Following the crash of the "Bat" helicopter and the disaster in the Egoz unit, the IDF set up a committee to examine casualty messages with the aim of finding a way to balance the immediate media and the rapid dissemination of information on social networks and the need to inform families of victims about the disaster. ACA, General Yaniv Asur, and IDF Spokesman Brigadier General Ran Kochav (Rencho).
On Tuesday (Sunday), the committee convened for the first time, and in accordance with the letter of appointment, its recommendations will be presented by May 1 this year, in about a month.
The trigger for the establishment of the committee was, as mentioned, the two disasters that befell the IDF at the beginning of the year, in which, as in previous cases, details of deaths and injuries were circulated through social media and various media before the bereaved families were updated.
In both cases, the bereaved families received information about the disaster that befell them through the media and social networks even before the arrival of official casualty informers, a fact that violated a respectable practice for decades and was based on concern for the bereaved families.
In the "bat" disaster, Knesset members who provided information before it was allowed to publish also sinned.
Thus, MK Ram Ben-Barak (Yesh Atid) and David Amsalem (Likud) addressed the situation of the pilots before the official announcement. Ben-Barak announced that they were not killed in the incident based on unreliable information from social networks, while Amsalem issued a condolence message to families before the end The rescue and before the announcement of the IDF Spokesman.
Former Navy Commander Maj. Gen. (Res.) Eliezer Marom (Cheney) also expressed condolences in a media interview before the families received an orderly message.
In the past, other similar serious cases have occurred, the most famous of which is the unfortunate death of the late Assaf Ramon, when his mother, Rona, received the news of his death not through the official announcement, but from the media.
Today's media reality, in a global network age, entails a constant tension between the speed of reporting and reliability and accuracy.
In the current state of affairs, it is not certain that the flow of information and its dissemination can be stopped through social registration during an event, but the IDF understands that new thinking is needed regarding media communication and its adaptation to the new technological reality. "Formulation of recommendations regarding the mechanism for announcing spokespersons and how to disseminate information to the media, with an emphasis on the use of digital capabilities and in short time periods."
The committee is headed by the IDF's Chief Quality and Safety Officer, Brigadier General Gvaram Hagalili, and its members include a former casualty lieutenant colonel and a bereaved mother, Col. (Res.) Varda Pomeranz, a former communications lieutenant colonel, Col. (Res. ') Yael Wolf, the journalist and bereaved brother, Razi Barkai, former deputy editor of "Israel Today", Ariel Schmidberg, MDA spokesman, and representatives of the IDF spokesman and military censorship.
Recall that last month the Knesset approved in a preliminary reading the bill "Prohibition of publication and distribution of names of victims" according to which anyone who publishes names of victims in wars, road accidents, work accidents, terrorist acts, etc. four hours after the event before issuing an official notice For the families of the injured party without proof of damage in the amount of NIS 7,500.
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