- Melissa Scott (pastor) (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) (restore|AfD)
Notable individual; Wikipedia needs to have a page about her. Simply getting rid of the article is an "easy out." Badagnani 06:00, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment: I'm familiar with your favoring of deletions, which are well known. That aside, the solution should be a re-creation of the page with "just the facts." Of course I don't agree with the quotes you present; the solution to those is simply editing to make the article NPOV, not an "easy out" by deleting entirely the bio article of a notable individual. Badagnani 06:27, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment - Of course, the editors who haunt deletion-related pages always support one another in deletions, whether they are justified (or logical) or not. In this case, however, you are incorrect. The deleted page says nothing about the page being able to be recreated; in fact, it says entirely the opposite. This is a notable individual and Wikipedia needs to have a biography page about her. I have already stated that I do not agree with the former POV text in the article; that is what editing is for! Deleting was an "easy out." Badagnani 06:36, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment Please assume good faith and be civil - don't make accusations against other editors. The article actually contains no such assertion, see WP:BIO. --Coredesat 07:30, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment - When I see illogical actions made, then supported, I reserve the right to be critical. You are wrong in stating that the Melissa Scott page states that it may be recreated. In fact, it states the opposite: "This page has been deleted, and protected to prevent re-creation." Badagnani 08:35, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment - If the oblique comment above is an assertion that this individual has no notability, why is it that she is constantly on television (the NBC network, throughout the United States)? This is getting just ridiculous. Badagnani 08:38, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment - Hold on -- it seems that the result of the discussion was KEEP -- see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Melissa_Scott_%28pastor%29 . The deletion of the bio article about this notable individual, as well as all relevant discussion, appears to have been a mistake. Please take care of this immediately. Badagnani 08:43, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment - See above -- the result of the vote was KEEP. There seems to have been a mistake in the deletion of the article because I can find no discussion leading to a Delete vote. You state that "editing" might be used; however, in case you haven't checked the page does not allow that, and in fact states "This page has been deleted, and protected to prevent re-creation." All the comments below notwithstanding, it remains extremely embarrassing that a major encyclopedia would not have contain an article or, in fact, any information about this individual who is constantly on national TV--and, in fact, ban such information. That isn't the stamp of a "free" encyclopedia, it's more indicative of the efforts of a small group of delete-page-regulars mandating content (or lack thereof) for the WP community as a whole, and the world. This bad decision cannot stand. Badagnani 17:58, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Of the two "bad decisions" we have to choose from, which is the worse? Creating a biographical article with nothing in the way of decent source to create it from, an article which we already know will be a magnet for POV-pushing, WP:BLP-violating anons? Or failing to have a biographical article for an individual upon whom it seems every other major news source has also failed to report? -- Antaeus Feldspar 18:58, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment - It's clear that not to have an article about a notable individual (on television all the time, all over the country) is very detrimental and embarrassing to our encyclopedia. The result of the last vote was KEEP. If there is a worry about unsourced or defamatory text being added, do what we do to Bill O'Reilly or similar pages: protect so that new or anon users may not edit. It's amazing that I need to even explain our core principles here. Badagnani 19:06, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Endorse deletion. Badagnani keeps complaining that it is ridiculous that such a "notable" individual should not have their own Wikipedia article. Well, if she is so notable, why has no one, including those who are most insistent that we have an article on her, been able to provide us reliable sources? God knows I've looked for them myself and can't find any -- not so much as a small-town paper fluff piece. The closest we have ever come for having the reliable sources we need -- and by "closest", I mean "not close enough by a long shot" -- is anonymous editors angrily asserting that if we just looked at the correct court records (none of which we have been given citations for) we'd know for ourselves that it's true. And we definitely do not have sources reliable enough for the major defamatory allegation made against Melissa Scott, which anons still keep trying to sneak in to other articles. -- Antaeus Feldspar 15:08, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Endorse deletion. First, there are no independent sources cited. Second, it reads as part resume and part advertisement for her charity gala. Third, "keep and source" is not an option for WP:BLP articles - no sources means delete because as Jimbo says we don't have articles on living individuals based on "I heard it somewhere". Fourth, I am having a hard time seeing what the claim to notability is supposed to be anyway. Married to a couple of guys. So what? Few !votes anyway, if this individual is genuinely notable then a much much better article can be written by applying WP:FORGET. Guy (Help!) 15:54, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Endorse deletion There are no reliable sources for this article and honestly the number of people committed to keeping this article neutral are far outnumbered by the people that interject tabloid quality material about this person. If the article is undeleted, it is unavoidable that we will be back at this same position in less than 6 months. . -- Kurios555 13:06, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment Edit history restored behind screen. ~ trialsanderrors 20:08, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Overturn, revert and relist WP:BLP says in relevant part "Administrators encountering biographies that are unsourced and controversial in tone, where there is no NPOV version to revert to, should delete the article without discussion." (emphasis added). It took all of 60 seconds to find a NPOV version, namely that from 31 July 2006 by fuddlemark. It was easy to find because it is explicitly mentioned in the last AFD. I don't know what the right answer for this article is, but I do know that the deletion was contrary to policy, and that is enough reason to list it at AFD. We don't have to revert that far back however, there are newer acceptable versions in the history. I think the version of 17 October 2006 would be fine, and there may be even newer ones (the history was restored while I was doing further investigation). GRBerry 20:10, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Endorse deletion at this time - I tried to source this article reliably before it was deleted, and found it impossible. I have added the only RS sources I can find to the talk page, and would suggest leaving the talk page open for more sources as they come available. Then we can revisit starting up a new article. There isn't enough RS sourcing to have a standalone article, and she can be mentioned in the Gene Scott article. There isn't anything else that can be reliably sourced about her except that she took over for her late husband. The previous incarnation of this page was fraught with poorly sourced negative info. As more RS become available, my opinion could change. - Crockspot 21:01, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment - "Internet-only" sources are not the only sources we may use, or rely on. Even so, this is a figure who appears on national television throughout the U.S. all the time, and should have her own article. Badagnani 21:39, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Certainly a url is not a requirement for a proper cite, but the source still must be reliable and secondary. The problem was there was quite a bit of unsourced and poorly sourced, and originally researched negative info. The BLP problems were too pervasive. If you have other reliable sources, cite them on the talk page, as I have done. Crockspot 03:58, 23 March 2007 (UTC)further comment I would just like to add that I have seen her on television several times this year, probably the most religious programming I've watched in my entire life. I do find her interesting, and would like to see an article when we can write one that is well sourced, and not defamatory. When there are enough sources, I will be the first person to bring this back here for another review. - Crockspot 04:06, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- overturn and re-list for AfD. If there are more sources, let's see them. DGG 21:33, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment I don't know if everybody knows who she is, but she's on TV all the time, sometimes on two channels at once, at least here in California. Presumably her church buys the air time for the programs, which are lectures on linguistic analysis of Bible passages. I don't feel compelled to research this one, so I have no opinion, but I wanted to throw this tidbit out in case it's not clear from the article. ~ trialsanderrors 02:36, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Endorse deletion. This was deleted out of process but not out of policy: WP:BLP and WP:ATT are completely failed here. I would change to "allow recreation" if reliable secondary sources were shown, but between Antaeus Feldspar and Crockspot, I think we've done our due diligence, and the article cannot remain if unsourceable. Mangojuicetalk 03:38, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Relist stubbed version, per Amarkov below. The stubbed version is okay, but if that's all that can be found now, the article might still need deleting for notability concerns (or for worries of future violations of WP:BLP), but that's for a debate to decide. Mangojuicetalk 10:48, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Endorse deletion. With an article on a living person, the decision is not "Are there any sources someone can find?" According to WP:BLP, the decision is "Are there sources that either are in the article or can be found and added within a short time?", which the article did not meet, seeing as nobody actually added much of anything in the way of sourcing. Keep the talk page open for a while, in case some sources do turn up, but until then, it should stay deleted. Regardless of how much she is on TV. -Amarkov moo! 04:35, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Comment - I have written about all that can be written in this article, based on the sources, at the bottom of Talk:Melissa Scott (pastor). It's short and sweet, and those seeking the salacious aspect can go read the RS article cited. (The OC Weekly article even mentions this article being locked down.) I would not object to recreation of the article with this text (or something similar if the wording needs tweaking), and full protection, pending more sourcing and discussion on the talk page. Just a suggestion. Crockspot 04:59, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Relist the stubbified version, then, but the article still does not demonstrate notability, as defined in WP:N. I hate that name, because even experienced editors sometimes mistake "notability" for Wikipedia's purposes to be the same as the normal definition. -Amarkov moo! 05:09, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Endorse deletion OK, I sampled the edit history and couldn't find a single sourced version, and quite a couple we want to banish from the history altogether. The only thing I could find from an acceptable source (ocweekly.com) just repeats the rumors (an excellent read though, Wikipedia is mentioned). Edit history is still open if someone wants to take a crack at writing a sourced article on her, but I haven't seen much that looked useable. WP:BLP concerns override WP:N concerns, so until we find a decent version in the history the article should stay deleted. ~ trialsanderrors 05:12, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment - You can't possibly object to anything in the new stub? She is a public figure who is constantly on television throughout the country, giving weekly appearances to hundreds of audience members, and the information given in the stub is easily available. Badagnani 05:19, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- To clarify, I think she meets the active notability requirement, she's done something that put her in the publich consciousness and given encyclopedic sources she should have an article. So I'm not objecting to posting your stub and running it through AfD, I'm just not recommending keeping the edit history. Some articles are better started from scratch. ~ trialsanderrors 05:27, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment - And if it turns out that documents in the public record do indeed elucidate other things about this individual and her past history before assuming directorship of her late husband's ministry? Wikipedia does not rely strictly on Internet-only sources, I am fairly sure. Badagnani 05:53, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Where are these elusive public records? Write up a cite. - Crockspot 06:07, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment - Good question. They were discussed in the history but to get new copies I suppose one would need to pay for them, then scan and post them online. The very basic information would of course be her date and place of birth and birth name. Badagnani 06:14, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Those would be primary sources, and we don't do investigative journalism here. - Crockspot 06:22, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Endorse deletion BLP wins out - if someone wants to have a sourced neutral article, they are entitled to write it and then notability can be handeled at afd. However, simply reverting to an earlier version isn't good enough as it still leaves potentially libellous stuff in the history. Aggressive, invasive surgery is required for this type of thing.--Docg 10:12, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment - No, you are incorrect. As stated above more than once, the tag on the deleted article clearly states that a new article may *not* be written! Badagnani 18:30, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Doc is clearly wrong here. WP:BLP only authorizes deletion when there are zero neutral versions in the history. His claim that it requires deletion when there is at least one failing version is exactly contrary to WP:BLP; so long as there is at least one good version the admin is supposed to revert to that instead of deleting. GRBerry 17:58, 26 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Comment - What is this, some sort of "delete page club" with secret rules? If what you say is the case, it needs to be stated on the tag. Badagnani 19:46, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- Given that the very first revision, from which all other revisions appear derived, contains unsourced controversial statements, there is no way to revert to a version later than that and delete the offending material without severing the page history and thus causing copyright problems. If someone creates an actually new stub that is well-sourced and intends to maintain it against the warring lovers and haters of this person, then there would probably not be a problem. Otherwise, the page was originally and is heavily littered throughout with potentially libellous statements, and was and will be the subject of this warring that will add further such statements. —Centrx→talk • 16:57, 29 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
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