Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Carsten Thomassen (journalist)


 * 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. There does not seem to be a clear consensus for what to do, but further discussion on a possible merge or redirect can and should take place on the article's talk page. Lankiveil (speak to me) 05:03, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

Carsten Thomassen (journalist)

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A non-notable journalist who was killed in a much publicized terror attack which targeted the Norwegian foreign minister. Article is heavily bloated with circumstantial prose, but strip away all that is not focused directly on Thomassen and we're left with very little. Nomination is a follow-up on a suggestion on the article's talk page. meco (talk) 11:20, 12 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Norway-related deletion discussions. meco (talk) 11:27, 12 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions. meco (talk) 11:27, 12 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Terrorism-related deletion discussions. meco (talk) 11:27, 12 April 2012 (UTC)


 * Comment There's a suggestion that the death had widespread and continuing coverage, beyond his individual death, thus meeting the requirements of WP:EVENT. Whether it should be covered in an article about the assassination rather than about the journalist, I'm not sure. --Colapeninsula (talk) 11:53, 12 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Well, yes, but the event wasn't so much the death of Thomasen—although he very much became a poster-boy for it—as it was the terrorist attack itself. I would agree that an alternative would be to have an article on the assassination of Thomassen, but if we do that, we would get in the perhaps even more awkward position of having to justify that as a fork of the article 2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack, and I believe it would be turned into a redirect pretty fast or attempted made into a biography proper, and we would have it back here at AfD again. __meco (talk) 13:31, 12 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Ah, I didn't see 2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack, I think a merge would be a good alternative if the article isn't keepable. --Colapeninsula (talk) 16:43, 12 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Weak keep or merge. If he was "very much" the "poster boy" for the event, it would seem he gained a certain amount of posthumous notoriety. Marikafragen (talk) 02:33, 26 April 2012 (UTC)


 * Weak Keep. Whether or not this article is badly written is beside the point, the journalist himself seems notable and the ending piece about the statue/monument being put up in his honor is definitely note-worthy.  The link to that article is broken, however, and the writer of the article should be made aware of this.  LogicalCreator (talk) 12:02, 12 April 2012 (UTC)
 * It's a library, not a statue/monument, and it's a school library for a school paid for mostly by the Norwegian government. Which makes this even more look like spin to me. According to additional sources Norway is helping finance more than 100 schools elsewhere i Afghanistan. I'm adding additional references about this in Norwegian where the Afghan minister of education states that Thomassen was a great journalist, in front of the Norwegian foreign minister. This is all going to remain thinly varnished spin if we're unable to document that Thomassen was indeed a great journalist. I've added an archive link to the broken reference. __meco (talk) 14:01, 12 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Afghanistan-related deletion discussions. meco (talk) 14:30, 12 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Military-related deletion discussions. meco (talk) 14:30, 12 April 2012 (UTC)


 * Note. I've nominated another biography on a victim of this attack for deletion, Articles for deletion/Thor Hesla. __meco (talk) 15:51, 12 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Delete As far as I can see all coverage of Thomassen in reliable sources is related to his death. Unless evidence can be found of him being notable prior to his death, everything encyclopedic in the article is better covered in the 2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack article. Arsenikk (talk)  21:40, 12 April 2012 (UTC)


 * Comment: I have yet to see any reason why this article should not be deleted. --Sywoofer (talk) 07:57, 13 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Merge Since I've not actually voted, I now think the best course would be to merge the ample material with reliable sources to 2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack. In future years if Thomassen continues to be an important figure, the original article could be recreated.  Deleting is perverse, as good, well-sourced content could be saved by a merge. --Colapeninsula (talk) 09:46, 13 April 2012 (UTC)


 * Weak Keep - This guy was a well-known journalist in Norway, and in my opinion he was notable before the attack. But this article as it stands, could easily be merged into 2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack, as there is almost no info about Thomassen there which isn't related to the attack. If the article should be kept, more info on his life before 14 January 2008 should be added. Mentoz86 (talk) 18:08, 13 April 2012 (UTC)
 * If Thomassen was a well-known journalist in Norway prior to his death, why does neither this article nor its counterparts on the two Norwegian Wikipedias confirm or assert this? If you have read sources that attest to this we need to see those and add them to the article. __meco (talk) 18:32, 13 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.


 * Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, The Bushranger One ping only 00:56, 19 April 2012 (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.