With an almost impossible level of control over the media’s access to information regarding its attacks on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military is reportedly quite pleased with the “fair” coverage of the international media. But as it expands its own direct coverage of the images they want the world to see of their war, the international media may increasingly be cut out of the loop on war coverage.
The Israeli military has already declared the online media a “war zone” in its own right, and much has been made of their new YouTube channel, even if the accuracy of the captions has been somewhat dicey. But with what the military plans next, they will soon rival the NFL or the NBA for their full suite of offerings for people looking to get information on the killings in the Gaza Strip directly from the organization doing the killing.
There’s the direct contact the military has with over 50 favorable US blogs, and an upcoming cable channel offering on-demand war footage. It’s truly a digital world of war now, and Israelis with 3G cellphones will even be able to receive footage directly to their phone, so they can keep up with the latest air strikes on-the-go.
The footage is only going to better says Lieutenant Colonel Dinor Shavit of the IDF’s Filming Unit, who promises “incredible footage” to be released once the long-promised ground invasion of the Gaza Strip commences. As the Jerusalem Post put it, Israel has entered the new media arena in true military style.