Last week's column mentioned "Pack-in News," a current-affairs talk show that used to stream on the Internet TV channel Kinkin.tv, which is the personal project of veteran actor-emcee Kinya Aikawa. It was a continuation of "Pack-in Journal," a show hosted by Aikawa on the satellite station Asahi Newstar that started in 1998 and was cancelled last spring. Aikawa, using his own money, launched his subscription-based Internet endeavor last April and centered it on "Pack-in News," but in the past year the 78-year-old actor decided to dedicate his remaining days to his theater company and movie projects, and discontinued the talk show in March. Some of the regular panelists felt it would be a waste to squander the show's momentum and two weeks ago launched another Internet channel, DemocraTV, which has the same format as "Pack-in News."

Reporter Hajime Imai told the Tokyo Shimbun that both Aikawa's talk show and the new venture presented information "with no taboos" because there was no fear of pressure from sponsors. DemocraTV will also be funded by subscribers (¥515 a month), but Imai says the regulars on Aikawa's old show have also "invested" in the new enterprise, adding that "journalists should become more involved in creating new media."

"Pack-in Journal" was known as an alternative to the polite orthodoxy of mainstream journalism, which takes the sacred mission of "fairness" to mind-numbing extremes. The pundits who appeared on Aikawa's show argued and shared their views in an unfettered fashion, but it wasn't the comical free-for-all found on TV Asahi's long-running political variety show "Beat Takeshi's TV Tackle," which is more interested in making public officials red-faced with anger than explaining what's behind the headlines. For all its seeming irreverence, "TV Tackle" never challenges the status quo. In fact, politicians fight their way to get on it, and several, such as Liberal Democratic Party star Yoichi Masuzoe and Your Party idol Kenji Eda, achieved fame there before gaining public office.