Talk:Ruth Coker Burks

Talk
thankyou from WiR Victuallers (talk) 22:01, 10 June 2017 (UTC)
 * She was amazing, ! Thanks for tweeting! :) Megalibrarygirl (talk) 20:41, 11 June 2017 (UTC)

Recent fabrication allegations
So, there's a new article on RCB from NBC News, published on October 29th, 2021. It speaks to some primary sources, including some directly involved with the book, cemetery, and local LGBT community, about the possibility that although she did some genuine good things, many things-- such as buying most of the land in the local cemetery and the amount of men she buried-- aren't accurate statements and are in fact greatly exaggerated or outright false. Might be a good idea to consider adding a controversy section at the least. Thefriendlyvan (talk) 07:44, 4 November 2021 (UTC)
 * There's also this Arkansas Times article, cited by the NBC piece. As far as I can tell that's it, though.  I'm not sure a whole controversy section would be due weight, but it would certainly be appropriate to note in the article that questions have been raised about the details of Burks' work and the number of men she helped. Caeciliusinhorto (talk) 18:12, 19 November 2021 (UTC)
 * I've added a section about this. In addition to the two sources mentioned above, the disputed details have also been noted in her entry in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. There's also this article, which is mostly a summary of the NBC News story, though they did get a separate statement from Burks (through her lawyer), so it does represent at least a little original reporting. Colin M (talk) 15:35, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

Minor discrepancy re David Koon's syndicated story for Out
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas and NBC News both state that David Koon's January 2015 profile for the Arkansas Times was reprinted in Out magazine in 2016. NBC News specifically says they "published a syndicated version of Koon’s Arkansas Times article". The full version of the original Arkansas Times article isn't freely available online, but what's visible above the paywall does not seem to match what was later published in Out:
 * Ark Times
 * Out

None of the visible text in the Ark Times piece (the headline, the subhead, and the first paragraph) appears anywhere in the Out story. Is it possible Koons did an entirely separate story for Out, and NBC News and the Encyclopedia got it wrong? Or is it normal for a "syndicated version" to be significantly altered from the original? Colin M (talk) 18:55, 2 December 2021 (UTC)