On video: Itamar Ben Gabir at the scene of the attack in Jerusalem (photo: according to Section 27 A of the Copyright Law)
The Saturday night studios' vanity show, the smug panels and the weak debates - most of them, at least - were interrupted after the horrifying reports began to arrive about the murderous spree outside a synagogue in the Neve Ya'akov neighborhood of Jerusalem, which claimed the lives of at least seven people.
At once the recordings stopped, and the studios changed: Danny Kushmaro and Gili Cohen, for example, at 12 and 11 respectively, found themselves almost alone in the studio, in a completely different tone, when the shouting and background noises are replaced by silence accompanied by heavy anguish.
This change of mindset is symbolic, but essential.
This is not always the case, but in events of this type, you can see the essence of the storm of spirits unfolding in the broadcasts: the astonishment, the rage, the helplessness, the confusion - everything is reflected on the screen.
In the first stage, the very thought of a murder leaving the synagogue is shocking to the point of paralysis.
Without the panel, alone, this silence resonates much more.
Kushmaro's voice says it all: where do you even begin?
The live broadcasts roll on for them with the collection of initial details, illustrations, photographs of vehicles and maps, until the reporters arrive at the scene themselves.
In the meantime, it is the first paramedic who arrives at the scene, a resident of Beit Hanina, who is required to give his victim answers.
The presenter asks him what he thinks about the situation and the tension.
Paddy, his voice trembling, answers: "The tension is not healthy. I pray for peace."
There weren't many other comments meant to calm the spirits on this difficult evening.
The rage is the more available channel, and it attracts more ratings.
The rest of the pictures from the arena did not excel in televised restraint or particularly responsible editing, and this, unfortunately, is not a new matter either.
The screen projects, among other things, puddles of blood on the floor, and they are bright, threatening to drown the viewer.
This is also how the televised manipulation is exposed: the desire to stimulate the shock glands with all its might in an event that is horrifying enough in itself is irresponsible at best, blunt and rude at average, and cynical at worst.
The astonishment, the rage, the helplessness.
"Friday Studio" in the broadcast after the attack in Neve Ya'akov, Jerusalem (photo: screenshot, Keshet 12)
The desperate search for drama after the event was actually over left the editors with few options, which led to intensive coverage of Minister Itamar Ben Gabir's arrival on the scene, and the broadcast from the scene found itself becoming almost a propaganda show (of course we heard how he left the family on Shabbat evening, as if it was a favor or not Required).
Ben Gvir didn't really talk to the journalists, but they still accompanied him non-stop, just to have something to broadcast live.
What's the point of all this?
Breaking news is not.
And after the confusion, anger also comes: winds of rage and disgust echo from afar and seep into the broadcast: fireworks of joy are set off from East Jerusalem neighborhoods, people outside the frame who gather at the scene shout "death to the terrorists" and also, according to the reports on the ground, "death to the Arabs" and "death to the leftists".
These colors and sounds come closer to the viewers, stimulate percolation, warm the blood - and alertness rises.
They start talking about reactions and what will follow them.
The broadcast is a preparation for danger, for the next disaster.
And it is always there, the next disaster, and also the previous disaster.
At the end of every cruel report.
At one point, Barhano Tagnia located two of the residents of the neighborhood, who at the time of the shooting were eating Shabbat dinner with their families.
What happened after you heard the shots, Tagnia asked.
"We are Jerusalemites, we are used to these things. We continued as usual," they said.
"If something happens, we already know how to calm the children down."
Many things shook everything on Friday night, but these routine sentences, on the sidelines of this all-too-horrible event, hurt in their own right.
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