Push the Button: Interactive Television and Collaborative Journalism in Japan

Content conservatism has triumphed over technological innovation in Japanese television, with corporate media squelching interactive broadcast projects such as smartphone-playable television and live-streamed and open press conferences. Innovators sought to expand the possibilities for mass media, national identity, and open journalism.

Format: Hardback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 16 February 2024
Publisher: Duke University Press

In Push the Button, Elizabeth Rodwell delves into a captivating battle over the future of Japanese television as major media conglomerates engaged in a fierce clash with independent media professionals harnessing the power of new media to create interactive forms. Rodwell contends that at the dawn of a potentially epochal moment in television history, content conservatism has emerged victorious over technological innovation. Despite the ambitious aspirations and idealistic endeavors of Japanese TV professionals and independent journalists, corporate media exerted considerable efforts to suppress interactive broadcast projects, including smartphone-playable television, live-streamed press conferences, and open forums. Instead, the dominant narrative in interactive programming remained within the realm of major TV networks, preserving the structure and characteristics of traditional television while maintaining conventional barriers between audiences and the physical space of broadcast.

Despite the lack of immediate success, the innovators behind these experimental endeavors remained steadfast in their pursuit of expanding the horizons of mass media, national identity, and open journalism. Their unwavering dedication to pushing the boundaries of what was possible in the realm of television broadcasting serves as a testament to their commitment to shaping the future of media and communication.

Weight: 431g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781478021025