Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Bob Fitrakis

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 was keep. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 07:54, 7 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Bob Fitrakis[edit]

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Non-notable "journalist" BLP, no sources about the man available, article heavily sourced to IMDb. PROD declined with the claim that sources are available, but none added to article or cited. Thargor Orlando (talk) 21:09, 28 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletion discussions. Northamerica1000^(talk) 21:42, 28 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of United States of America-related deletion discussions. Northamerica1000^(talk) 21:42, 28 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Authors-related deletion discussions. Northamerica1000^(talk) 21:42, 28 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the list of Politicians-related deletion discussions. Northamerica1000^(talk) 21:42, 28 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Keep The article needs a lot of work with sourcing and possible copyvio[1], but a Google search shows 1000s of hits, he seems to have done many things (author, political candidates, speaker, advocate, film, radio, professor, publisher, editor). Some initial sourcing [2][3][4][5][6]. -- Green Cardamom (talk) 07:01, 29 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]
- His books are published by vanity presses. Two of your sources are self-published/blog sources unreliable for our purposes. As for his radio show, simply having a radio show on a 100 watt public isn't evidence of notability, right? Thargor Orlando (talk) 12:14, 29 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Spend some time researching and reading through 20 or 40 pages of google hits. You will learn that he's notable not simply as an author, but as a voting rights advocate who rose to prominence during the 2004 United States election voting controversies. His activities are wide and varied and can't be pinned down to a single thing (book author, journalist, professor, editor, speaker, political candidate, radio show host) - he is all those things (and more) and and has to be seen in context. He is clearly widely known on Google in tons of sources within a circle mainly of Democratic reform activists, he is well known by his peers, which is a qualifier for notability. See WP:CREATIVE #1. -- Green Cardamom (talk) 16:58, 29 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I dont see any indication that he is *widely* known. His peers have sometimes made mention of him, but I dont think the links you provided show broad notice by his peers. Bonewah (talk) 17:17, 29 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Not to mention that "widely known" in conspiracy theory circles is a pretty shallow pool to work out of. We have noteworthy conspiracy theorists in Wikipedia: is he really even sniffing the level of Alex Jones or David Icke or Jerome Corsi? Thargor Orlando (talk) 17:40, 29 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Oh I see now.. the 2004 United States election voting controversies in Ohio are a "conspiracy theory".. please, tell us what you really think of this topic you are putting up for deletion? Is he a total wacko nut case and Bush won fair and square? -- Green Cardamom (talk) 18:08, 29 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

How about we just stick to the subject at hand, the notability, or lack thereof, of Bob Fitrakis? WP:SOAPBOX Bonewah (talk) 18:23, 29 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Sure, so long as the nom assumes good faith and can refrain from unduly attacking Bob Fitrakis. WP:BLP --Green Cardamom (talk) 01:55, 30 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Additional evidence that Fitrakis is well known by peers (and otherwise) as an expert on election fraud:

Fitrakis has appeared on National TV such as CNN with Lou Dobbs on election fraud[7], countless radio shows (eg. [8]), liberal TV channel GRITtv [9] and discussed in relation to a story on Democracy Now![10]
Fitrakis works at the national and international levels, briefing John Kerry, the Democratic Party Senate leadership, observing voting in El Salvador, etc.[11](primary for verification)
Board member of the National Election Integrity Coalition.[12]
11 appearances by Fitrakis in documentaries about voting fraud. No other person in the list of leading researchers has as many documentary appearances.[13]
Fitrakis has numerous mentions in sources over his leading involvement with a subpoena of Karl Rove in a voting fraud investigation in Ohio.[14][15]
Fitrakis has numerous mentions in sources over his leading involvement with voting machine tampering in 2012[16][17][18][19][20]
Fitrakis is mentioned often in notable liberal magazines such as The Progressive[21][22][23][24], Guernica[25], Mother Jones[26], Common Dreams NewsCenter[27], Baltimore Chronicle & Sentinel[28], Sojourners[29]
Fitrakis mentioned in international press [30][31][32]

The above is far from complete. There are over 40,000 Google hits to keep finding more evidence that he is well known by his liberal activist (and otherwise) peers. -- Green Cardamom (talk) 01:55, 30 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

That would be more impressive if it were worked into the article, rather than dumped into the AfD. Bonewah (talk) 13:30, 30 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

These are still not about him, just about the things he has concerned himself with. Just getting on TV in an interview doesn't make you worthy of note, otherwise I'd have an article. Thargor Orlando (talk) 17:38, 30 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Keep. Not as notable as I'd like, but sources do seem to exist. Washington Spectator, Christian Science Monitor, Salon. NinjaRobotPirate (talk) 07:16, 29 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]
- How are these sources about Fitrakis? Are you arguing that we should move his article in voter machine controversies? Thargor Orlando (talk) 12:14, 29 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Delete Fairly run of the mill journalist and author. Notability (people) requires "the person who is the topic of a biographical article should be "worthy of notice" – that is, "significant, interesting, or unusual enough to deserve attention or to be recorded" merely being a published writer does not qualify. Bonewah (talk) 15:23, 29 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This debate has been included in the Article Rescue Squadron's list of content for rescue consideration. Green Cardamom (talk) 18:17, 29 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Keep I agree with NinjaRobotPirate's finds. He gets enough coverage to prove he is notable enough for a Wikipedia article about him. Dream Focus 21:56, 29 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

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.