The theme of this year’s symposium, especially, the Internet utilization of TV stations, is indeed an area in constant flux and the key point is how to divide up this ever-changing field.
　When we talk of the history of television, we think first of TV broadcasts’ power and influence when conveying the great events of the day as they are happening, from Olympic relays to the first moon landing by Apollo 11, the tragic events of 9-11 and the Great East Japan Earthquake of March, 2011. Today, however, big changes are happening in the pattern of TV viewing itself. The diversification of employment, new work practices, and the falling birth rate, have transformed family and household structures with the result that television no longer occupies the same position in the daily life of the family. In addition, together with the dissemination of the Internet and digital tools, it is now easy for people to access the information they want whenever they want it, and this enormous change is buffeting television, newspapers and the other traditional media directly. The emergence of social networking services has ushered in an era in which everyone can transmit information and young people, especially, are spending less time in absolute terms on simple TV viewing. Further, now that people have come to know these days about TV coverage methods and what goes on behind the scenes of program production, television has been losing its allure as a world apart from the humdrum of daily life. The sender-receiver relationship which existed between the TV station and viewer has changed and people these days must decide for themselves how they wish to access information and verify its authenticity. It is really no exaggeration to say that the initiative has been transferred to the individual.
　The fact is that aside from these developments in television and modes of communication, the rapid advances in AI, IoT and other such fields and their dissemination are bringing changes to every aspect of our lifestyle. Television broadcasts in Japan started fully 65 years ago and, as one American researcher noted, we have now reached the point where, on the Internet at least, the traditional media divisions of television, newspapers, digital media and so on have almost lost their meaning. The dissemination of digital tools and networks have made it imperative for television stations to restructure their services. The changes taking place in people’s relationship with the media cannot be grasped through examination of the relationship between television and the Internet alone. How should we evaluate the meanings and values represented by visual images and other forms of information, and how should the various tools be used in their regard? These are major themes for the whole of society which have to be addressed now, one by one.