“There Is An Unbridgeable Gap Between Our Work And The Magnitude Of Brutal Violence”: Keshet CEO Avi Nir Explains How Israel’s Biggest Media Organization Has Transformed Into A 24/7 News Operation
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“There is an unbridgeable gap between our work and the magnitude of brutal violence,” the CEO of Israel’s largest media organization has told Deadline as the violent conflict sparked by Hamas’ brutal attacks on the nation nears its second week.
Avi Nir explained how, within hours, Keshet went from ordinary service to becoming a 24/7 news operation, as TV and film production was swiftly shut down across the country. He paid tribute to journalists who have “helped rescue wounded people from the field and located missing people, all while working 20-hour days.”
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“In an event of this scale, it’s hard to immediately fathom the scope of atrocities and horror,” Nir said via email exchange with Deadline from Tel Aviv. “But once you grasp it you immerse yourself in it 24/7, with a clear view on our mission, which is to report from the ground, continue to update, analyze, and to convey the tragedy and pain, all while providing hope and encouragement to the public.”
Last Saturday, Hamas launched an offensive against Israel, killing hundreds and kidnapping more than 100 people, and by the following day all local Israeli TV productions, excluding broadcasts providing news updates, had been placed on hold following a directive from the Israeli army. While TV production has shuttered, Deadline understands development has continued and some of Keshet’s non-Israeli-based staff will be at Mipcom Cannes next week.
The situation has escalated vastly over past days and is incredibly fast moving. Observers are concerned about all-out war across the Middle East, while Israel has formed a unity government and is ordering an evacuation of Gaza City.
Deadline has been speaking with Israeli TV and film execs all week, the vast majority of whom know someone who has been killed or kidnapped. The current death toll across Israel and Palestine is estimated at around 2,500.
“The grief cannot be described in words, it has no border and no solace,” said Nir. “The stories and faces that emerge from the Israeli television screen reveal a layer of heroism, innocence, beauty, love, sacrifice and loss is impossible, simply impossible to watch without feeling piercing pain and suffocation, and without tearing up.”
Nir told Deadline how Keshet quickly retooled to become a 24/7 news service. Keshet 12 News has taken over all channel broadcasts, with news reporters and commentators deployed at around 20 points to report around the clock.
Reporters are covering news stories from every angle, airing “heartbreaking documentations from Netiv Haasara, Be’eri, Nir Am and other communities and massacre scenes in the communities near the Gaza Strip that made even rescue teams burst into tears,” along with “highlighting Hamas’ use of fake news.” One reporter, Adva Dadon, took to Instagram to say she is fronting “broadcasts that I never thought I would have to broadcast,” as she is torn between covering the conflict and the hospital where her partner is recovering. Another, Dany Cushmaro, said “there is a lot of sadness, anger and rage, but we will get through it.”
Keshet has also assembled what Nir described as an “internal guerrila team made up of digital media professionals and PR experts,” who are producing and distributing short clips from the events worldwide in English and, shortly, in other languages.
The likes of Israeli superstar Gal Gadot are sharing this content, “exposing the world to the unparalleled atrocities that have taken place in the Gaza envelope,” Nir said.
Viewers have been tuning in in droves. According to Keshet, TV viewing has gone up by nearly 50% to more than 600 minutes per day, with share of linear audience doubling to 70%. At the outbreak of war, a peak of 2 million Israeli citizens – more than one-fifth of the entire population – were tuning in, while 50% of Israelis watched Joe Biden’s statement earlier this week.
Paying tribute
Working from Israel means Keshet is constantly prepared for these sorts of emergency broadcast operations, Nir said, but he could never have imagined the scale of this week, which he described as a “surprise brutal terror attack.”
He paid tribute to his employees.
“I admire the editors and reporters for their restraint and professionalism, for their sensitivity and genuine emotion towards the unbearable images, the incomprehensible stories, the conversations they had in real time with people during the most difficult situations imaginable,” concluded Nir.
“The same applies to our camera operators, sound engineers, producers, researchers, managers and staff, all of whom have been working non-stop with courage, diligence, professionalism, responsibility and humanity, and yes – with faith, hope and love for Israel and Israelis.”
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