2023-10-12 16:39:06
Israel is witnessing the collapse of television in the face of the rapid and merciless onslaught of social media. By the time the channels woke up and put on their make-up early on Saturday morning, social media had taken over.
None of the national channels had any news in the early hours until the Hamas attack that morning at around 6:30 local time. Even as pictures and videos of Hamas operatives arriving in nearby residential areas filled social media within minutes, there were chilling reports on TV of air raid sirens sounding in southern cities.
Mainstream channels were outraged as videos of Hamas vehicles and armed groups on the streets, followed by gunfire, began to circulate on Twitter and Telegram channels. There was doubt in the channel desks as if what they were seeing was true or some kind of training.
For those watching TV from outside the attack zone, that morning was as lazy as any other day off. But their mobile phones tell a different story. The Israelites were confused, not knowing what to believe.
By then, the videos taken by hiding behind curtains and windows had started to catch the attention of many people. Still there is no time for channels. Little by little, signals started coming in the channels that something was happening in the south. By that time, information about nearby deaths had reached the social media. Fear began to grip Israel as neither the channels nor the government said anything about what was seen on mobile phones.
By the time channels started reporting that heavy gunfire was being heard in southern cities, a statement came out on Hamas’ social media account that they had declared war on Israel. With that, Israeli channels and international media were convinced that this was not an ordinary incident. But again, it took hours for the Israeli government to officially respond.
Prime Minister Netanyahu met the media in the afternoon, five hours after the attack that started in the morning. According to Yonatan Englander, the correspondent of Haaretz, a leading Israeli media, Netanyahu did not forget to put on makeup when he announced WE ARE AT WAR in front of the cameras. Jonathan Englander added that the real meaning behind the hollow cinematic dialogues like ‘I suggested’, ‘I ordered’ and ‘the enemy will pay a price that will never be forgotten’ was a declaration that ‘I still don’t have much of a clue’. Things didn’t stop there either.
While the official system and channels were a step behind, social media stepped in. Unregulated and uncensored social media has flooded the earth with videos and images that no human would ever want to see. Social media has overtaken the mainstream media.
By Sunday, when the conflict zone was under the control of the Israeli army and the civilian Internet came under control, the flow of news eased slightly. Satisfied by watching old scenes again and again. Channels and other traditional media went dark again. No information was received. In those days everyone was focused on assumptions and reviews.
After fully regaining control of the area by Tuesday, the Israeli military took their beloved media and journalists on a tour there. It was during such a tour to the town of Kafar Asa that the now controversial news of ’40 children’s throats were killed’ broke out. Nicole Sadek, a reporter for i24, a government-oriented channel, is the first to tell this information. They say 40 children were beheaded here while reporting live in Kafar Asa. It was later tweeted on the channel’s English Twitter handle. The world was shaken by the news. Other channels were taken over by the Israeli army and government. But, later, the authenticity of this news was doubted. By then, Nicole Sadek posted another note on her Twitter handle with a slight amendment. In it, this information was explained as if it was innocuous that ‘soldiers told him’.
Later that night, Turkey’s Anadolu news agency contacted the IDF (Israeli Defense Force). But they claimed that they had no information about this news. There were also indications that a soldier who regularly hurled racial abuse at Palestinians was behind the false propaganda. Sky News in the US has taken the position that they do not report the news because the news lacks credibility. CNN later said that the Israeli military would not confirm.
But it was big news in all the major tabloids in Britain on Wednesday. What’s more, US President Joe Biden reacted as if he had seen footage of the incident at a press conference on Wednesday. Within an hour, however, the White House issued a correction. The correction was that he had not seen the President. But those who are well aware of the impact of this flagrant campaign are still trying to keep it burning.
IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus, a regular on Facebook and Instagram Live for war news briefings, repeated the news as if it were authentic during a regular briefing on Thursday morning.
The Israeli attack on Syria’s Damascus and Aleppo airports on Thursday evening was also first broken by social media. By the time the news started appearing on the channels, additional information reached the social media that the plane of the Iranian minister was about to land there. Observers released information using flight route data that the Iranian plane was flying back to Tehran.
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