Quoting Enzensberger's "Information Industry = Consciousness Exploitation Device" Theory

Quoting Enzensberger's "Information Industry = Consciousness Exploitation Device" Theory

That quote has been stuck in my mind for a long time. The German poet and media theorist Hans Magnus Enzensberger said: "The information industry is an instrument of consciousness exploitation for the maintenance of the current regime. When I first read this passage, I shuddered. I shuddered when I first read this passage, because it is precisely what we TV program producers are unconsciously engaged in every day.

In 1970, Japan was still reeling from the scars of the Security Treaty, but the country was booming with the World Expo and the popularization of color TV, and the nation was surrounding its people with images of a "bright future. Freedom of expression? It was like a piece of paper before the ratings and sponsorship contracts. We were good at creating programs that the public "sort of" watched on TV and "sort of" agreed with.

I was most struck by the programs created by Haruhiko Hagimoto at TBS. His direction had the power to make the system uncomfortable by showing real people and society in a chaotic and improvised manner. You are..." and "Now, Let's Talk about the World's Youth" - there was a violent "truth" at the site of those live broadcasts.

But now, as president of TV Man Union, Hagimoto seems content to mass-produce quiz shows and travel programs. His slogan, "A new TV made by a group of brains," is nowhere to be found.

I think. As Enzensberger observed, television today has become an anesthetic for engulfing people's consciousness in the swell of consumption, rather than a stimulant for their thinking. Mr. Hagimoto's transformation is a symbol of this.

What is really needed is a program that shakes people's souls, that rings out a call for protest from the viewers. This is the only kind of "politics" that the media can do, and I have been involved in the composition of television programs because I believe it is possible.

Enzensberger's words are a "confessional" that should pierce the hearts of all television producers. Now we must ask ourselves again: "Does your program have an ideology? Do your programs have a thought? I am sure you can answer that question, Mr. Hagimoto. You used to be a good person.