Latma

Latma (Hebrew: לאטמה‎, translation from Arabic "slap in the face") is a right-wing[1] Israeli media criticism website that also produces a weekly satirical news show.

Latma
Type of site
Satire and News website
OwnerShlomo Blass
EditorCaroline Glick
LaunchedDecember 2008

The website was created in 2008 by a group of journalists claiming that "the only way to improve the Public discourse is exposing the true face of the news and journalism in whole". According to the site, the majority of the Israeli media, and especially the satire that is presented in them, lean to the political left. The site contains criticism about media outlets, reporters and journalists. The criticism is mostly directed towards politically biased articles. The site's editor, Caroline Glick, told the Jerusalem Post that the group was founded with the intention of using comedy to critique the "egregious leftist slant of news coverage in this country."[2]

According to The New York Times, Latma "is an initiative of the Center for Security Policy, a Washington think tank."[3] The Latma website editor, Caroline Glick, serves as Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Center for Security Policy.[4]

The site's editor is Caroline Glick. The regular writers are Shuky Blass and Avishai Ivri. The site's CEO is Shlomo Blass.

Latma TV

LatmaTV is staffed by Tal Gil'ad (screenplay), Avishay Ivri, the editor, directors Aviv and Yoni Karsutzki, writers Noam Jacobson and Yehuda Safra, and the actors. Guest writers include Shlomi Cohen Tzemah ("Catz") and Itay Elitzur.

The Tribal Update

One of Latma's creations is "The Tribal Update", a mock news show, featuring anchors Ronit Shapira (née Avrahamof) and Elchanan Even-Chen. CBS News characterizes the program as "a parody TV show — kind of like Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update." According to CBS, the anchor gravely explains, in Hebrew, that "this is the newscast that reaches conclusions long before the facts are known."[5]

Swedish antisemitism satire

Following the 2009 Aftonbladet-Israel controversy, in which a writer for Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet alleged that the IDF harvested organs of Palestinians, LatmaTV produced a clip a parody on ABBA's song "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme a Man After Midnight" entitled Primi Primi Primitive and Phlegmatic in which the Swedish foreign minister sings about how primitive and cowardly he is. The clip became a hit after it was quickly picked up by the leading newspaper in Sweden, DN.se, and by Swedish and Norwegian bloggers. Latma website director Shlomo Blass said, "We were surprised by how quickly the clip took-off, we must have hit a sensitive nerve".[6]

We Con the World
Main article: We Con the World

In 2010 Latma produced a viral video entitled We Con the World satirizing the political intentions of activists aboard the MV Mavi Marmara, the Turkish-owned flagship that led the "blockade busting" Free Gaza flotilla.[7][8] The video is a parody of the 1985 song "We Are the World," by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.[9] Israeli Government Press Office officials accidentally sent it to a list of journalists, and three hours later sent an apology describing the emailed video as having been "inadvertently released."[9][10][11] The clip received over 3 million hits on YouTube.[12]

In July 2011, while the second flotilla to Gaza was planned, Latma released another parody about the flotilla: a parody of Beach Boys' song and video Fun, Fun, Fun called Guns, Guns, Guns, where the flotilla sailors sing about their purpose: to bring weapons to Gaza. This video had less success than We Con the World.

The Three Terrors

The Three Terrors was produced in June 2010 as a sequel to We Con the World. It features three tenors who represent Iran, Turkey and Syria and who resemble Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Bashar Assad singing joyfully about using terrorism to conquer the world "from Tennessee to Teheran."[13]

Other videos

In August 2010, Latma release a parody of Tom Jones's song and video "Sex Bomb" called The Iranian Bomb, where a fictional Iranian Minister of Destruction sings about his plans to acquire nuclear weapons. The goal of the video is to bring worldwide attention to the Iranian nuclear program.[14]

Hakol Shafit

In 2015, the show began to air on Channel 1 under the name Hakol Shafit.[15]

Awards
  • Latma was awarded the Israel Media Watch 2011 prize, given to "organizations that made courageous, meaningful, and quality contributions to the criticism of the media in Israel". It was chosen by an online poll involving over 4,000 voters.[16] According to Israel Media Watch, Latma brings balance to the left-wing bias of mainstream Israeli satire.[17]

References
  1. "Israel's Channel 1 to broadcast right-wing satirical show". Haaretz. Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  2. One on One: Right hook to the funny bone of the body politic, The Jerusalem Post, 3/18/2009.
  3. Israelis Explain, and Mock, Flotilla Clash, June 4, 2010, Rober Mackey, New York Times.
  4. "The Center for Security Policy Staff". Center for Security Policy. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  5. Israeli "Newscast" Satirizes Raid Critics, June 4, 2010, Dan Raviv.
  6. Swedish anti-Semitism satire clip a hit, Jerusalem Post 18-09-2009
  7. Flotilla Choir: 'We Con the World', Tzippe Barrow, June 4, 2010, Christian Broadcasting Network.
  8. Barillas, Martin (June 4, 2010), Parody video mocks the deadly Gaza Flotilla, Energy Publisher, archived from the original on June 10, 2010.
  9. PR blunder: Israeli government’s press office sends Flotilla incident parody video to journalists Archived 2010-06-08 at the Wayback Machine June 4, 2010, BNO News.
  10. Israëlische excuses na pr-blunder (in Dutch), NL: NU.
  11. Gaffe di Israele: video-farsa sulla strage della nave, La Stampa (4/6/2010)
  12. YouTube removes ‘We Con the World’ video, The Jerusalem Post 14-06-2010
  13. CBN News: The Three Terrors. June 21, 2010.
  14. Hoffman, Gil (August 25, 2010). "New Spoof Video Targets Iran". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2010-08-25.
  15. Har-Zahav, Nir; Yashar, Ari (November 5, 2014). "Right-Wing Satire Latma Finally Reaching a TV Screen Near You". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  16. Hartman, Ben (January 3, 2011). "'Post' Reporter, Latma Site Win Award for Media Criticism". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  17. Pollak, Eli; Medad, Israel (August 17, 2011). "One-sided humor is not funny". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
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