G'day Matthew,
On 6/11/07, Jeff Raymond jeff.raymond@internationalhouseofbacon.com wrote:
If you have to do any interpreting, why are you speedying it in the first place?
Exactly; speedy deletion criteria are supposed to be cut and dried. If there is an assertion of notability, it can't be speedied.
<snip A7 definition/>
It's quite common, although not actually supported by the criteria, to speedy delete articles where the claim to importance/significance is not credible. I think that's a bit questionable at times, since we're introducing subjectiveness to the procedure. I'm pretty sure some people are speedying articles because they don't think references in the national press are enough.
I support discounting incredible claims. e.g. if an article says so-and-so won the Nobel prize for nude mountaineering, when there is no such prize (yet), then there is an assertion of notability, but we're well within the bounds of Common Sense, if not A7[0], to speedy it.
I agree with you that in many cases the persons judging that grey area are doing a poor job. Well, let's split that. The persons saying, "that grey area is close enough to black" and tagging it are showing poor judgment. The admins saying, "It's tagged, I must delete it," are being lazy.
The number of dodgy speedies I see ...
[0] Please, don't say "but that would come under pure vandalism".