Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Stephen Fowler


 * 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.  MBisanz  talk 02:03, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Stephen Fowler

 * Keep but edit. This event is notable enough to make it to the main page of Yahoo.com and sent me (and I'm sure others) to search for it.  Its robustness as a news story can only be ascertained in retrospect. The last two sections need to be severely edited or deleted as they betray bias.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.104.241.114 (talk) 12:50, 12 February 2009 (UTC)


 * ( [ delete] ) – (View AfD) (View log)

Notability is fleeting and limited. Falls under WP:ONEEVENT. -- Mufka (u) (t) (c) 00:28, 12 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I disagree as to the "OneEvent" categorization. The extent of the blogosphere's reaction to Stephen Fowler, both in number of posts and breadth, says that this has become an Internet meme. Documenting a meme early, if nothing else than starting the Wiki stub, is not bad. This is equivalent to Joe the Plumber, a cultural icon that needs explanation when it is used around people that weren't exposed during the U.S. election 2008. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ronbtni (talk • contribs) 00:45, 12 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Agree with "OneEvent", would redirect to Wife Swap J04n (talk) 00:48, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Agree. Redirect is a good option, but only after this process forms consensus on that resolution. Otherwise, it will be reverted endlessly.  -- Mufka (u) (t) (c) 00:52, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

The entry should also cover a short biography, including milestones from his work in the US and abroad. His actions during "Wife Swap" episode does not completely characterize the person. His wife and her work should also be considered as a link. I believe his actions are very noteworthy in terms of people who compartmentalize their thinking about social good. An expanded entry can serve to advance discussion about education, military service, environmentalism, verbal abuse, elitist behavior, nutrition and many other topics. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.142.130.35 (talk) 03:11, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Supporting Non-Deletion. OneEvent says "Cover the event, not the person." The article is covering _the event_ that _the person_ so offended such a broad swath of people that it/he created a significant activity in the blogosphere, and has impacted numerous organizations that have had to publicy assert their separation from him. The "Wife Swap" aspect is tertiary to the concept that an individual could so inflame the blogosphere by a 40 minute television apperance. --Ronbtni (talk) 01:01, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Delete and recreate as redirect, high coverage from blogs surely isn't what we mean by coverage from multiple reliable sources! This is a classic case of WP:BLP1, as noted by the nom: he is known simply for his appearance on an average syndicated TV show.  There are plenty of cases of reality show contestants being seen as nonnotable at AFD, and I don't see how this guy (being a reality show participant, although not contestant) is really any different, even though reality show contestants tend to get some coverage.  Again: nonnotable except for one thing = nonnotable = delete.  Ultimately, the only thing that the blog coverage demonstrates is that plenty of people are talking about him in some form or another, so a redirect to the television show would be helpful.  If it is thought helpful, we could merge the bit about the controversy into the Wifeswap article.  Nyttend (talk) 01:12, 12 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Keep. This event is notable enough to make it to the main page of Yahoo.com .  Stephen even issued a public apology for his behavior on the show, which in itself, is unusual and noteworthy.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.216.9.107 (talk) 01:17, 12 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Delete and Redirect to a new section in the Wife Swap article. It is a notable event in the history of the show, but Fowler himself is not notable outside of his involvement with this episode.  Any claim to notability is tied to the show for the time being, so it seems like the best solution unless Fowler does something in the near future to make him notable in his own right. Jvr725 01:34, 12 February 2009 (UTC)  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jvr725 (talk • contribs)
 * Delete Classic BLP territory. Offending people on television is not necessarily worth recording. unless he himself is notable independently, and a public figure, which I do not see, this is tabloid material. That he did it voluntarily does not make it any the more notable. I take a very limited view of the applicability of BLP 1 Event, but this is part of where I think it is needed. DGG (talk) 01:51, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Keep It appears he has been the subject of multiple media reports. Seems to pass the definition of notability on any scale imaginable. Cardsplayer4life (talk) 03:37, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Speedy delete (G10) as what appears to be a violation of the official biographies of living persons policy, notable or not. The lone source indicated backs absolutely none of the content listed in the article. I do not see anything about the attack website mentioned. I do not have a problem with recreation, provided more care is taken in properly sourcing the BLP reliably in not a way to cause harm onto the person. MuZemike 04:27, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Keep - Not G10 G10:"Pages that serve no purpose but to disparage or threaten their subject ". Page was created after I saw the original article in the local newspaper about a firm having to explain that they didn't know who Stephen Fowler was, nor had any relationship with him. I went to Wikipedia to find out who could, how could, someone cause that kind of a disturbance. The article concisely answers that question, it is not an attack, threatening, nor disparaging, rather direct information. Additional references added.--Ronbtni (talk) 04:46, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Delete, this is a clear case of WP:BLP1E and warrants a comment on the Wife Swap page, not a page of it's own. Usrnme h8er (talk · contribs) 13:10, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Delete. First of all the page is not needed WP:BLP1E, second the page is not nearly neutral and/or sourced enough for such a page. Sander123 (talk) 14:16, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Change to a regular delete as this is still a BLP1E, but no longer a BLP violation as sources have been added. MuZemike 16:19, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Delete. First of all, I don't see substantial sources other than blogs here, which indicates a possible lack of notability.  But more importantly, WP:BLP1E does apply here, if it applies anywhere.  Mango juice talk 19:10, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Comment - (1) Note SF's local ABC afficate TV station now covering it, and (2) using "...other than blogs" dismissively as a notability criteria harks to old-age thinking along the lines of dismissing Wikipedia because it's "only online". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.160.119.159 (talk) 20:04, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Here's the local TV station coverage of it: . That is a good source and changes a lot as far as notability is concerned. But it doesn't change the WP:BLP1E concerns.  I maintain that this material should be covered, but not in a biography of Stephen Fowler; rather, at Wife Swap and Internet vigilantism.   Mango juice talk 15:52, 15 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Redirected. After learning more of your Wikiways and as the creator of the article I've redirected the article to Internet Vigilantism which addresses my initial question about how could some random guy cause such problems for legitimate organizations that had nothing to do with him. The Wife Swap/Reality TV aspect is immaterial to the topic. In editing the article to redirect, the AfD notice is no longer visible and I couldn't figure how to redirect and have the notice. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ronbtni (talk • contribs) 19:55, 12 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Comment - Undid redirect pending completion of this discussion. -- Mufka (u) (t) (c) 00:31, 13 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Keep, rewrite, re-evaluate. Perhaps you should be able to mark articles for re-evaluaton within, say, a year.  It is extremely convenient as a current events guide.  I don't think that we can tell at this time whether this will be a flash in the pan or not.  The article should have more about his life, if it is going to be under his name, and it needs to be a little more neutral in its wording. I think that this at least belongs permanently in the article about the show, but right now it is bigger than that. With this episode, Wife Swap has created a parable for many of our social divides, and I believe that Fowler has provided fodder for those who disapprove of the things that he stands for.   I recently saw a very negative book on liberals and the environment (Iain Murray, The Really Inconvenient Truths) and I wouldn't be astounded if Fowler is added to the paperback edition.   —Preceding unsigned comment added by LizRoot25A (talk • contribs) 21:21, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Comments If this is "an average syndicated TV show", I'm definitely staying without TV. I'm slightly puzzled by "the things that he stands for." (above post). What does he stand for, apart from making money and making a fool of himself in public? Perhaps the article ought to be expanded to tell more about him. On the other hand, I also feel that too much publicity is given to these 'reality TV' people (certain UK so-called newspapers contain little else), so perhaps a deletion would be good too. Decisions, decisions.... Peridon (talk) 21:57, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Response to above Comments I refer to things like his t-shirts and comments about the environment.  He has already resigned  from organizations and in his apology asked people not to judge the environmental movement by his behavior.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by LizRoot25A (talk • contribs) 19:13, 15 February 2009 (UTC)