Encyclopedia or Gossip Rag - WikiEN-l

James Farrar

7 Oct 7 Oct

9:47 p.m.

That rather depends on who the subject is. On Oct 7, 2012 2:44 PM, "Marc Riddell" <michaeldavid86(a)comcast.net> wrote:

I came across this today in the English Wikipedia: "In 2011, it has been reported that [the subject] has been caught cheating on his wife with a 30 year old intern turned reporter." Is this worthy of a credible Encyclopedia or, if it needs reported at all, in a gossip tabloid rag? Marc Riddell _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l

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Fred Bauder

10:11 p.m.

Seems marginal, but it's not oversightable, for several reasons: It has a reasonably reliable source (The National Enquirer has a good track record in this area of interest); the subject and his date are public figures; suppression would only make it worse. The only part I have trouble with is the privacy consideration of publishing such private information about reporters such as the female reporter in this instance. I'm not sure merely being a reporter makes you a public figure and opens up whatever someone chooses to expose about your private life. For example, local TV reporters, who cares about their private lives? Yet, supposedly they are fair game simply because they regularly appear on camera. Fred

...

FYI to all - The article being referenced here is [[Chris Hansen]], the reporter known for hosting *To Catch a Predator.* On Sun, Oct 7, 2012 at 9:44 AM, Marc Riddell <michaeldavid86(a)comcast.net>wrote;wrote:

I came across this today in the English Wikipedia: "In 2011, it has been reported that [the subject] has been caught cheating on his wife with a 30 year old intern turned reporter." Is this worthy of a credible Encyclopedia or, if it needs reported at all, in a gossip tabloid rag? Marc Riddell _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l

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Marc Riddell

10:28 p.m.

...

I came across this today in the English Wikipedia: "In 2011, it has been reported that [the subject] has been caught cheating on his wife with a 30 year old intern turned reporter." Is this worthy of a credible Encyclopedia or, if it needs reported at all, in a gossip tabloid rag? Marc Riddell

on 10/7/12 9:55 AM, Fred Bauder at fredbaud(a)fairpoint.net wrote:

...

Depends on reliability of the source and notability. If the subject was Barack Obama and the sources were The Washington Post, The New York Times, AND The Wall Street Journal, the mere report would be encyclopedic. If the subject was Joe the Plumber and the source was perezhilton.com/, no. Answering your specific question requires reference to the factual situation, but, no, we are not a "gossip rag."

It was not my intention to suggest that we were a "gossip rag". It was my intention to suggest that we are above that. The reliability of the source should, in this case, be irrelevant. What should be relevant is if the subject of the report has been publicly hypocritical concerning the issue then, yes, is should be reported. But only to stress the hypocrisy, not the "infidelity". Marc

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Fred Bauder

11:29 p.m.

...

I came across this today in the English Wikipedia: "In 2011, it has been reported that [the subject] has been caught cheating on his wife with a 30 year old intern turned reporter." Is this worthy of a credible Encyclopedia or, if it needs reported at all, in a gossip tabloid rag? Marc Riddell

on 10/7/12 9:55 AM, Fred Bauder at fredbaud(a)fairpoint.net wrote:

Depends on reliability of the source and notability. If the subject was Barack Obama and the sources were The Washington Post, The New York Times, AND The Wall Street Journal, the mere report would be encyclopedic. If the subject was Joe the Plumber and the source was perezhilton.com/, no. Answering your specific question requires reference to the factual situation, but, no, we are not a "gossip rag."

It was not my intention to suggest that we were a "gossip rag". It was my intention to suggest that we are above that. The reliability of the source should, in this case, be irrelevant. What should be relevant is if the subject of the report has been publicly hypocritical concerning the issue then, yes, is should be reported. But only to stress the hypocrisy, not the "infidelity". Marc

But you see, that is what is missing. His exposés are of pedophiles while the "scandal" is consenting adults. Where's the hypocrisy? Fred

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Thomas Dalton

9:56 p.m.

On Oct 7, 2012 2:44 PM, "Marc Riddell" <michaeldavid86(a)comcast.net> wrote:

...

I came across this today in the English Wikipedia: "In 2011, it has been reported that [the subject] has been caught cheating on his wife with a 30 year old intern turned reporter." Is this worthy of a credible Encyclopedia or, if it needs reported at all, in a gossip tabloid rag?

I'd prefer it if we didn't make that kind of decision ourselves. Has it been reported in mainstream (non-gossip) media? (We have to make a judgement about whether a particular source is respectable or not, but that's better than making judgements on individual facts.)

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Wyatt Lucas

8 Oct 8 Oct

7:49 a.m.

How is the very likely possibility of infidelity "relative trivia"? I consider it fairly relevant to a section named "Personal life". Also, your analogy with historical biographies is flawed, because the inclusion of this allegation barely makes the article increase in size at all. -- ~~yutsi Sent from my iPhone. On Oct 7, 2012, at 10:48 AM, Thomas Morton <morton.thomas(a)googlemail.com> wrote:

...

On 7 October 2012 14:56, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com> wrote:

On Oct 7, 2012 2:44 PM, "Marc Riddell" <michaeldavid86(a)comcast.net> wrote:

I came across this today in the English Wikipedia: "In 2011, it has been reported that [the subject] has been caught

cheating

on his wife with a 30 year old intern turned reporter." Is this worthy of a credible Encyclopedia or, if it needs reported at

all,

in a gossip tabloid rag?

I'd prefer it if we didn't make that kind of decision ourselves. Has it been reported in mainstream (non-gossip) media? (We have to make a judgement about whether a particular source is respectable or not, but that's better than making judgements on individual facts.) ______

We do it all the time. I write historical biographies (amongst other things) and if I recorded all of the detail discussed in the numerous reliable sources (i.e. books) used for each then I would still be writing the first one (and just about got to the length of a medium novel!). Editorial judgement is a key skill for any competent WP editor, and we should focus less on rigid rules (which encourage the inclusion of trivia) and more on good editorial judgement. In this case, good editorial judgement suggests that this is relative trivia. It is not really related to his reason for notability and is distinctly about his private life. It also seems to be something along the lines of an allegation mostly covered in tabloid gossip. I'd suggest that with good editorial judgement this is something we would pause for some time before covering, if at all, whilst BLP applies. Tom _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l

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