It is impossible to think of a more unfortunate timing for delaying the broadcast of the documentary on Roni Daniel, which was meant to mark the anniversary of his death, than the round of fighting that flared up in Gaza earlier this month.
But it happened, and the irony jumped without a parachute from a combat helicopter when dozens of generals were sitting in the studio and trying hard to step into the shoes of the mythological commentator.
They didn't succeed because Roni Daniel's shoes are the military shoes of a poisoned commander in an alert class who didn't take them off for 30 years.
It was a first round without him.
Every commentator who visited the studios had a weak point - most of them tried to follow his path, but no one managed to be Roni Daniel.
Finally, the IDF decided the fighting too quickly, that is to say - before we had time to locate a worthy successor to the military commentator of News 12.
Now, when the area is quiet, the film "Roni" received a renewed assignment and was broadcast last night (Tuesday) on Channel 12. It was an invested and comprehensive hour-long "lily" (as it is called in the media), which broadly summarized Daniel's life and death.
His life, it turns out, revolved around work.
The interviewees who eulogized him were mostly the stars of the channel - Miyont Levy and Barhano Tagnia, through producers and video editors to military reporters such as Carmela Menashe.
They knew how to tell about the colleague and the friend, and spice it up with anecdotes from the joint work, but their stories were limited.
His life revolved around work.
Ronnie Daniel,
Tzipi Bader's film promised to reveal "the story you didn't know", but concentrated on recreating his life's journeys with an emphasis on his career, and using multiple archival materials.
His family was left out of the film (except for references to the tragedies), and there was also a serious lack of non-involved interviewees.
This has meaning, because Roni Daniel as presented in the film became a character designed for us for commemorative purposes.
The purpose of the piece was to enhance the militant and beloved persona he portrayed in the news, and not to accidentally reveal a mysterious and harsh story.
There is nothing to complain about Keshet, who chose to broadcast such a film at her place.
Daniel was more than just another commentator, he accompanied the reality of our lives for about three decades.
Many Israelis appreciated him, listened to him and trusted him;
A generation of journalists followed his path.
I mean, it is definitely worth giving him honor and a place in the national memory.
However, there is another problem - "Ronnie" came to us immediately after a long interview that was recently broadcast on the weekend news with Moshe Nussbaum, and at the end of a well-publicized retirement party for Rina Mishleh from "Meet the Press", and at a time when the news is flooding us with documentation of Danny Kushmaro's extreme trips.
It gives a sense that the talents of News 12 have become bigger and more famous than the news they report.
Add to the trend the films made about themselves by Assi Ezer and others, the programs about Adir Miller or Rotem Abuhav, and the fact that there isn't a broadcast hour in which one of the programs does not interview some Keshet talent - and you get a channel that deals with itself far too much.
Roni Daniel, as his friends in the film testified, did not join the aforementioned cult of personality. In his life, he was not enthusiastic about being interviewed, he was careful not to reveal personal tragedies in public and tried not to get angry at himself. He kept to himself, despite the prevailing norm in the channel where he worked. Now, a year After his death, the transformation was complete. Reluctantly, he was now revealed in the film, his acquaintances spoke on his behalf in the tragedies he experienced, and kind words poured in from all sides. The film in his memory allowed Roni Daniel to be shaped as a mythical and special character. A reminder of the days when news reporters were not celebrities.
"Roni" - in memory of Roni Daniel, Keshet 12, 10:38 p.m. Were we wrong?
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