Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Gareth Mitchell


 * 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__EXPECTED_UNCONNECTED_PAGE__. Therre is a legitimate disagreement as to whether the sources are sufficient, and it's not for me to rule on that as none of the arguments are clearly contrary to policy. Stifle (talk) 08:28, 11 May 2023 (UTC)

Gareth Mitchell

 * – ( View AfD View log | edits since nomination)

Notability tag since 2019. WP:Before shows no proper independent sources to meet WP:JOURNALIST. nirmal (talk) 11:33, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Journalism and United Kingdom. nirmal (talk) 11:34, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Radio-related deletion discussions. nirmal (talk) 11:36, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Academics and educators, Engineering,  and Wales.  Spiderone (Talk to Spider) 11:41, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep. Mitchell has been a journalist presenting shows with a worldwide audience on the BBC "world service" for two decades, he also lectures on the subject at one on the world's notable universitys "Imperial college London" Back ache (talk) 12:08, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Does that mean anyone working in BBC for 2 decades and being part of a university qualifies as notable person? I doubt this logic. nirmal (talk) 11:30, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
 * or put another way, broadcasting to a worldwide audience for twenty years (that would equate to millions of people, and pre-dated the internet making it easy/normal) and having his skills recognised one of the top university's in the world? Back ache (talk) 09:04, 26 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep Mitchell has presented Digital Planet for 18 years and been part of the team for 22 years. During that time, he has presented nearing 1000 editions and the show was the BBC's flagship technology show throughout this period, attracting all sort of guests including big names and covering landmark events. For example, in an edition that aired a few weeks ago, he interviewed Jimmy Wales. Therefore, given his role in a prominent programme for a significant broadcaster, I believe this justifies the article. Equally, away from Digital Planet, he has been involved with other programmes, events and print journalism. For example, he was a host for the Kavli Science Journalism Lecture, written for IEEE and has been involved with the World Economic Forum. Adamiow (talk) 21:31, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * An independent indepth coverage of his biography or works in a respectable publication would be justifiable. Should mention in few articles here and there allowed to pass wp:GNG? nirmal (talk) 11:37, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I think you need to bear in mind that, as a predominantly broadcast journalist, most journalism done will be in a audio format, so whilst fully available, less citable in comparison to print journalists. Indeed, indepth interviews are equally audio. However, despite this, if it helps, there is an archive of articles written for BBC Science Focus on their site too. Adamiow (talk) 09:03, 26 April 2023 (UTC)
 * That would be fine if there were journalist about him, even in a broadcast format. But a show in which he is the guest is not **about** him. Nor are print articles that he authored. It's the lack of **about** that is the issue here. Lamona (talk) 16:21, 7 May 2023 (UTC)

Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, 78.26  (spin me / revolutions) 02:12, 1 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep: Gareth Mitchell is a very notable UK journalist and commentator with a world-wide audience who well merits a Wikipedia entry. As host of Digital Planet (formerly Click) on BBC World Service he was one of the most important voices on radio speaking about tech and interviewing major figures including Vint Cerf, Tim Berners-Lee, Nicholas Negroponte. His programmes are available in the BBC archive, and it would be unfortunate if Wikipedians decided that only written material could be counted towards notability. Gareth continues to present science and tech shows for the BBC, on World Service and domestic channels, giving him a substantial audience around the world. Billthom (talk) 06:40, 3 May 2023 (UTC)
 *  Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.


 * Delete I found NO independent sources about him that were substantial in nature. I did find a few mentions in The Guardian, but mostly he is name-checked in articles about shows or other topics. I can't tell if he is the same Gareth Mitchell who founded a company called tree2mydoor.com, but I don't think so because none of the articles about that mention his BBC work. The WP article uses references incorrectly, mostly as original research on facts, such as linking to a show site to support that he had a show in which a celebrity appeared. All of that would need to be removed from the article. I did go through and hack out some really egregious things like a tweet saying that he has a brother (really?!) but I don't think that the article is salvageable unless someone finds some strong independent sources. Lamona (talk) 01:53, 4 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep: Gareth Mitchell has been a technology broadcast journalist on the BBC world Service for nearly two decades as well as reporting on the UK domestic BBC radio 4. He is unusual in that as well as hosting radio programs he also teaches others at the beginning of their career via his courses at Imperial College London thus meaning his contribution to journalism is greater than it may initially appear. He is recognised by the Worldwide Association of News Publishers . Being a primarily radio journalist it is not surprising he has few written articles however the form of his work should surely not preclude someone with a worldwide audience from continuing to have a page on WP. G. Eycott 83.216.65.91 (talk) 16:27, 4 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Delete. It was I who tagged this for notability in 2019. I have just been through the existing references again and I cannot see three decent secondary sources which talk about Mitchell, rather than being interviews or links to programmes in which he appears. It doesn't look to me as if he meets WP:JOURNALIST, points 1, 2 or 4, or the doubly-defined point 3 (that is, he has created a body of work, but I don't see that this has been "the primary subject of multiple independent periodical articles or reviews" in reliable sources). Tacyarg (talk) 20:16, 5 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Keep Meets WP:BIO with sources presented by IP User. Except for 1, 3 and 6, the rest are reliable and in-depth enough IMV. SBKSPP (talk) 03:54, 9 May 2023 (UTC)
 * I looked at those and not one of them is about him. #2 does not mention him; #4 says in toto "Melissa was joined at the lecture by Gareth Mitchell a lecturer on the Science Communication and Science Media Production MSc programmes at Imperial, teaching radio journalism and audio production. Away from Imperial, Gareth presents the weekly technology show Digital Planet on the BBC World Service."; #5 is BY him, not about him; #6 is an interview. etc. None of these are independent sources. Lamona (talk) 01:21, 11 May 2023 (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.