Etgar Keret reports on the flotilla

Does this picture soothe you?  It soothes me.

While we are all frantically consuming as much news as possible, filling up the comment sections of sites that slander either one side or the other, and generally worrying,  Etgar Keret is reporting the reporting process for HaAretz.

At 7 A.M. yesterday, the newspaper called to tell me I would be its diplomatic correspondent for the day. They apologized for the early hour, but “after all, it’s going to be a long day, not to say critical. We have nine killed, dozens wounded, denunciations from the whole world …. And today is the day when someone will have to take responsibility for this snafu.”

It’s always interesting to find out how the media finds out what it finds out.  My favorite part is,

But don’t worry, he added, we’ve thought of something else: We spoke to the defense minister’s aide, and he said Barak would be willing to take you with him in his helicopter from Jerusalem to the naval commando base at Atlit. But you’ll have to vanish as soon as you arrive, because the base is top secret.

“And during the flight he’ll agree to answer questions?” I asked.

“Well, the thing is,” the editor responded, “he’d love to answer, but it’s impossible because there’s noise in the helicopter …. But his aide says you can write down your impressions. You know, of the view, his facial expressions. We understand this isn’t a lot, but it’s still information. You can observe and interpret for our readers whether he looks more determined or more guilty.”