Mark Gallagher wrote:
G'day Steven,
After reading all of this, I only have one question left...is the Register ever considered a reliable source per WP:Notability? Is there some way we can list it as being unsuitable for referencing?
/The Register/ is a tabloid. It's trashy, chatty, often interesting[0], sometimes relevant, frequently inaccurate. So is /The Daily Telegraph/. So is /The New York Post/. So is /The Daily Mail/.
For our purposes, the only major difference between /The Register/ and, say, /The Herald Sun/ is that the Reg had the temerity to make mistakes in an article about Wikipedia[1], instead of in every other article.
We really should be more objective in our evaluation. Putting The Register on the same footing as these other publications doesn't help in places where these publications are not regularly circulated. Indeed, the broad online community may be more familiar with The Register than with these dead-tree publications. Blanket claims that they are trashy are not convincing to the critical thinker. Those claims are always someone's POV.
I wouldn't trust it, but then I wouldn't trust most tabloids. And there are those who say the same about Wikipedia.
If they said anything else they wouldn't be doing their jobs.
Ec