Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Artur Balder (2nd nomination)


 * 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 no consensus. (WP:NPASR). North America1000 08:31, 13 October 2016 (UTC)

Artur Balder
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The article had been deleted previously in 2008 following an RfD. It was later restored and sent to review in 2010, at which point it was kept.

About a year ago, all articles related to Artur Balder were deleted on the Spanish Wikipedia, based on a RfD I started. The article on en.wiki persists, just as many other articles on various other projects, which were all created by a bunch of users likely related to the described person. See the deletion review, where the user (Lolox76) states he "work[s] for a production company based on New York City, and my purpose was to make it easy for wikipedist in relationship with the work that pulled together the documentary "Little Spain". Without this documentary, almost a century of Spanish American history in New York City would not be known".

However, as I pointed out on the es.wiki deletion request, the articles lack a neutral point of view, and verificability is also an issue as not everything which is published on the internet, specifically on local and regional news sources, can be trusted, and much is likely to have been manipulated or otherwise played to seem reliable. For instance, checking one of the older versions of the article seems to indicate he was German and that he was born in Munich, while it is now claimed he is Spanish-American despite only living in the US since 2008. This fact is referenced with up to three sources, of which none really give certainty of him being really American.

I believe all articles related to Artur Balder are biased, and have been written while in conflict of interest - while doing a great effort to make them look encyclopedic and neutral or are based on manipulation & deceit. To point to a specific instance where deceit plays a role, notice the third and fourth awards listed on his article. The "Asociación Wagneriana de Alicante" has been founded by Balder himself, though that little fact is ignored. The first prize, "International Prize for Contemporary Art from Mainz", is referenced using that same "news website", so by the autors own measurement, it's a reliable source. Note additionally that the prize granted by this "Asociación Wagneriana de Alicante" has been reported in quite a few regional news sources, such as the Valencian edition of elpais.com and the culture section of Europa Press.

The other awards, specifically those mentioned in the first line of the article, IMO do not grant him the notability they pretend - both the Association of Latin Entertainment Critics and the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors are both minor organisations with no significant relevance themselves.

The section #Art_documentaries mentions two documentaries filmed for the MoMA, though except the Spanish sources from Europa Press and some other regional Spanish press editions, I have not been able to verify the exact relation with MoMA and the truth behind this affirmation. Because of the obvious lack of verification of Europa Press with regard to the award-giving organisation (see §4), I have my doubts about the contrasting of the information. The site of Artur Balder's production company, Meatoacking Productions, mentions "The Associated Press at the MoMA premiere. Museum of Modern Art, NYC, May 2013.", linking to a photo in AP's photo database which, as AP states, has been "provided by Meatpacking Productions".

One of the reasons I pick this up now is because a Spanish court has ruled that Artur Balder has to compensate a journalist for defamation, amounting to 30.000€. This defamation also includes articles on Wikinews, where the user FiloActual, a confirmed sock of Lolox76, insinuated the journalist was corrupt. The Wikinews article was sourced on a press release of the site of the Association of Latin Entertainment Critics (curiously, their last press release) and on a news article published on alicantecultura.org. The latter site is registered with 007NAMES and hosted on dreamhost, coincidentally the same combination as arturbalder.com's official site, and a review of the official twitter account of that news source revealed that, at the time of the RfD on es.wiki, 107 of 284 tweets directly mentioned either Artur Balder or Joan Castejón. On top, FiloActual offered, in the discussion that emerged after the deletion of the Spanish Wikinews article, the following: "Será necesario escribir a los medios que estén publicando criticas negativas sobre el proyecto y mostrar que esto es independiente y que es "libre". Eliminando artículos de nivel periodístico y de claro interés periodístico solo estamos dándoles la razon. Propongo restaurar el artículo y enviar una misiva desde Wikinews inglés a AlicaneCultura.org para que reconsideren la eliminación de cualquier artículo negativo sobre Wikipedia. Miremos hacia el futuro en lugar de enquistarnos en el pasado. Condición indispensable restaurar el artículo y abandonar la paranoia balderiana, al contrario."

This briefly translates that he offers to contact news sources publishing negative articles about Wikipedia/Wikinews, specifically mentioning alicantecultura.org, under the condition that the article is undeleted and the "Balder paranoia" abandoned - a request that obviously was not granted.

This bias also affects, in my opinion:
 * Joan Castejón is an artist related to Balder in some way or other - Balder produced a documentary about him. This article lacks similar verificability and additionally seems to be an automatic translation. The first sentence of the second paragraph ("His work has been exhibited in some of the most important museums in Spain") is clearly deceitful - only one of the museums listed could be in any top ranking of museums in Spain, the Institut Valencià d'Art Modern. He was also awarded the Total art work prize by the aforementioned "Asociación Wagneriana de Alicante". I do, however, have the impression that he is more notable than Balder himself.
 * Joan Castejón is an artist related to Balder in some way or other - Balder produced a documentary about him. This article lacks similar verificability and additionally seems to be an automatic translation. The first sentence of the second paragraph ("His work has been exhibited in some of the most important museums in Spain") is clearly deceitful - only one of the museums listed could be in any top ranking of museums in Spain, the Institut Valencià d'Art Modern. He was also awarded the Total art work prize by the aforementioned "Asociación Wagneriana de Alicante". I do, however, have the impression that he is more notable than Balder himself.
 * Joan Castejón is an artist related to Balder in some way or other - Balder produced a documentary about him. This article lacks similar verificability and additionally seems to be an automatic translation. The first sentence of the second paragraph ("His work has been exhibited in some of the most important museums in Spain") is clearly deceitful - only one of the museums listed could be in any top ranking of museums in Spain, the Institut Valencià d'Art Modern. He was also awarded the Total art work prize by the aforementioned "Asociación Wagneriana de Alicante". I do, however, have the impression that he is more notable than Balder himself.

Many other related articles have been affected and are partially or equally biased. For instance, this change on the article "Spanish Benevolent Society" (a society in what Balder claims used to be called "Little Spain", and which is the central point of his so-called documentary), claimed "spanishbenevolentsociety.org" is the official website of the center, though this website really seems to be about Artur Balders film, focussing on selling the DVD & sharing registrar and hoster with Balders official site. The listed official webpage of the club has since been changed to "lanacional.org".

In short, Artur Balder or someone with a strong conflict of interest has been abusing Wikipedia to create notability, based partly on truth (though unknown to what extent) and partly by deceit, abusing our projects and spamming this article across as many wikis as possible to pursue his agenda. Savh tell me 23:30, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

Edited. Savh tell me 13:11, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Authors-related deletion discussions. Coolabahapple (talk) 12:36, 23 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Actors and filmmakers-related deletion discussions. Coolabahapple (talk) 12:36, 23 September 2016 (UTC)

 Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus. Relisting comment: Please note that Joan Castejón is also nominated for deletion within this discussion. North America1000 15:08, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, North America1000 15:08, 26 September 2016 (UTC)  Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, North America1000 01:14, 4 October 2016 (UTC)


 * 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.