From: "Matt Brown" morven@gmail.com
On 7/9/06, Sarah slimvirgin@gmail.com wrote:
The policy is based on common sense, not dogma. When you send a letter to a newspaper for publication, you're expected to supply your name, address, and telephone number so that someone from the newspaper can check that you really did send it.
I've had letters published in many different newspapers and other publications. While all or almost all require such information, I have never, ever had any of them check back.
I'd imagine if I was claiming to be a well-known individual, they MIGHT check it, but even then, I have my doubts whether they would do so every single time.
I've had perhaps six letters published in the Boston Globe over the last fifteen years. They require the city you live in and a telephone number for verification. I've been telephoned for verification twice. I'm not sure exactly what they were verifying--all they did was ask if I was who I said to be, and ask if they had permission to publish the letter.
I haven't been called the last three or four times. I don't know whether they have anything on file or whether they just didn't bother.
Just a data point.
I personally think there's a BIG difference between occasional, casual checking and the _ability_ to verify, and no checking at all.
On the other hand, in the case of, say, a Usenet post that appears to be from, say, a university professor named Dr. John Doe at XYZ University whose email address is john.doe@xyz.edu, whose email address is available from an online directory at www.xyz.edu... if you email that address and say "Are you Dr. John Doe and did you post this?" and he replies "Yes," that's perfectly reasonable verifiability, at least as good as a published letter to the editor.
A news story with a credited reporter's name, with a by-line in which the newspaper's name appears (i.e. not a stringer), in which the reporter says "so-and-so said thus-and-such" is a much higher level of verifiability, though.
On 7/10/06, Daniel P. B. Smith wikipedia2006@dpbsmith.com wrote:
From: "Matt Brown" morven@gmail.com
On 7/9/06, Sarah slimvirgin@gmail.com wrote:
The policy is based on common sense, not dogma. When you send a letter to a newspaper for publication, you're expected to supply your name, address, and telephone number so that someone from the newspaper can check that you really did send it.
I've had letters published in many different newspapers and other publications. While all or almost all require such information, I have never, ever had any of them check back.
I'd imagine if I was claiming to be a well-known individual, they MIGHT check it, but even then, I have my doubts whether they would do so every single time.
I've had perhaps six letters published in the Boston Globe over the last fifteen years. They require the city you live in and a telephone number for verification. I've been telephoned for verification twice. I'm not sure exactly what they were verifying--all they did was ask if I was who I said to be, and ask if they had permission to publish the letter.
I haven't been called the last three or four times. I don't know whether they have anything on file or whether they just didn't bother.
Just a data point.
I personally think there's a BIG difference between occasional, casual checking and the _ability_ to verify, and no checking at all.
On the other hand, in the case of, say, a Usenet post that appears to be from, say, a university professor named Dr. John Doe at XYZ University whose email address is john.doe@xyz.edu, whose email address is available from an online directory at www.xyz.edu... if you email that address and say "Are you Dr. John Doe and did you post this?" and he replies "Yes," that's perfectly reasonable verifiability, at least as good as a published letter to the editor.
A news story with a credited reporter's name, with a by-line in which the newspaper's name appears (i.e. not a stringer), in which the reporter says "so-and-so said thus-and-such" is a much higher level of verifiability, though. _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@Wikipedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
Folks,
In general, I wouldn't expect that a Letter to the Editor would be significant enough to be mentioned in an article as opposed to other sources such as books, magazine and newspaper articles and journal articles.
Usenet posts and forum posts in general are even less notable than that even when they are intelligible and coherent which is often not the case. If Dr John Doe only said it in a Usenet post and not in a journal article, book or other more substantial form, then it can't have been that important as a general rule.
Having said that, I subscribe to the alt-obituaries newsgroup which often picks up on deaths of notable people before the media reports it. However, I do a Google News search to see if the media is reporting the death and add it to the Deaths in 2006 article if there is a media report from a reliable source. If not, it can wait a day or two until the media picks it up.
In my view, Usenet and other forum posts are not strong sources and we should have stronger, more substantive sources before including something in an encyclopedia article as factual.
Regards
Keith Old