From: whinebucket@comcast.net   
      
   On 5/18/2024 8:11 AM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:   
   > J.D. Baldwin  wrote:   
   >> Adam H. Kerman  wrote:   
   >   
   >>> I have objected many many times on Usenet to citing Wikipedia for   
   >>> death notices. It is NOT a source for anything. Looking at the page,   
   >>> the source was not cited and he's no longer listed as dead.   
   >   
   >> And now, the alternative view:   
   >   
   >> As long as you cite the source honestly, go ahead and post whatever   
   >> information you feel like posting.   
   >   
   > Are you listening to me? WIKIPEDIA IS NOT A SOURCE but fourth-hand   
   > information at best. Information added to a Wikipedia page is required   
   > to cite reliable third-hand information. That didn't happen here which is   
   > why it was very quickly taken down.   
   >   
   > An obituary posted in which the writer got the information from a close   
   > relative is acceptable and what we would expect in the case of a celebrity.   
   > Something posted by a close relative or publicist on what appears to   
   > be an official social media account is probably not a hoax, but we've   
   > certainly seen social media accounts created just to spread malicious   
   > gossip and hoaxes.   
   >   
   >> If someone edited Wikipedia to indicate that Coleman had died -- and   
   >> it's obvious now that it wasn't a "hoax" -- then just say that and let   
   >> the reader weigh the credibility.   
   >   
   > Oh, by all means cite "someone", that mysterious "someone" who edited a   
   > page but DID NOT provide a source.   
   >   
   > In this case, the "information" was on the Wikipedia page for just a few   
   > minutes, then taken down and Dabney Coleman's status reverted to   
   > "alive". I found a Web page with no citations on a site that   
   > automatically generates "news". Extra had supposedly reported the death   
   > but 404'ed their own Web page.   
   >   
   > Crap like that is a huge red flag that the death notice was a hoax.   
   >   
   >> I once posted a death notice that I heard from a friend   
   >> who was loosely connected to the family of the celebrity, and a.o.   
   >> scooped the world because of it.  Not that that's particularly   
   >> important in the scheme of things, but it's less unimportant than a   
   >> lot of things that get posted in a lot of forums.   
   >   
   > It's a death notice. It's absolutely pretty damn not unimportant that it   
   > comes from a close family relative and not rumour.   
   >   
   >> Sometimes the lack of corroboration just means you got there first.   
   >   
   > There have been hundreds of celebrity death hoaxes over the years.   
   > Usenet has no business participating. We have no need to be first. We   
   > absolutely have a need to be accurate.   
   >   
   Some may remember back in 2022 when Gilbert Gottfried's death was   
   announced.  I immediately hopped on Wikipedia to his listing to check   
   and managed to get a screen cap there of the report of his death, citing   
   a particular perverse cause of death (which I still strongly expect he   
   arranged to happen at least five minutes before the press release of the   
   news), just minutes before that particular claim was removed.  (Which I   
   posted on the AO facebook page)  So there are times (or at least once)   
   when Wikipedia was first with the valid news.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)