[WikiEN-l] How long does it take to delete an hoax article at en.wp?

[Carcharoth]

On Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 3:00 PM, Fred Bauder <fredbaud at fairpoint.net> wrote:
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KPVK-TV&action=history
>>
>> I am amazed about the speed in which an hoax article is kept alive,
>> even after someone has properly identified this to be a hoax from a
>> German TV producer.
>>
>> Mathias
>
> Our policy apparently requires an investigation:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Hoax#Dealing_with_hoaxes
>
> Unless it is obvious. So it will be deleted immediately only if at least
> one administrator finds it "obvious" and is willing to take the heat.

The reason for this is that a seven-day discussion is more likely to
get the "right" answer in the case of seemingly "obvious" hoaxes that
are in fact true, but with reliable sources that it takes time to look
up. Also, it takes time for enough eyes to read a deletion discussion
for the person who knows where to look for the obscure source to
confirm something, to turn up (a week in the case of AfD).

This applies more to articles where people are guessing something must
be a hoax (and not finding anything confirming it is true), rather
than articles where a reliable sources confirms it is a hoax.
Essentially, absence of proof of being a hoax is not the same as
presence of proof that it is a hoax, and if you only have the former,
you need the time for people to find sources that may exist.

Search for Uncle G and swiss cheese if you want more on this.

Carcharoth