Why Trump Really Won: The Medium Is The Message

Trump's election was a shocking surprise to many–Democrats and Republicans alike. Explanations for the upset have ranged from the benign to the sinister. What few have focused on is how Trump's understanding of a transformed media environment enabled an unlikely candidate with no political experience to ride to victory.

In 1964, the media scholar Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase "The Medium Is the Message." McLuhan's insight was that the qualities of communications media themselves are more important in shaping the social environment than any particular content. Conversely, the great communicators understand how to craft the form and style of their messages, irrespective of content, to the media by which they will be transmitted.