Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2023 February 23

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February 23

"They confirmed a news about Archy"

What the heck is the actual news? I tried to plow through the pages, but skillfully they keep talking about different other things about the Royals but mentioning the actual news is avoided. There is a photo of him and I first suspected of him being Down, simply because the mother is old, but then I changed my mind. He seems to be normal in this respect. So, it is still a mystery for me. AboutFace 22 (talk) 01:43, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

Not exactly sure what you're asking, but the word "news" is usually a mass noun in English, not a count noun, so the section-header sounds odd. AnonMoos (talk) 01:53, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

Where did you see this? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:09, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

If this is about the first child of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, his given name is spelled "Archie".  --Lambiam 10:26, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

38 is not "old". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:22, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

Back to the OP's original question. I'm not sure what specific story you are referring too, but it looks an awful lot like what is called an "arbitrage scam". In such a scam, a story with a tempting hook is posted on line (in this case, some new information about the royal child) in the hope that it will tempt readers to click through a slideshow containing a large number of pages in order to find out what the big deal is about. Each one of the pages generates revenue for the business posting the story, and if one can get readers to click through 20+ pages in the hope of finding out the answer (in this case, what's the big news about Archy) the business comes out ahead, generating more revenue than it costs to post the story. It's a scam, there is no story, and most sites will require that such "stories" be marked as "advertisement", but it's often done in such a discreet manner that many readers will miss it. Xuxl (talk) 13:27, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

Quite so. Snopes have debunked what I think must be the story in question, that Prince Archie supposedly has Down syndrome, here. In brief, they find there's absolutely no reason to suppose the story's true. --Antiquary (talk) 18:23, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

Is this Lawrence Benjamin Brown

Paul Robeson performs at Birmingham Town Hall on 7 March 1939, in aid of a local charity, the Birmingham Mail Christmas Tree Fund. The advertised pianist was Lawrence Brown.

Can we state with confidence that the pianist in the adjacent image is Lawrence Benjamin Brown? There are better photos of Brown online, but I'm not the best at matching faces. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 14:14, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

While quite unlikely, it is theoretically conceivable that Brown fell ill just before the concert and was replaced by a look-alike. So, unless the article in the Birmingham Mail of 8 March 1939 (or another source) positively identifies the pianist at the event as Brown, we cannot be fully certain.  --Lambiam 12:51, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

My question is, whether people think that looks like Brown. If they do, I'm prepared to apply Occam's razor. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 13:32, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

Given the low quality image, and the fact that we can only see part of the face, the most anyone can really say is it looks like a whole lot of people, which might possibly include Brown. AndyTheGrump (talk) 13:34, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

References

Alberta Hunter and Tony Jackson

Our article Alberta Hunter says "By 1914 she was receiving lessons from a prominent jazz pianist, Tony Jackson" - was this the Tony Jackson (pianist) about whom we have an article? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 17:00, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

I'm fairly sure the answer is yes, but I couldn't prove it in a way that isn't a bit synthy. The cited source doesn't give any more details on Jackson. This biography of Hunter mentions her performing with Tony Jackson around 1914, who is credited with writing "Pretty Baby". This makes it clear it's referencing Tony Jackson (pianist). It's possible, but unlikely, that the two sources are referring to different Tony Jacksons, with whom Hunter would have interacted in the same few years. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 17:14, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

The book Identities and Place, on page 217, introduces 'ragtime/jazz artist Antonio "Tony" Jackson', clearly the Tony Jackson about whom we have an article, and then mentions "Alberta Hunter (a student of Tony Jackson)".  --Lambiam 12:38, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

Exclusion of Russia from UN Security Council

Can anyone tell what has actually happened to this initiative to ban Russia from the Security Council by now? I couldn't find any relevant updates on the process. Hildeoc (talk) 21:27, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

The transfer of the Soviet Union's security council seat to Russia was greatly facilitated by the fact that the Ukrainian SSR and Byelorussian SSR had separate United Nations memberships from the beginning. (Russia was also the only nuclear-weapons-possessing state to emerge from the breakup of the Soviet Union.) Not sure how Russia could be expelled from the security council without being expelled from the UN (that was what happened to Taiwan)... AnonMoos (talk) 23:36, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

From Russia and the United Nations:

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya and some members[12] of the United States Congress have called for the suspension or expulsion of Russia from the United Nations and its organs and removing its veto power, which violated Article 6 of the Charter. Such a move would require an amendment of Article 23 of the UN Charter to remove Russia's membership as a permanent member of the Security Council (assuming Russia is validly the successor of the USSR).[13][14] The legality of such a move has been disputed.[3][15]

--Error (talk) 13:15, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

Critical and Western journalism in Russia

I basically have two major concerns:

1. How come Western media outlets have by now reinstalled their correspondents in Russia, after they had withdrawn them due to the aggravation of pertinent media laws regarding the war on Ukraine? What has changed in this respect making it possible for Western correspondents to not fear prosecution anymore?
2. In view of these legal aggravations, why are independent Russian outlets like The Moscow Times still allowed to operate, despite their critical coverage (also frankly using the term "war", i.a.)?

Hildeoc (talk) 23:07, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

The article you linked to says that "The Moscow Times" is now an online-only publication based in Amsterdam, so I'm not sure what you're asking there. And have the other organizations merely sent individual reporters into Russia, without re-establishing the offices and such that they formerly had? AnonMoos (talk) 23:23, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

Oh, you're absolutely right there about The Moscow Times. Sorry, I didn't realize that in the first place – my mistake! Considering your second question, I can at least confirm this for German TV: Both public and private channels have Moscow-based correspondents openly reporting live (still or again). How is this possible considering the severe legal threats? Hildeoc (talk) 01:49, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

"We have considered the implications of the new legislation alongside the urgent need to report from inside Russia. After careful deliberation we have decided to resume English language reporting from Russia this evening (Tuesday 8 March), after it was temporarily suspended at the end of last week. We will tell this crucial part of the story independently and impartially, adhering to the BBC’s strict editorial standards. The safety of our staff in Russia remains our number one priority.”

BBC statement on reporting from within Russia - update. Alansplodge (talk) 09:29, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

I checked RTVE. The Moscow correspondent Érika Reija left Moscow "temporarily" in 2022. Reija is still listed as the Moscow correspondent, maybe by lack of updating. Reports from Moscow came from the EFE correspondent who talked about the "special military operation". However I noticed RTVE reporting from Moscow about Putin's last speech. From February 21

"A Putin no le gusta la prensa, nunca le ha gustado. Desde sus inicios no aguanta a los periodistas", expone a RTVE.es el corresponsal de la Agencia EFE en Moscú, Ignacio Ortega, que en sus 14 años en Rusia ha vivido una involución que también ha afectado a su trabajo. Las agencias se han convertido, cuenta, en portavoces de los organismos oficiales y acceder a sus fuentes se antoja ahora imposible. "Me dijeron en su momento que tienen miedo, que no quieren hablar de la guerra, y la gente en la calle tampoco. ¿Cómo puede trabajar un periodista si no tiene fuentes?", se pregunta.

No se puede comparar, sin embargo, con la persecución a la que se enfrenta el periodismo nacional. "Los extranjeros ya no trabajan igual, pero no es comparable la presión que sufre la prensa local. Desde la caída de la URSS han sido asesinados cientos de periodistas locales, pero como en todo país autoritario, no hay la misma presión sobre la prensa extranjera".

Una de las primeras cosas que ha llamado la atención a la corresponsal de RTVE en Moscú, Lara Prieto, que llegó a la capital hace apenas dos semanas, fue lo complicado que es acceder a la agenda del Kremlin. "Difunden los eventos sólo a través de las agencias rusas y esos contenidos son de pago", expone. Además, cuenta, el regulador ruso de medios tiene vetado el acceso a la web de medios extranjeros, "la respuesta de las autoridades rusas al bloqueo en la UE a los medios estatales rusos RT y Sputnik".

I bolded the relevant parts. They say that foreign media is less persecuted than Russian media but has obstacles. RTVE went back two weeks ago.

--Error (talk) 13:16, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

I want to challenge the premise that Western media are back to normal reporting in Russia. The CBC/Radio Canada office in Moscow, which dated back to Cold War days, was closed by Russia shortly after the start of the invasion and has not reopened. Correspondents have been reassigned to cover developments in Russia from neighboring countries. Some news outlets were not closed, such as EFE mentioned above, but their reporters have to conform to draconian rules about what can be reported. I also see a lot less coverage of Russian affairs on French media, and most reports use stock footage, or footage culled from Russian TV broadcasts, and often reporters are filing their stories from outside Russia - again a marked difference from pre-invasion days. Contrast this with Ukraine where all major western media have reporters on the ground, or send reporters into the country on a regular basis. It's nowhere near a back to normal situation in Russia and it's a major problem as it helps the Russian government to impose a news blackout on its own citizens. Opposition media in Russia have also been greatly curtailed: for example, Ekho Moskvy, have been forced to move to a strictly on-line presence (they used to be one of the most popular radio stations in the capital). Xuxl (talk) 13:29, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

Courtesy translation (which is almost word for word Google Translate as my knowledge of Spanish is zero):

Putin doesn't like the press, he never has. Since its inception, he hasn't put up with journalists," Ignacio Ortega, the correspondent for Agencia EFE in Moscow, told RTVE.es, who in his 14 years in Russia has experienced a regression that has also affected his work. The agencies have become, he says, spokespersons for official bodies and accessing their sources now seems impossible. "They told me at the time that they are afraid, that they don't want to talk about the war, and neither do the people on the street. How can a journalist work if he has no sources?", he wonders.

It cannot be compared, however, with the persecution that national journalism faces. "Foreigners no longer work the same, but the pressure suffered by the local press is not comparable. Since the fall of the USSR, hundreds of local journalists have been assassinated, but as in any authoritarian country, there is not the same pressure on the foreign press".

One of the first things that caught the attention of the RTVE correspondent in Moscow, Lara Prieto, who arrived in the capital just two weeks ago, was how difficult it is to access the Kremlin's agenda . "They broadcast the events only through Russian agencies and that content is paid for," she explains. In addition, she says, the Russian media regulator has banned access to the foreign media website, "the response of the Russian authorities to the blockade in the EU of the Russian state media RT and Sputnik."

Fixed the bolding in the translation.

As a counterpoint to the situation in Russia, es:Pablo González Yagüe, a Spanish journalist born in the Soviet Union, has been arrested in Poland since February 2022 under the accusation of espionage for Russia.

--Error (talk) 16:11, 24 February 2023 (UTC)