Kattenberg Page: the Pravda Issue Congrats Esther Yoo! (Above/Page
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Vol. 7, Issue 3 December 2010 KATTENBERG PAGE: THE PRAVDA ISSUE CONGRATS ESTHER YOO! (ABOVE/PAGE 12) - MEDIA BIAS - WIKILEAKS REPUBLICANS - NORTH KOREA - HONG KONG MINIMUM WAGE - MUSLIM INTEGRATION BRITISH COMEDY - AFRICAN BAZAAR - CAKE AUCTION - WINTER SPORTS DECEMBER 10 KATTENBERGCONTENTS news & opinion community & features 2 Media Bias 12 Esther Yoo 4,5 Wikileaks 15 Managing the VB Team 6 Republican Takeover 16 British Comedy 6 North Korea 16 African Bazaar 7 HK adopts minimum wage 17 Seventh Wonder 8 Canada elects Muslim 18 Cake Auction 9 Dangers of Muslim EU 18 Hunger Games 10 Fox News 19 Winter Sports We live in a world of limited resources and increasing demand. Becoming an international citi- zen is about the environmental impact of decisions we make, and the responsibility this under- standing brings. It is for this reason that all school publications are printed using vegetal ink on products from controlled sources, managed forests, recycled wood or fibre or 100% recycled papers. DECEMBER 2010 thestaff from the editor Dear High School, SR EDITOR IN CHIEF Matthew Finney As 2010 draws to an end, we say LAYOUT EDITOR goodbye to a year whose events provided much inspiration for the J.P. Carroll SENIOR EDITOR writers of Pravda. From oil leaks, to Harry Cross SENIOR EDITOR Wikileaks, and the dazzling successes of ISB violinist Esther Yoo and those of Joanna Heinz SENIOR EDITOR the right-wing tea-pot crackpots of the United States Republican Party. As we rename our publication for one issue only (“Pravda”: Russian for truth, and the Shawn D’Souza RUBRIC EDITOR name of various long-running periodicals in that part of the world), the timing could hardly be more Anne Brennan FACULTY ADVISOR appropriate: Tina Shobbrook FACULTY ADVISOR The recent disclosure of various private documents from the shadowy world of U.S. diplomacy via the internet site Wikileaks should make us realize the STAFF WRITERS power that the press and public scrutiny can have. Jaewan Bahk We are reminded that even in the most advanced Adele Clifford and democratic societies, those in power will behave Phoebe Galt in an often shocking manner if they believe they David Haughan can do so secretly (who would have guessed that Jack Hull Hillary Clinton ordered U.S. foreign services to Jenny Lee collect credit card information and private passwords on U.N. officials, including Ban Ki-moon?). The Jennifer Light cost of knowing is always small next to the power Georgia Littlechild of knowledge, and leaders now find themselves Max Pässler accountable like never before for the opinions they Rebecca Tanda hold and act on. By releasing knowledge to the general public, Wikileaks has empowered us in world affairs. Special Thanks to Amanda The greatest impact of the Wikileaks will not be Shorten for IT and printing the revelations themselves, but the new era of support. journalism that is emerging, as it is increasingly difficult for politicians and diplomats to carry out their business behind closed doors. In writing and reading a school newspaper, we stand poised to inherit this new era, ushered in by the new forum of Interested in writing? free speech: the internet. Wikileaks is an early, bold step in this direction. If you would like to submit writing to the Kattenberg Page, A member of the ISB community, Howard Gutman please feel free to do so! Just (Ambassador of the United States of America to the send an e-mail with your piece Kingdom of Belgium), has had the honor of being Wikileaked: in a private conversation with Herman attached to the editors at Van Rompuy, the President of the European Council, [email protected] he told (continued on page 2) No article is meant to cause serious insult to any reader. If you feel you have been wrongly accused or personally insulted, you are entitled to a right of reply. Contact either the editors or the teacher advisors, or email [email protected]. No writer should be harassed or insulted over opinions stated in any article. news & opinion (continued from page 1) Ambassador Gutman that he no longer believed in military success in Afghanistan and that Europe “will go along out of deference to the United States, but not out of deference to Afghanistan.” Also, a leaked message to Hillary Clinton from the Ambassador has confirmed the suspicion that American nuclear weapons are being eptk on Belgian territory at the Kleine-Brogel airbase in Limbourg. Editor At a time when the freedom and power of the press are both pressing issues in discussions around the world, it is with great pleasure that I present the December 2010 issue of Pravda (including articles criticizing Wikileaks). From the Happy Holidays, Harry Harry Cross Co-Editor-in-Chief News: Friend or Foe? REBECCA TANDA News: the good, the bad, the are directly sourced from the news into the statements made by an ar- ugly, and the leaked. It’s over- website from which the article ticle in The Guardian, stating that whelming at times, especially now, came. “Qatar is using the Arabic news during the biggest leaking of confi- On a final note, I will spoil channel al-Jazeera as a bargaining dential information in history, is it myself (and maybe a few of you) chip in foreign policy negotiations” enough to just read anything? It by one brisk line of opinion, a and what Al Jazeera has published is an optimum time to inspect our question actually in response to in response. news in a time when there is an the unified “it keeps the public On CNN’s site the leaks focus abundance of it, a lot which quite safe.” What is safe about an igno- a lot on the implications the USA understandably people wanted to rant, unaware public? We’ve seen will have in relation to Iran and be kept confidential. When having the consequences too many times Iraq. In an article titled “WikiLeaks conversations about media bias to take the posterity for granted. revelations ‘psychological war’ with peers, among the most recur- Following tlhis story was against Iran” and believe that “the ring comments were “it’s biased more difficult due to the breadth releases have seriously damaged anyways to read news” and “it’s of information ranging from the U.S. security interests and inter- necessary to keep it confidential. footage of US and NATO troops national relations.” (CNN article). It saves lives. It keeps the public committing war crimes, the Julian The article ends by quoting Iranian safe.” Assange (Wikileaks founder) sex “Foreign Ministry spokesman Ra- The table below displays crimes, and the effects the leaked min Mehmanparast [who] called the news stations from which the information will have on diploma- the WikiLeaks revelations ‘highly information was taken. A short cy. There are a few headlines on dubious,’ according to the state- paragraph follows these stories but the subject from each station and run IRNA news agency.” any quotes, titles, dates or authors key quotes. Lastly, a special look When looking into the IR- Name and Headquarters Languages Year Launched Owned by Al Jazeera - Qatar English 1996 Shaki Hamad Thamer (also owns BBC Arabic Middle East) CNN - USA English 1980 Turner Broadcasting systems Spanish Arabic BBC - UK English 1922 UK state Der Spiegel - Germany German 1947 Spiegel Verlag English IRNA - Iran Arabic 1934 Islamic Republic of Iran English Haaretz -Israel Hebrew 1919 The Schocken Family (Salman Schoken: English Jewish German fled Nazi Germany and set- ting up oldest News station in Israel) The Daily Telegraph - UK English 1855 Telegraph Media Group 2 news & opinion NA’s site I could not find the arti- then it’s the result of American and and influence in the region.(http:// cle with the corresponding quota- Zionist propaganda. www.spiegel.de/international/ tion from CNN (a lot of time was SPIEGEL ONLINE: Are your world/0,1518,733060,00.html, no spent on the site since it was origi- fellow Iranians able to view the corresponding article was found nally planned to use it as a prima- WikiLeaks disclosures on the In- on IRNA site.) ry source). However, Haaretz has ternet, or is the site blocked, like so Both The Guardian and Al published an article that touches many others in Iran? Jazeera have a tab on their home upon the same remark from Ra- Mashai: Anyone can access page, “The US Embassy Files” min Mehmanparast and of “Docu- the site. Why should be block it? and have been following the story ments posted by WikiLeaks last We are a great nation that doesn’t since the very first leaks appeared week recount Iran’s alleged role have a problem with such disclo- in July. (In addition, the Guard- in arming and training Shiite mi- sures. Our nation is smart enough ian keeps many of them on file at litias in Iraq, where Tehran has to see through this campaign. their website.) It then redirects to also sought to influence politics.” SPIEGEL ONLINE: Are you a separate page that focuses on all (Haaretz Article). surprised by the clarity with which aspects of the WikiLeaks incident. Der Spiegel provides an in- some Gulf States, as well as Egypt, The Guardian’s comment was terview with Iranian Presidential call upon the United States to stop published on December 6th and Advisor Esfandiar Rahim Mas- Tehran’s nuclear ambitions? Al Jazeera ’s response was prompt, hai who “in an interview with Mashai: These documents and was published in the evening SPIEGEL ONLINE, he says that are not authentic. The national in- of the same day. Washington’s goal is to play off terests of the United States and its “Wiki Leaks cables claim al- the governments in the Middle allies are behind this.