Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Across the Bay

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 No consensus. Computerjoe's talk 09:41, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Across the Bay

Completely non-notable blog, no sources. I almost Csd'd it, but it claims to be "the first Lebanese blog" so I am listing on Afd. KillerChihuahua^?!? 13:47, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

• Speedy Delete, no assertion of notability, A7. I don't see anything about a "first Lebanese blog" myself, but I'd figure that a genuine "first" Lebanese blog would be written in French, myself. The Alexa rank is over 4.5 million. However, I'm not so sure after digging a bit deeper through Google. Surprisingly for such a poor Alexa ranking, a directed Google search turns up a lot of hits; this blog is quoted in a lot of places and on some serious sites. This fellow sounds genuinely respected. RGTraynor 14:24, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
• Keep. A fair number of google hits, got a nod from PBS in regards to the situation over there. -- stubblyhead | ^T/_c 16:29, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
• Keep but it really needs some cites -KC's point is well taken. Here's a cut and paste I posted from a disscusion re: Badran as a source from Talk:Juan Cole.

"Actually, maybe we should hold on a sec re: Badran. A google search shows independent sources identifying Tony Badran as author of "Across the Bay" [1], he's got some fairly heavy hitting endorsers listed on his blog Paul Berman, Martin Kramer, Reason (magazine) editors Michael Young and Charles Paul Freund, and he is an "Research Fellow, Levant" at The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. I don't know if the fact that his PhD is "pending" is the only salient point here." Armon 18:19, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

• Keep as per above. It's tagged for needing sources etc, so let's see what happens. --BrownHairedGirl 18:30, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
• Delete. Wikipedia is not a web directory. KleenupKrew 20:33, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
• Weak delete per KleenupKrew, but it might be the first Lebanese blog. That's too hard to verify, however. M1ss1ontomars2k4 23:46, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
• Delete. Nothing suggest that this is more notable than many thousands of other blogs in existence. Not encyclopedia material. Zaxem 01:00, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
• Keep. cited on a large number of respectable sites. Isarig 02:36, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
• Delete, no reliable sources. Stifle (talk) 15:40, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
• Keep per Armon, Isarig RGTraynor's observations. Obviously needs better sourcing, but a current lack of sourcing is not a reason for deletion. JoshuaZ 00:40, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
• Keep If you're looking for cites, that's easy. Just do a Google search. Let me cite but a few examples: Michael Young (the first to cite Across the Bay) in Reason Hit and Run, Martin Kramer of MartinKramer.org, Judith Weiss of Kesher Talk, Joshua Landis of Syria Comment, Lee Smith (in several Slate articles), Charles Paul Freund in Reason Hit and Run as well as a Daily Star op-ed, The Daily Kos, HNN, and many more. They all cite Badran as the author of the blog following Michael Young, who knows Badran personally. Finally there is a citation by Badran himself in a research article he published in Mideast Monitor in February, available online, where he identifies himself in the byline as the author of the blog. Just by way of example. 15:29, 15 May, 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.