatic decline, shows that the medium truly is the message.
The Canadian died in 1980,
before the Internet became the world’s lingua franca. But his determination
that electronic transmission of news itself was more important than the news
delivered became a widely accepted article of faith in the 2016 presidential
race.
No matter how racist, stupid,
insulting or outrageous Trump became he got more coverage and high poll
numbers.
He had actually had his own
“reality TV” show spawned by his billions in the real estate industry.
He also got more viewers for
the networks that telecast them when he became a candidate.
“It may not be good for
America, but it’s damn good for CBS,” said CBS CEO Les Moonves in
February. “They’re not discussing issues, they’re throwing bombs at each
other.”
The inmates were in charge of asylum.
Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics
and Public Policy studied the beginnings of the race and found there was an
“invisible primary,” before the voting, that made it possible for Trump to gain
popularity.
The report found claims the media favored
Trump over the other
candidates, and in fact created him.
It has been reported that Trump got $2 billion in free coverage
on American television. Hillary Clinton, who led in early polling, got the
least and most negative coverage. Bernie Sanders got less coverage than Trump
but it was much more favorable.
Trump bragged at one point that he could shoot someone and his
ratings would rise.
It has been said that no one ever went broke underestimating the
intelligence of Americans.
But put another way, perhaps his precipitous fall, which has
Republican leaders talking of replacing him as their candidate, it may make
sense.
Perhaps people became bored with Trump?
If that is the problem then his show will simply be cancelled.
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