Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Gary W. Lopez


 * 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__EXPECTED_UNCONNECTED_PAGE__. Daniel (talk) 22:20, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

Gary W. Lopez

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

Notability issues - does not appear to meet WP:NACADEMIC or WP:NARTIST. Paid contribution that has been through various edit requests and resultant discussions of sourcing (see talk page) where notability has been questioned but no formal discussion held - so I'm nominating here to seek that as I'm not seeing it. Melcous (talk) 20:53, 11 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Academics and educators, Photography,  and California. Shellwood (talk) 20:54, 11 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Delete: The hand-holding for what edits to include on the talk page is concerning. Regardless, I can't find mention of this individual anywhere... What's used for sourcing are name drops and trivial mentions; we're a long way from notability if that's the best sourcing we can find. Oaktree b (talk) 21:12, 11 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Actors and filmmakers, Authors, Television, Science, Astronomy,  and Environment.  WC  Quidditch   ☎   ✎  21:14, 11 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Delete -The subject fails WP:ACADEMIC and WP:NARTIST and WP:PROMO. This is an article that was created as an undisclosed paid entry, and there was a history of misrepresentation of the sourcing before the creator was called out for UPE. The IPA award is not notable; anyone willing to pay an entry fee can apply for it...basically, it's a a pay-to-play award with no credibility in the fine arts world. There are three tiers: student photographers, non-professional photographers and professional photographers, literally anyone on earth can apply. In the academic world awards like this are analogous to publishing in predatory journals. His photos are beautiful but that is not how notability is established for the encyclopedia. I get it that the creator wants to get paid by their client, but the client is not a notable photographer per WP standards; a personal website (not WP) is the way to promote this person. Netherzone (talk) 23:02, 11 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Adding to my rationale, delete per WP:PROMO per the discussion below in the Comment section. WP should never be used as a source of advocacy, promotion or advertisment - WP:NOT. Netherzone (talk) 22:14, 14 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Delete It doesn't look like notability claim can be sustained. The more things are probed, the more it becomes apparently that pillars that are supposed to be solid were hollow inside. Graywalls (talk) 15:55, 12 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep Producer Gary W. Lopez has a Ph.D. in Marine Biology from Scripps Institute. He has produced and/or written more than 30 educational films and television programs and over 100 Public Service Announcements. He has a broad background in documentary filmmaking. His films have won numerous awards including seven CINE Golden Eagles, three American Film Festival Awards, and two National Educational Film Festival Awards. His clients have included The Cousteau Society, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, BBC, and Encyclopedia Britannica. In addition, he has produced and/or designed more than 20 multimedia software titles and served as CEO of two large software companies. Here is one of several citations. Greg Henderson (talk) 18:13, 12 December 2023 (UTC)
 * You have been around long enough and have discussed reliable sources matter enough to know association doesn't inherit notability. That's like trying to claim notability of a local plumbing service company, because they've had service calls at Microsoft, Walmart, Target and other fortune 500 companies. Graywalls (talk) 00:41, 13 December 2023 (UTC)
 * The citation is a bio from Jean-Michel Cousteau's Ocean Futures Society website. Here is a reliable source that covers some of the same information. My intention is to provide reliable sources that show Lopez is a noted professional. The current article has 14 citations with many coming from secondary sources like Dennis Taylor and Kathy Trissell talking about his achievements. Greg Henderson (talk) 01:44, 13 December 2023 (UTC)
 * What do you mean by "noted professional"? How is that relevant to wikipedia's notability guidelines, which is the only thing that matters here? Being profiled in a local newspaper is not a great indication of encyclopedic notability. If that were the test, from the source you have provided, we would have articles about a golden retreiver, a cat thief, a flower market organizer and a high school amateur tennis player. We don't. Melcous (talk) 02:36, 13 December 2023 (UTC)
 * I consider this article to be a secondary source as it was authored by a reliable source, Dennis Taylor. Additionally, there are other secondary sources by Sylvia Mendoza, and Kathy Trissell. His video work with Jean-Michel Cousteau and the documentary Voyage to Kure got national attention. Greg Henderson (talk) 03:19, 13 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Politely, if there is a way to object to the proposed deletion I would like to pursue WP:DEPROD. I think the article can be improved and support the notability guidelines. However, I agree that Lopez should not have to spend any of his time defending the worthiness of his work. Greg Henderson (talk) 17:06, 18 December 2023 (UTC)


 * I feel that is time that I respond to the discussion of my Wikipedia article, especially the notion of whether my work is "notable." I have had a diverse career, much of which was not notable, but there are at least two aspects of my work that are important. First, I produced a lot of films, one of which was a two-hour documentary film entitled, Voyage to Kure, that was broadcast nationally on PBS and distributed worldwide. I wrote the treatment and the shooting script, raised the funding, hired the crew and vessels, oversaw the editing, etc., all the things that a television producer does. Before it was broadcast, we screened the film for the governor of Hawaii, Linda Lingle, at a gala event, and at the request of the White House, we screened that film for President George W. Bush and his staff. Bush told the press that our film was his inspiration to use his Antiquities Act power to create the largest marine protected area in the world, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a 583,000 square mile national monument that protects the marine life and culture. (Los Angeles Times, June 15, 2006). Our documentary film was a three-year project that was responsible for a presidential action that protects a portion of the ocean that is four times the size of the State of California and protects the nesting areas for 80 percent of the Pacific seabirds. There are not a lot documentary films that have had that level of impact on society. In my opinion, that is notable.
 * My second notable work was founding and leading a national non-profit, The NROC Project. This work has been going on for more than twenty years and has served more than 10,000,000 students nationwide. Today our learning platform, EdReady, has been adopted statewide in Texas, North Carolina, Montana, and systemwide in Kentucky, Indiana, Arizona, and is used in all 50 states. Currently there are 1.3 million students active in EdReady and will gain the math and English skills required to attend college because of our platform. Our work has substantially improved the lives of million of people in the U.S.
 * If this work is does not reach the standards of "notablility" at Wikipedia, I support deleting my article. GW Lopez (talk) 01:04, 17 December 2023 (UTC)
 * . Delete Sorry, I did not put my vote at the head of my comments. Melcous gave me some good advise about the pitfalls and risks of having a Wikipedia article. I do not want to spend my time defending the worthiness of my work. Please Delete my article.Thank you. GW Lopez (talk) 02:43, 17 December 2023 (UTC)


 * Comment - Received an email on December 13, 2023, from Senior Wikipedia Administrator Brendan Conway, a member of the Wikipedia AFD “Article for Deletion” Reviewer’s team, saying "Given the notable aspects of your work, particularly your documentary film and the significant impact of your nonprofit, The NROC Project, it is clear that your contributions hold merit for inclusion on Wikipedia. To proceed with improving your article, I recommend focusing on providing well-sourced and neutral information about these achievements." — Preceding unsigned comment added by Greghenderson2006 (talk • contribs)
 * there is no such thing as a "Senior Wikipedia Administrator" nor an "AFD Reviewer team". You should be aware yourself and inform Mr Lopez that this is a scammer looking to get him to pay them. I see here that Mr Lopez is offering the $1499 they suggested to an editor Melcous (talk) 20:29, 14 December 2023 (UTC)
 * @Greghenderson2006, this seems like a blatant attempt to game the system. Firstly, there are no super-editors whose comments or !votes can trump other editors !votes here, so posting this at the AFD seems really weird and intimidating to me. It sure seems like someone is trying to game the system. The link Melcous about the $1499 payment is very disturbing. Netherzone (talk) 20:55, 14 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks for letting us know. I had no idea it was a scammer. We should dissregard the comment. Greg Henderson (talk) 21:11, 14 December 2023 (UTC)
 * I assume the plural "us" you speak of is you and your client Mr. Lopez. Did he offer $1499 as a fixer fee? Netherzone (talk) 21:28, 14 December 2023 (UTC)
 * "Us" mean everyone reading this. Lopez sent me the email from brendanconway@wikipediaafd.org (user:Brendanconway), which mentioned user:William Avery. Lopez said that Brendan made the offer for $1499 to help fix the page with "well-sourced and neutral information." He thought it was a legitimate deal. How can we verify that brendanconway and/or William Avery are scammers? They have active accounts on Wikipedia. Greg Henderson (talk) 22:01, 14 December 2023 (UTC)
 * I don't know how to verify if these are scammers. What I find very problematic is that your client, after paying you to make his article, is now offering someone else (scammer or not) $1499 to "fix" his article so it survives deletion. To my way of thinking this reinforces the fact that the article is an attempt to use WP as a vehicle for promoting and advertizing, which is a clear policy violation of WP:NOT. Netherzone (talk) 22:11, 14 December 2023 (UTC)
 * , Since there's no authentication process to sign up for an account on Wikipedia, there's no telling if that account is the article's subject though. The offer to pay could be just show for others to entice others to pay under similar circumstances. Pinging CU to look into this non-sense. Graywalls (talk) 07:52, 15 December 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.