- Barbara Bauer (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) (restore|cache|AfD|AfD 2)
Okay, so this page was speedied in 2006, overturned here some time later, speedied again, overturned again, and AfD'd. The weighting of arguments, frankly, was done poorly - standards were met across the board as demonstrated, did not violate any important policies. Overturn and undelete, there's simply no consensus for deletion here whatsoever. --badlydrawnjeff talk 12:40, 7 April 2007 (UTC) badlydrawnjeff talk 12:40, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- Endorse deletion - perfectly reasonable, well-explained closure well within admin discretion. Looking at the AfD, I see a lot of ILIKEITs, and only really substantive opinions from those voting delete. Moreschi Request a recording? 13:07, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- So noting the existence of multiple reliable sources and notability is not substantive? --badlydrawnjeff talk 13:10, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- If there were any reliable sources that implied any sort of encyclopedic notability in the first place...Moreschi Request a recording? 13:15, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- Which there were, thus the overwhelming overturn and the massive agreement at the AfD affirming as such. --badlydrawnjeff talk 13:45, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- Blogs, message boards, and her own website? Not by me. Moreschi Request a recording? 14:19, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- The "blog" in particular was widely agreed to be a reliable source for what was going on by most editors involved. And yes, her own website is a reliable source. --badlydrawnjeff talk 14:20, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- Your own website is not a reliable source per RS and N, otherwise WP would be awash with vanity. Moreschi Request a recording? 14:23, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- I suggest re-reading WP:RS then. --badlydrawnjeff talk 14:25, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- Your own website is not a reliable secondary source, and should not be treated as such. It can possibly be used to confirm data, but not to assert notability. Moreschi Request a recording? 14:27, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- Agreed. So what's the problem, again? --badlydrawnjeff talk 14:30, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- Quite apart from anything else, her literary agency being rated one of the worst twenty by this organization is argument for notability of her literary agency, not her. Moreschi Request a recording? 14:32, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- I disagree with that. But, then again, that's one of the many reasons why there really isn't a consensus to delete here. --badlydrawnjeff talk 14:36, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- Notability by association is, for the most part, not notability at all. She seems mostly "notable" for having a crap literary agency. That agency might well be notable: but she isn't. How on earth are we meant to have fair and balanced article on her that meets BLP? Moreschi Request a recording? 14:40, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- Notability by association is still notability. As for how we can have a fair and balanced article that meets BLP, I'd start with looking at the deleted article. --badlydrawnjeff talk 15:19, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- Jeff, just because my grandfather is notable doesn't mean I am. The deleted article consisted of: "This woman exists. She runs a crap literary agency. OMG. The End." That is not fair, balanced, or BLP compliant: interesting to note how the crapness of her literary agency took up most of the article. It's unlikely ever to be BLP compliant, because this woman just isn't notable. Her agency may be, but that's another story. Moreschi Request a recording? 10:03, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- It could be balanced out if you see a problem - plenty of primary material to flesh out the bio, after all. but yes, association is notability. --badlydrawnjeff talk 01:13, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
- Overturn as a clear violation of consensus and an abuse of discretion. No, AFD is not a vote, but that isn't an excuse for the closing admin to simply ignore all discussion and impose their own preferences. Crotalus horridus (TALK • CONTRIBS) 14:04, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- Endorse deletion. I just knew this was coming - it was inevitable no matter how the AFD closed. Well-reasoned close and a proper weighing of the arguments by the closing admin, who I emphasize is more than just a rubber stamp on deletion debates. AFD is not a vote, and it is the burden of the closing admin to weigh the arguments carefully. I see no problem with his reasoning, and the article had overwhelming WP:BLP and WP:NPOV problems to begin with. --Coredesat 19:12, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- Endorse deletion reasonable and well explained closure. --pgk 20:17, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- Endorse closure as within reasonable admin discretion and commend the closer for a well-reasoned and exceptionally well-documented decision. Rossami (talk) 20:33, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- Endorse closure, which was well explained. I can't make up my mind whether we should or should not have an article on this person; her sole claim to notability comes in the shape of a characterisation which is very hard to tie down to more than one source. I certainly don't endorse the idea of having an article just because she doesn't want one, or indeed deleting it for the same reason. Ultimately I think we need more independent sources for the claim of notability, per WP:BLP. So I agree with the close, even if I am unsure whether I personally would like to see an article on this person (I probably would, I rather like articles that document the exposure of charlatans). Guy (Help!) 21:45, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
- Do you mean notability by WP:BIO? Kla'quot 08:39, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
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- It seems to me her claim to notability is her cabaret appearances and her academic degrees. People have had plenty of time to dig up other notable things she's achieved, and that seems to me to be the limit of it. By all means correct me if I'm wrong. I personally am impressed by her having a doctorate from St. John's University, but don't see how she passes the "average professor" test... since is not, in fact, a professor. What other claims to notability are there? Initiating a civil lawsuit? Dpbsmith (talk) 17:16, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Endorse deletion. I don't know if a better close could have been had, both in terms of transparency and strength of argument. The bottom line is that BLP is non-negotiable policy, and, at present, no article can be written that isn't an attack piece using questionable sources. I hold no prejudice towards article recreation should enough reliable sources arise to enable us to write a neutral article. —bbatsell ¿? ✍ 00:09, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Endorse deletion, I feel that this was certainly within administrator discretion, and the fact that it was so well-explained leaves me in no doubt that this was not a close made hastily. Seems the right close to me, but then again, I did !vote delete...take that as you will. Daniel Bryant 00:22, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Endorse deletion. The closing admin explained his decision carefully. In this matter the "keep" voters did not indicate how the subject was notable. The filing of a lawsuit has not, so far, resulted in the subject being noted in any reliable secondary sources. Inclusion on a list does not make a person notable either (Nobody else on that list has a WP article). WP:BLP calls on us to take extra care with biographies of living people. Should the subject become significantly more notable in the future we'll certainly have an article on her. -Will Beback · † · 00:35, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Endorse deletion. Notability might have been proven, but if it was, it is very borderline. When most information is thoroughly negative, that is not enough. -Amarkov moo! 01:03, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- I'm again stunned by our ability to close our eyes whenever something potentially scary comes around. no one's saying the closure was hasty, simply that it was incorrect. Why people are defending this outcome is beyond my belief at this point - affirming improper closes simply proves further how broken DRV is. --badlydrawnjeff talk 01:26, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Um... does it occur to you that maybe, when the result you like doesn't happen, it's because people disagree? Seriously, what is with this "I don't get what I want so the process is broken" mindset? -Amarkov moo! 01:29, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Not when it comes to issues like this. This is absolutely what's broken about the system - it has nothing to do with "what I want" - what I want rarely occurs. It's when we consistently abandon standards and guidleines and policies when things get uncomfortable that there's a problem, and this is a very clear example of that. The original deletion was overwhelmingly overturned, and consensus was very clearly on the side of keeping and the arguments were sound. Instead, we're trotting out the line that completely defies reality. How is this a net positive for the project? How is this proof that this is working? --badlydrawnjeff talk 01:38, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Yes, precisely. People disagree. Large numbers of people making good arguments on each side of the disagreement. Therefore, I think it is pretty plain to see that there is no consensus, and according to WP:DP, articles should only be deleted at AfD if there is consensus to delete. I don't see that in this case. I see an administrator who was convinced by the arguments of one side that he should ignore the arguments of the other side. That isn't consensus. JulesH 17:34, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
- Endorse a solid close decision. I felt the references were weak, and beyond being listed on a rather subjective list, the subject really didn't, in my opinion, meet notability. The decision was definitely well within the closing admin's discretion, and the explanation seems reasonable. Tony Fox (arf!) 01:40, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Endorse deletion and commend the closer not only for being astute, but for doing the community the courtesy of a fully explained rationale. When serious BLP issues arise on low-notability article, the default should certainly be to delete.--Docg 02:15, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Keep deleted. Leave aside the fact that this was one of the most comprehensive closes, the question to ask about any deletion is: was it correct? The answer here is yes. This gossipy scandal-rag of an article constituted a flagrant abuse of Wikipedia, and its continued retention for so long is a black mark on our reputation as an encyclopedia. Let's not do this again. --Tony Sidaway 07:51, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Comment I disagree with the idea that BLP prohibits this kind of article, and I hope this doesn't become a precedent for deleting other negative bios. In this case though, the notability arguments were very weak. If someone were to create an article on someone whose notability was entirely based on being in a "20 best literary agencies" list and having fans rave about her on blogs, we'd be deleting it faster than Superman on crack. Kla'quot 08:39, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Comment I disagree. If a well-known professional writer's association gave such an honour to an agent, I think Wikipedia should have an article on that agent. Why shouldn't we? JulesH 17:50, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
- If the agent actually placed first, i.e. was the winner of an award, I would agree that it is a valid reason to keep under the provision of "The person has received significant recognized awards or honors." However, placing somewhere on a list of best to twentieth-best would not qualify. Kla'quot 03:18, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
- Endorse closure, keep deleted. On examining the deleted article, I find it to be a perfect example of Weregerbil so usefully calls calls a coatrack: "a Wikipedia article that obstensibly discusses the nominal subject, but in reality is a cover for a tangentially related bias subject. The nominal subject is used as an empty coatrack, which ends up being mostly obscured by the 'coats.'" This is not an never was an article on the topic of Barbara Bauer; it always was about the "bias topic" of SFWA names Barbara Bauer as among Top Twenty Worst Literary Agents, or possibly Barbara Bauer's Lawsuit against SFWA. Beyond the complaint, the original article said nothing except to identify her as a literary agent. Over the editing history, basic facts about her educational history and cabaret career were added, none of which would have justified an article in the first place. The article is a coatrack for criticism of Bauer, in fact criticism by a single source. I don't think SFWA's naming her among the twenty worst literary articles qualifies as notability (do we have articles about the other nineteen?). On reviewing the AfD discussion I am not impressed by the "keep" arguments which mostly simply assert that she is notable or controversial or passed WP:BIO without explaining why. The article is also marred by verifiability problems. The fact that she is suing SWFA is sourced, but all of the sources for the claims that she's a dishonest agent are borderline. Dpbsmith (talk) 11:27, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Comment I don't see how an official warning published by one of the most important professional associations operating in the industry in question can be considered "borderline". The source is perfectly adequate for the claim it makes. JulesH 17:30, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
- Overturn, undelete - follow the decision of the people who participated in the AfD. The closing admin's opinion is worth no more than that of any of the people participating; the opinion of the group is what counts. Or at least it's what should count. Everyking 11:44, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- The opinion of those who turned up at the AfD is irrelevant next to the demands of policy, particularly BLP. Moreschi Request a recording? 11:47, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Those are matters of interpretation, and I prefer for the community to interpret them than for individual admins to do so. Everyking 11:53, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Then why should AfDs be closed by admins? Why can't they just be closed by "the community?" Dpbsmith (talk) 17:12, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Everyking, I can see where you're coming from, but the community has expressed a kind of super-consensus, as it where, in policies such as BLP and NPOV. Given that it's almost exclusively admins who close XfDs - when it needn't be, we could have non-admins closing and then adapt CSD for the purpose - it seems as though it's part of the job of admins to enforce policies like these at XfD: and in this case no one during the AfD addressed the BLP problems surrounding this article. Moreschi Request a recording? 19:36, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Someone needs to implement the community's decision, that's all. Everyking 21:40, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Endorse deletion Attack page "sourced" with things like blogs. Andrew Lenahan - Starblind 12:52, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Overturn, undelete The balance of the AfD was quite clear, not just in numbers but in arguments. If some of the references failed WP:RS, they should be researched and improved - don't throw out the baby with the bath water.--Runcorn 14:57, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
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- No, if the references are not reliable, they, and the content they support, should be removed from the article until they have been researched and improved. When you do that, what you have is a legitimate biography—of a person whose main achievements are appearances as a cabaret singer and a Ph. D. dissertation from St. John's on Italian-American writers of the New York area. Is that the "baby" you are referring to? Or is the "baby" you're referring to essentially the story of a dispute, with a few sentences of "biography" acting as a figleaf to mask the true purpose of the article? Dpbsmith (talk) 17:10, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Endorse There were no references that even implied notability. Just a couple of blog mentions and that top twenty thing, which at most makes her agency notable. The closing explanation was perfectly reasonable.--Dycedarg ж 20:09, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
- Endorse deletion. Well reasoned close, especially for the reasons noted by Dpbsmith and Tony Sidaway, but also those advanced by Coredesat, JzG, and Rossami, among others. A not-so-borderline attack page effectively. Angus McLellan (Talk) 15:17, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
- Overturn. The blog source is a publication of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, an extremely well-known and respected professional body, hence a reliable source. There are no BLP violations here, nor are there NPOV violations: the only opinions that have been presented in reliable secondary sources are negative, therefore a negative tone of the article is to be expected. As to notability, the deletion was unable to take into account new secondary sources: [5] [6] [7]. SFSite is a well respected newsletter in the science fiction community; Ansible is an award-winning publication; Publisher's Lunch is an extremely well known publishing industry
magazinenewsletter. I feel these three sources should be more than enough to confirm notability, even if it is constrained to the narrow field of professional science fiction writing and the publishing industry. JulesH 17:26, 9 April 2007 (UTC) (corrected JulesH 17:38, 9 April 2007 (UTC))
- All three of those sources are short mentions of the lawsuit; I'm not sure that does a lot to advance her notability. As to the fact that all of the opinions in secondary sources are negative, ArbCom did discuss that kind of topic in the Rachel Marsden case, and the findings of fact indicate that unbalanced articles are subject to speedy deletion, especially when they have BLP implications. Tony Fox (arf!) 17:51, 10 April 2007 (UTC)
- Setting policy is outside ArbCom's purview. The community's accepted definition of an attack page is at WP:ATTACKPAGE. Kla'quot 15:51, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
- I believe that Wikipedia:Attack page is only concerned with pages that attack other users, not with article-space biographies. The policy statement at WP:CSD#General criteria is better:
- Attack pages. Pages that serve no purpose but to disparage their subject or some other entity (e.g., "John Q. Doe is an imbecile"). This includes a biography of a living person that is negative in tone and unsourced, where there is no NPOV version in the history to revert to.
- However this article wasn't unsourced, strictly speaking. -Will Beback · † · 01:19, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
- The problem with this article, I believe, is that it was sourced in an iffy manner, and all of the sourcing leaned negative. That was the problem with the Marsden article originally. After a speedy, a big fight and general mayhem, it's now got sources that are more reflective of a neutral point of view. If the Bauer article can be neutrally written and sourced, and indicate notability outside being listed on someone's naughty list. then I'm sure it'd be fine to be rewritten. Tony Fox (arf!) 02:10, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
- I don't see how sourcing it from a well-respsected professional association can be described as "iffy". The sourcing leaned negative because, as far as those of us editing the article could tell -- and we did put a lot of effort into finding out -- there are no reliable secondary sources about the subject that aren't negative. It would, in fact, be a violation of NPOV to make the article too positive in tone under these circumstances. JulesH 07:59, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
- Just as a clarification, Wikipedia:Attack page applies to both article-space biographies and pages on users. Kla'quot 05:41, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
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