McCluhan gets too much credit for a non-original idea. (His slogan “the medium is the message” is original, but the idea isnt) John F Kennedy knew how to manipulate the new medium of Television, in the closest election ever.
In the 1960 debates with Nixon, he made sure he looked good, because he know the visuals were more important than his verbal comments. Surveys after the debates showed that people who listened to them on radio thought Nixon won, but people who watched on TV (it was the first time such debates were ever televised) thought JFK won, because Nixon was sweating under the lights.
A famous book called “The Selling of the President” became a best seller when the blurb on the cover said " who ever thought that the temperature in a TV studio would be more important than what the presidential candidates say?"
Mcluhan was a professor who made theoretical statements–but the PR people in JKF’s staff already knew the full PRACTICAL effects of Telvision, and the need to control the media .
“You think my fallacy is all wrong?”
What did he mean when he said that?