‘The Medium Is the Massage’ is a book co-created by media analyst Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) and graphic designer Quentin Fiore (1920-2019), with coordination by Jerome Agel (1930-2007). It was originally published by Bantam books in 1967, with the U.K. edition being published by Allen Lane Penguin Books.

160 pages are composed in an experimental, collage style with text superposed on visual elements and vice versa. Pages are seen to be printed backwards, intentionally blank, as well as contain historic photographs and modern images, juxtaposed in different ways.

Marshall McLuhan argues that technologies are the messages, rather than the content of the communication, with ‘The Medium is the Massage’ being a graphical and creative representation of his "medium is the message" thesis. Basically, the “medium is the message” means that the way that we send and receive information is more important than the information itself.

Using a play on words (speculated to have originally been a typo), McLuhan suggests that modern audiences enjoy mainstream media as soothing, enjoyable, and relaxing, like a “massage”.

McLuhan describes points of change in how people view their world and the ways those views are affected and altered by the adoption of new mainstream media. "The technique of invention was the discovery of the 19th century," brought on by the adoption of fixed points of view and perspective by typography; while "the technique of the suspended judgment is the discovery of the twentieth century," brought on by radio, movie, and television programming.

• References