Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/2006-11-13 2002 Gujarat violence

Mediation Case: 2006-11-13 2002 Gujarat violence
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Request Information

 * Request made by: Hkelkar 10:35, 13 November 2006 (UTC)


 * Where is the issue taking place?
 * Talk:2002 Gujarat violence


 * Who's involved?
 * User:Hkelkar, User:TerryJ-Ho and User:Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington


 * What's going on?
 * A debate is raging over the inclusion of this entry as a source for the following section

2002_Gujarat_violence, current version is .Now, Sir Nick objects that the entry is a blog and so cannot be quoted per the wikipedia policy of WP:RS in the clause Posts to bulletin boards, Usenet, and wikis, or messages left on blogs, should not be used as sources. This is in part because we have no way of knowing who has written or posted them, and in part because there is no editorial oversight or third-party fact-checking. In addition, in the case of wikis, the content of an article could change at any moment.

However, my argument for including the entry is based on the following lines of reasoning

WP:RS has a clause that says: Exceptions to this may be when a well-known, professional researcher writing within their field of expertise, or a well-known professional journalist, has produced self-published material. In some cases, these may be acceptable as sources, so long as their work has been previously published by credible, third-party publications, and they are writing under their own name or known pen-name and not anonymously

In this case, the writer is Professor Ramesh Rao,professor and chair of the Department of Communication Studies and Theatre at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia,He has written numerous articles for regional newspapers like the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Columbia Daily Tribune in Missouri. His essays have appeared in "India Abroad", and he writes regularly for the United Press International's Religion and Spirituality Forum, and for News Insight. He is an executive council member of the Hindu American Foundation, which makes him a notable personality with regards to communal relations between Hindus and Muslims. He has written a number of books on Hinduism in modern culture and is a notable person in this area and his field of expertise entails Hindu advocacy. The blog is an essay that appeared on a credible, third party publication titles "Hamarashehar", a Hyderabad - based periodical. He is writing under his own name and not using a nom-de-plume or anything. There is a possibility of partisanship on his part, which is why the edit, as it stands now, is written where the statements made by Rao are not presented as fact, but as his opinion as a notable person in this area and so his statements may be used as a primary source in this case.

There is ample precedent for citing such blogs in exceptional cases on wikipedia, such as this article (Bnei Menashe) check the current version where the following blogs are cited.


 * ''What would you like to change about that?
 * I would like medcab to decide on this matter as to whose position is right, mine or Sir Nick's.


 * Would you prefer we work discreetly? If so, how can we reach you?
 * Please work openly and contribute as much as you need to. Reach me by Talk page or email desigeek111@yahoo.com.

Mediator response
I am commenting on the talk page but not officially taking on this case. --Ideogram 02:19, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

No mediation required. Referred to RfC. Closing. --Ideogram 02:39, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

Compromise offers
This section is for listing and discussing compromise offers.