[WikiEN-l] Defamation policy hypothetical

[Alphax (Wikipedia email)]

Steve Bennett wrote:
> On 8/19/06, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:
>> A useful heuristic is to take notability down to the detail level,
>> i.e. is this fact really notable? The example in one of the many
>> versions of WP:LIVING was a minorly notable scientist who happens to
>> have had a messy divorce. Unless the messiness was itself notable,
>> it's not likely to make it a better article for the reader.
> 
> Notability at the fact level is even harder to determine than
> notability at the subject level. Ask a republican whether Bush's
> alleged administrative adventures in the National Guard were
> "notable". Ask a Democrat the same.
> 

Here's a question: would a judge allow it to be raised in court?

> I agree with your basic point, but what would you do in the case of a
> mathematician of whom we have 200 words on his career and
> publications, and 200 words on him getting sacked for molesting a
> student? We might easily find 30 news stories on the latter, and very
> few news stories on the rest of his career. Applying our basic "if
> it's verifiable, it's includable" guideline might distort the overall
> impression we give...
> 

It comes down to a question of balance. See above.

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