Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Diane lawless


 * 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   Delete, consensus is that the article faisl the notability guidelines. Davewild (talk) 09:03, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Diane lawless

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Diane Lawless is a local community organizer and candidate for a municipal council office. Candidates for local office are rarely notable -- the article makes few other assertions of notability beyond helping to get legislative bills passed as a lobbyist or legislative director, and assisting on other political campaigns. The article is largely sourced to either her website or a Kentucky election website, and the only external link is a link to her campaign website. I don't see the notability and prominence for a Wikipedia article. ArglebargleIV (talk) 21:38, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

In response to the user who proposed this page for deletion, it was only created a few hours ago and some sourcing is still taking place. As far as the notability of Diane Lawless, the political apathy that pervades American culture may preclude local politicians from becoming household names but in no way mitigates their important status in communities. Ideally, individuals would feel personally connected enough with their communities and the future of those communities to promote informed voting on the local level as well as the state and national levels. State politicians are rarely covered outside of their own media markets - I find the commentary on the locations of the sources irrelevant. Jmv719
 * Strong Delete. Wikipedia has an important policy called WP:BIO. "Major local political figures who have received significant press coverage.[7] Generally speaking, mayors are likely to meet this criterion, as are members of the main citywide government or council of a major metropolitan city." People who are not even elected to office in any position fail this guideline.  In addition, I found 7 different references to her own personal website on the page, which fails Reliable sources.  The only other sites are one that has a page for every candidate, which doesn't mean notability, and a blog. There is literally 0 notability or sources of it on this article.  I'm sure Diane is a great lady and a resource to her community, but just because someone is a nice person doesn't mean they need their own Wikipedia article.  --mboverload @  22:45, 3 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Comment. The article cannot be moved to Diane Lawless which I suspect is because the latter has been deleted a couple of times already. I might be wrong. But I can't get to the deletion log. The upper-case just redirects to this page if I type it in the search box. But the foregoing redlink looks ok. Weird. -- brew crewer  (yada, yada) 04:20, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

I will admit that I do not know nearly as much about Wikipedia article creation as you. I am, however, a big supporter of grassroots politics, and I hate to see Wikipedia discouraging that in its policies about notability. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jmv719 (talk • contribs) 06:40, 4 August 2008 (UTC) I certainly think that the policy should be changed. I think Wikipedia has an increasing responsibility as a tool used by the public to make decisions about their day-to-day lives. Wikipedia has become the go-to source for consolidated, reliable information about politicians for many voters; the type of publications that are covering the particular election cycle Ms. Lawless is involved in, for instance, are rarely viewed (or, at least, viewed with any regularity) by anyone but politicos and the well-educated. A voter who is less invested in the political process - as most of them are - should be able to use Wikipedia as an easier, more accessible aide in their decision-making process. I think these circumstances and the changing role of Wikipedia in American political discourse merits a review of the notability policies of this information hub to reflect more Wikipedia's more widespread use and social standing. Jmv719
 * Delete. Political activities seem to fall below the threshold and I am always suspicious about anything from an SPA. &mdash; RHaworth (Talk | contribs) 07:44, 4 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Kentucky-related deletion discussions.   --  Fabrictramp  |  talk to me  23:45, 4 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Politicians-related deletion discussions.   --  Fabrictramp  |  talk to me  23:46, 4 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment An IP user blanked the page about 14 hours ago. I've reverted back to a prior version so the debate can continue.-- Fabrictramp |  talk to me  23:48, 4 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Delete. Clearly fails WP:BIO. To the article's creator, I would say that I agree with you about involvement in local politics and applaud your promotion of grassroots efforts. If you feel strongly that the guideline for inclusion should be changed, you should discuss it at the village pump for policy or the talk page for the relevant guideline. However, the policy as it stands says this should be deleted. Acdixon (talk • contribs • count) 01:32, 5 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Weak delete. Diane Lawless gets some local WP:RS coverage as an activist, but it's all from the same newspaper for the same issue. Getting elected could put her over the top. But short of that, notability is not established. • Gene93k (talk) 02:14, 5 August 2008 (UTC)
 * You are free to think the policy should be changed - I am drawing up some ideas to change some policies, too. That doesn't mean I get to violate them in the meantime. Wikipedia is not a promotion machine or a research tool for small-time candidates in local races. Wikipedia isn't a polictial message board for your use. She already has her own blog and website to promote herself and get her ideas and credentials out there. She does not need Wikipedia. I do not see your motive here.  Just because someone has an article on Wikipedia doesn't make them "special" or any more fit for office. People Google candidate names, not Wikipedia. --mboverload @  02:21, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

I accept the consensus of the group. I am not trying to show bias towards Diane Lawless and I am not trying to advance her political agenda, but the political process as a whole. I really do deeply believe in local politics and their importance, and I would love to provide more easily accessible information to local voters. In the meantime, I agree that my posting of this article was misinformed and largely due to my inexperience as a Wikipedia contributor. I am blanking the article of my own accord and withdraw it as a submission; I will use the proper channels to fight this battle and I do not want to present the appearance of imbalance. Jmv719 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jmv719 (talk • contribs) 08:32, 6 August 2008 (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.