Talk:Kathy Freston

24.43.17.164 is at it again
I assume you are either Ms. Freston or Ms. Freston's agent. This is an encyclopedic article, not your personal promotional material. You may not delete inconvenient information from Wikipedia without explanation, especially information that is referenced and readily confirmable. Please post your concerns on this discussion page before you revert edits. You have made three reverts now for no good reason, and that could be seen as vandalism.

173.51.166.11 (talk) 22:47, 22 August 2009 (UTC)Jeff K.

Unneccessary edits
from IP 173.51.166.11 I have seen that there have been a number of unwarranted, unnecessary edits to this page since I added information back at the end of April. I have sourced each and every fact that I have written, and you may check them yourselves. I believe that the information is all relevant, particularly as Ms. Freston has risen rapidly to fame, and that rapid rise does require some explanation apart from her writing. The information about Oprah (who has been key to Ms. freston's success) and Ms. Freston's husband is all relevant here.

Furthermore, there are two problems with regard to POV by changing this article without any clear discussion or comment. First, in the absence of any information with regard to the subject's education, the issue of credentials is important. As such, there is no reason to remove reference to the fact that although the subject claims expertise in nutrition, she is not licensed as a nutritionist in the state she lives in, nor does she have a degree or educational background to claim expertise in nutrition or "wellness." The other issue is more concerning. Specifically, someone with the IP address of 24.43.17.164 has continually undone edits without explanation, and has instead, inserted blurbs directly from the subject's own promotional website, leaving me to believe that IP 24.43.17.164 is either the subject or the subject's agent, and continual reversions such as this amounts to self-promotion and a serious breach of Wikipedia policy. Looking up the IP address reveals that the owner is a business using RoadRunner as an ISP linked to Virginia.

I do not want an edit war. I am certainly open to edits, but only those which can be clearly justified under Wikipedia policy, and not just because you are a fan of the subject.

jeff k. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.51.166.11 (talk) 22:15, 23 July 2009 (UTC)


 * I am not sure who you are and what your facts are, but as I work for Kathy Freston and know all of her work and information firsthand and with complete facts, I am not sure what information you have. Not only are your facts incorrect, but there are typos in both her and her husband's name---multiple times---which proves even more that your facts are NOT merited as well as perhaps you may have your people mixed up.  I do not want an edit war either and since I work with the rights to her company and her work, I would hope that you would trust that things being removed are because they are inaccurate.  I will report vandals if this continues, as quoting things that are inaccurate are not necessary and inappropriate.


 * If Wikipedia is wanting to promote facts and not biased opinions, edits of facts, and wrong names, I suggest that the edits on your end stop, as I have documentation about the contrary.


 * Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cclimetree (talk • contribs) 20:59, 5 October 2009 (UTC)


 * October 21, 2009. I am AGAIN undo'ing the incorrect edits that you seem to continue to do to Kathy FRESTON'S page.  If you are going to continue this, I WILL REPORT YOU.  You not only have your facts wrong, but you are spelling her name incorrectly.  Her name is NOT Preston, nor is her husband's, and you seem to want to report information on their personal life, again, which is not true.  If this happens again, I will shut you down.


 * Thank you again. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.43.20.87 (talk) 21:58, 21 October 2009 (UTC)


 * I am AGAIN undoing your WARRENTLESS edits to this article. I have requested a dialogue with you since the summer, and only NOW you post threats. You are obviously new to this. First off, Wikipedia is for documented information, not for merely reposting promotional material -- see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Autobiography . All you have done here is to re-edit the subject's information to reflect her own promotional material. The only legitimate complaint you have registered below is the misspellings of the subject's name, which have bee corrected. If you wish to correct misspellings, feel free. As far as my facts, I have cited each fact. If you have something specific to refute a specific issue, then you may bring that up here. You are not free, however, to just delete large blocks of text because they may contain information you find inconvenient. This is not an issue of bias. Your insistence that this article be sanitized is bias and is a direct violation of the npov policy of Wikipedia. You are invited to read some of Wikipedia's guidelines first before you start launching threats. As for "reporting me," feel free. I have already brought your violations of Wikipedia policy to the attention of the appropriate editors, and would welcome arbitration by an editor. Finally, perhaps instead of just deleting lots of text, you could indicate WHAT SPECIFIC facts you believe to be incorrect. Many of the facts came from an INTERVIEW with the SUBJECT HERSELF! Finally, since you seem to know so much about the subject, you could help fill in the gaps in this article. For example, would you be so kind to fill in the blank space under "Education" to reflect Ms. Freston's education, particularly in the field in which she claims to be an expert? For the last time - read the footnotes and follow the links. Just because you do not like it does not make it "incorrect." Oh, it would also help if you could write in a manner that is comprehensible, and not rife with misspellings and severe grammatical errors. It would make it much easier to read your baseless threats (shut me down - he he he he) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.100.22.216 (talk • contribs) 04:24, October 23, 2009

Third opinion
I saw this at third opinion. This article requires tons of clean up. I am going to remove all unsourced informaiton and put it below for easy access. Get ome sources and put it back in. Citing sources. This might look a little rash but a few hours or few days is up to how fast we find the information and isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things.Cptnono (talk) 23:43, 23 October 2009 (UTC)
 * The most important first step is sources. Please see the "biography of a living person" tag at the top of this talk page.
 * The first paragraph of "Career" requires an inline citations. It comes across very complimentary which might be OK but certainly is not without sources.
 * The third paragraph also requires sources. This should be easy. Please see the cite episode and cite web templates. Coverage from independent sources is obviously preferred.
 * The fourth paragraph requires a source summarizing her style. This isn't something that can be done through original research.
 * The fifth paragraph needs an inline citation for that quote. That should be easy.
 * The "Marriage" seciton is poor. The inline citation for the second line (#4) does not work. I can't even tell if that site has reliable sources at first glance since there is not an "about us" section I can find.
 * The next line (about OParah) is another one that needs a source and should be easy.
 * "There is no record in the state of New York of her being a licensed therapist.[2]" Doesn't even make sense. Nowhere in the article is it asserted that she does and that is not a source.
 * Manual of style. Too many concerns. See Manual of Style for issues with italics and caps lock.
 * Modeling looks important from the Hamptons piece. Why isn't that in?

If you were to try to remove all unsourced information from Wikipedia, Cptnono, you'd die of old age before getting the first 1% done. And if that were the rule, there wouldn't be any need for citation-needed tags. The reverts look suspicious, as has been pointed out, and come from an IP-only user -- whose IP shows that they're at a business, in West L.A., along the Wilshire corridor. If it's from the Rob Weisbach agency, or another person/entity tied to Ms. Freston (and I'm working on tracing that, and getting close) ... well, 'we report -- you decide'. >;-) —Preceding unsigned comment added by A Doon (talk • contribs) 22:23, 12 March 2010 (UTC)

===Early life===

Freston grew up in the Atlanta area. She began modeling at age 16.

[Here's a source: http://www.wmagazine.com/celebrities/2008/05/kathy_freston?currentPage=2] A Doon (talk) 19:17, 12 March 2010 (UTC)


 * @Cptnono - I sourced everything, and you have no basis for removing ANYTHING I have posted. Doon = why are my reverts suspicious? Because I made changes from an IP?  Don't make assumptions about the location, because that is a red herring.  I have sourced everything, and am sick and tired of having ro repost what I have CLEARLY sourced.  She went from being a nobody to being a regular guest on Oprah's show, despite the fact that she has absolutely no qualifications.  I have no personal interest in this.  I am annoyed, however, that I have clearly fixed what was requested, and that he section on Tom Freston is absolutely essential to this entry to explain WHY she has become notable in the last year.  Cptnono, if you are going to act as the third party, you need to be much more specific in what you think needs to be revised, otherwise repost the article and allow someone else to do it.  If I recieve no response in 24 hrs, I will be forced to revert to an earlier edition of the article.  As for now, I am removing the "personal connection" statement at the top of this article, as it is false.

Jeff K. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.51.166.193 (talk) 23:22, 31 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Pay more attention then. Cclimetree has admitted to it and it appears that the IP starting with 24 is. And this is a BLP that had sourced info removed and unsourced info added. That is why there are citation needed tags.Cptnono (talk) 00:26, 1 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I took a quick look and I don't think he removed anything that was sourced except for some material that was included twice. The removal might have been better done as two edits, one for the redundant material, one for the unsourced, so as to be less confusing, but I don't see anything improper. Which material exactly do you want to restore? Rees11 (talk) 00:19, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

(career section) Kathy Freston is a self-professed health and wellness expert and a New York Times best-selling author.

... and her work has garnered accolades from such people as Dr. Andrew Weil, Dr. Neal Barnard, Marianne Williamson and Dr. Deepak Chopra.

Freston has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Ellen, The View, Good Morning America, and CBS's the Early Show. Her work has been featured notably in Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, Self, W, and Fitness. She is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, AlterNet, and writes a monthly food column for the LA Times Magazine.

Freston promotes a body/mind/spirit approach to health and happiness that includes a concentration on healthy diet, emotional introspection, spiritual practice, and loving relationships, among other tenants. Her work is focused on providing guidance for conscious and healthy living in our increasingly busy world. Freston believes in the value of “leaning into” change and the benefits of “progress, not perfection.”

In O Magazine, Oprah Winfrey wrote, “Kathy Freston struck a nerve for me by speaking of a higher level of awareness, what she calls “spiritual integrity”….iKathy cautions that the way to full consciousness isn’t to give up every poor choice at once. She says, Lean into it. Don’t try to break a lifetime of bad habits overnight. I’m leaning.”

(marriage section) Tom Freston was an executive at Viacom in charge of MTV Networks until 2006. In 2007, Oprah Winfrey approached Tom Freston to head up her start up cable newtwork OWN. According to a Fortune magazine article, Oprah Winfrey "suspected that Kathy could be her ally in finding a connection with Tom." She was not aware of Kathy Freston's work before her attempt to recruit Tom Freston, as (according to the same article) she served the couple chicken and an assortment of meats. Since recruiting Tom Freston to consult for OWN, Kathy Freston has made a number of appearances on Oprah's show.

Notability
Is this person notable? A Google news search only turns up mentions of her book, nothing that would meet the wp:gng. Rees11 (talk) 17:12, 20 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Looking at Google news archives, it is a close call, but I would say that this person meets notability standards at Wikipedia. Agreed, mostly in context of discussion of her books, but that would be expected of an author.  SaltyBoatr (talk) 22:14, 26 March 2010 (UTC)


 * The only reason she is notable is because she was on Oprah's show and network, and that is because she was the wife of Tom Freston, whom Oprah was trying to close a financial deal with. She has no education in the topic she claims to be an expert in.  Shee has no education at all beyond her sophomore year in high school.  This was why I had added the information about her husband and Oprah - because that is the only reason she is remotely noteable. I gave up on this article because her PR assistant has been using this as her own promotional brochure.  Jeff K.

Blacklisted Links Found on Kathy Freston
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 * https://www.change.org/petitions/mcdonald-s-it-s-time-for-a-healthy-meatless-option
 * Triggered by  on the local blacklist

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Blacklisted Links Found on Kathy Freston
Cyberbot II has detected links on Kathy Freston which have been added to the blacklist, either globally or locally. Links tend to be blacklisted because they have a history of being spammed or are highly inappropriate for Wikipedia. The addition will be logged at one of these locations: local or global If you believe the specific link should be exempt from the blacklist, you may request that it is white-listed. Alternatively, you may request that the link is removed from or altered on the blacklist locally or globally. When requesting whitelisting, be sure to supply the link to be whitelisted and wrap the link in nowiki tags. Please do not remove the tag until the issue is resolved. You may set the invisible parameter to "true" whilst requests to white-list are being processed. Should you require any help with this process, please ask at the help desk.

Below is a list of links that were found on the main page:


 * https://www.change.org/petitions/mcdonald-s-it-s-time-for-a-healthy-meatless-option
 * Triggered by  on the local blacklist

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Edit 1

 * Specific text to be added or removed: Please use File:Kathy Freston - Photo from Book Cover.jpg for the infobox image.
 * Reason for the change: It was taken in 2017, more recently than the current image.
 * References supporting change: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kathy_Freston_-_Photo_from_Book_Cover.jpg

Edit 2

 * Specific text to be added or removed in Biography: Early life: Kathy’s father died from a brain tumor at the age of 64. Following his death Kathy read that a meat-based diet increases the risk of developing cancer, and decided to become a vegan.
 * Reason for the change: It adds context to her career and writing on veganism and diet.
 * References supporting change: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011/02/out-to-lunch-freston-201102

Edit 3

 * Specific text to be added or removed in Career, after ...debut a vegetarian burger item.: The petition received more than 234,000 signatures.
 * Reason for the change: It adds additional information about the impact of the petition.
 * References supporting change: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2020/11/09/mcplant-mcdonalds-plant-based-burger-crispy-chicken-sandwich/6187977002/

Edit 4

 * Specific text to be added or removed in Career: On November 10, 2012 Kathy gave a TEDx talk, called “Leaning into your life”, where she talked about her decision to become a vegan.
 * Reason for the change: The talk includes more information about the background to her career and writing on veganism and diet.
 * References supporting change: https://resources.plantricianproject.org/tedx-talks/content/28fda888227d9444b9b3fbdd32ccb580/leaning-into-your-life-kathy-freston

Edit 5

 * Specific text to be added or removed in Career: In 2010, Kathy challenged Oprah and 378 members of her staff to become vegan for one week. 300 staff members completed the challenge.
 * Reason for the change: It adds more information about her work with Oprah.
 * References supporting change: https://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/oprah-and-378-staffers-take-a-vegan-challenge/all

MisterTech (talk) 19:47, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

1: ✅ 2: Oppose: Wikipedia is not a place to promote fringe theories, and stating this may lead a reader to assume that Wikipedia supports such beliefs (i.e. that eating meat can lead to developing cancer) 3: Oppose: per WP:NOPROMO. Furthermore, the petition and the number of signatures it received is described in the reference 4: Oppose: per WP:NOPROMO, this does not add value to the article, but only builds Ms Freston’s CV.

If no other editor supports the open edits, we can close the request in a few weeks as “partially implemented”, Ferkijel (talk) 06:06, 30 March 2021 (UTC)
 * Thank you for updating the picture. The link between diet and cancer is well documented on Wikipedia. MisterTech (talk) 08:45, 30 March 2021 (UTC)
 * I agree, and I wondered a lot about it. I couldn’t totally make up my mind whether including the (in my opinion “controversial” statement), so I thought it better to find community consensus. The Wikipedia article about diet and cancer says (I quote): “A diet low in fruits and vegetables and high in red meat has been implicated but not confirmed, and the effect may be small for well-nourished people who maintain a healthy weight.”. For full disclosure, I watched the Netflix documentary “What the health” when it first came out and took Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s “30-day vegan challenge”. I didn’t stay on a vegan diet very long after that, but I remain a vegetarian since then; it’s been over 4 years now.  I am not biased for or against meat on a health basis (although I have strong opinions about the environmental impact of meat production and commercialization), and I think taking a young person’s uneducated assumption on the causality between eating red meat and developing brain cancer to be a dangerous precedent for Wikipedia.  Let’s see what other editors think. Ferkijel (talk) 09:40, 30 March 2021 (UTC)


 * I think it is OK if worded carefully: Freston’s father died from a brain tumor at the age of 64. Following his death, she decided to become a vegan after learning of studies that showed that a meat-based diet may increase the risk of developing cancer. MB 14:07, 30 March 2021 (UTC)
 * I've been reading all of the sources linked in the Wikipedia article (there's over 50 of them). The only thing all of them sort of agree on, is that there's no proven causality, and that the strongest correlation between meat and cancer is among processed meats (not necessarily red meat in general). In https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2515569/ there's not even a mention to brain cancer.  Therefore I still believe we should keep this suggestion out.Ferkijel (talk) 08:14, 31 March 2021 (UTC)
 * No agreement on whether the article is improved or not by these additions. If other editors chip in, we can re-open it. Ferkjl (talk) 11:50, 9 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Hi, the photo was taken down because the copyright release didn't go through in time. It's now been sorted, could you restore it (and fix the caption)? Thanks! MisterTech (talk) 19:31, 25 April 2021 (UTC)