Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Lao Watson-Smith

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was Delete  (aeropagitica)  16:23, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lao Watson-Smith

Delete. There's a vague claim of notability here: started two businesses and was interviewed by CNN about conditions in Zimbabwe, but not because he was per se important but for what they call in the media "human interest". Ultimately, this person has to be NN. For another example, consider this article. Prod remover said, "significant player in significant dispute w/worldwide press coverage." Well, no. Insignificant human interest story subject in a significant dispute. - the.crazy.russian τ/ç/ë 17:50, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

• Delete. Few googles which do not indicate notability with the first one being Wikipedia [1] and the Google's "I'm Feeling Lucky" leads right back here [2]. nn possible vanity.--Dakota ~ ° 18:26, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
• Keep. From one of the article's references: "Retired Anglican Archbishop and Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu of South Africa is supporting formation of a charity to aid commercial farmers in Zimbabwe affected by the government's controversial land reforms.

The Zimbabwe Agricultural Trust has been established in Britain to "provide a focal point for international support" for farming families and other agricultural workers caught up in the haphazard and sometimes violent land redistribution program. The aim is to alleviate the "hardship and suffering" of those farmers who have been directly affected by the civil unrest, according to Lao Watson-Smith, the trust's administrator.

Tutu, who condemned his own government's endorsement of Zimbabwe's controversial presidential election in March, is patron of the trust."

Land expropriation and redistribution in Zimbabwe may not merit the same coverage Wikipedia gives to Jack Thompson, but it's not a completely dispensible matter. Monicasdude 20:23, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

• • Administrator he is, as is plainly apparent from the ZAWT website. So? The conflict is notable, ZAWT may or may not be (no article), but Lao isn't. - the.crazy.russian τ/ç/ë 20:31, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
• Delete, non-notable; the links to Watson-Smith's business websites lead me to suspect that this may be a vanity/advertising article. The ZAWT exists, but it is tiny, with cash funds of less than £10,000 at the end of the last year for which it returned results [3]. I always try my hardest to establish some degree of notability for African AfDs in Wikipedia - on this occasion I reluctantly concede that there is no case. Humansdorpie 22:30, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
• Note: This debate has been included in the list of Africa-related deletions. -- Humansdorpie 22:30, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
• Delete. I concur with Humansdorpie. I am all about fighting systemic bias on AfD, but a similar figure would be deleted if he or she was from Zimbabwe, Melbourne, or North Dakota. youngamerican (talk) 04:35, 1 April 2006 (UTC)
• Delete per Humansdorpie. — mark ✎ 17:23, 1 April 2006 (UTC)
• Delete, we can't really accept the claim to notability that "he has a job", which is what the claim seems to be here. Jdcooper 19:12, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.