Talk:Huell Howser

message: Any info?138.162.140.54 (talk) 01:45, 29 November 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Twentynine Palms House 

message: OC Weekly reporting he's passed away. Awaiting more confirmation.  -- Fuzheado | Talk 20:18, 7 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Also reported by KPCC here. 72Dino (talk) 20:34, 7 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: His death has been reported today (Jan. 7), but I have not seen any reports if he died on Jan. 6 or Jan. 7.  Any references on that? 72Dino (talk) 21:05, 7 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: "Sunday night." Who knows if before or after midnight Calif time. — WylieCoyote 21:30, 7 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah, I saw Sunday night too, but I have the same question as you.  I'm sure more information will be available soon. 72Dino (talk) 21:33, 7 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: This reference states he died at 2:35 am, so it appears to be Jan. 7. 72Dino (talk) 04:42, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

text: LAist has reported 2:35am Monday, so that also suggests 1/7/13. Cyphoidbomb (talk) 04:47, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

text: No argument from me.  Time will clarify any potential conflict.  :)  Cyphoidbomb (talk) 05:27, 8 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: (ec)KPCC reports with its latest update that the death was early Monday. 72Dino (talk) 05:29, 8 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text:  Better we err on the side of the stated day; the LA Times style manual would probably dictate use of "early Monday morning" were it 1/7. KPCC is picking the story up from the wire services and last updated around 5:30pm (four hours ago as of this writing); LAT will do its own research and is more current.  --Drmargi (talk) 05:33, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

text: That just indicates when he was pronounced, not when he actually died, which can be some time earlier.  Under CA law, any unattended death requires that notification and an autopsy.  --Drmargi (talk) 04:18, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: The KFWB story explictly says, "Howser died in Palm Springs at 2:35 a.m. of natural causes." At minimum the article should be note that the sources are unclear about the date of death. --Arxiloxos (talk) 06:04, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Death reported by OC Weekly 

message: Do you think that Huell belongs in that category, or not? pbp 00:53, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Looking at the other people in the category and considering his shows, I would say yes. 72Dino (talk) 00:56, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: OK, I've added it pbp 00:08, 11 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[:Category:Travel broadcasters]] 

message: Died date should be January 7.
72.130.74.236 (talk) 05:17, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: The sources say he died on Sunday, which is the 6th.  RudolfRed (talk) 06:09, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

text: I'm in agreement that it is reasonable to change the date.  Here are other references: Huffington Post, SCPR.org - "early Monday", KPBS, Citrus Heights  Cyphoidbomb (talk) 20:55, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Edit request on 9 January 2013 

message: Please change "The digitalized online Huell Howser Achive has been established at Chapman University." to "The digitalized online Huell Howser Achive has been established at Chapman University as well as a showcase of his artifacts on the Chapman campus."http://blogs.chapman.edu/happenings/2013/01/07/chapman-university-remembers-huell-howser/Andyanderson9595 (talk) 18:00, 10 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Done by Cyphoidbomb --Jnorton7558 (talk) 19:50, 10 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: That would have been me, although I made sure to look it up and sure enough, "digitalized" is an accepted form.  However, since I wasn't brought up in the stone age, I went with the more commonly used "digitized".  Cyphoidbomb (talk) 06:20, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

text:  Digitized is grammatically correct and the more common usage.  I'd stick with it.  (And it's whomever, just for the record.) --Drmargi (talk) 13:23, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Edit request on 10 January 2013 

message: I've had complaints that TMZ is not credible as it is a "tabloid" but it clearly is not, evidenced by reading even Wikipedia's web page on TMZ, and Wikipeida's rules on properly sourcing articles. It is an entertainment news source, and is known for conscientiously vetting and verifying its stories. The recent complaint about it on this page started when TMZ obtained from the county recorder and posted a valid copy of Howser's death certificate. How is a news source obtaining this information and posting it not valid?
Further evidence of this is that the Los Angeles Times, CBS News, the Orange County Register, and on and on... used TMZ's report as a source for their own stories on Howser's cause of death. CBS misquoted TMZ which caused some confusion, and a couple of other 'legitimate' news sources that clearly got their information from TMZ didn't bother to give any sort of attribution for the information, but both of those are issues with the news sources that misquoted and didn't properly attribute, not with TMZ. (One editor removed the TMZ reference because the secondary source had misquoted TMZ, and then misquoted the CBS article herself, which was very odd.)
So, they sourced the information properly, other news organizations which are considered to be legitimate used them as a primary source, and then the reference was removed as being invalid. Puzzling...Wikisurfer61 (talk) 04:31, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Hey Wikisurfer61, Drmargi objected to the use of TMZ because TMZ is a tabloid.  I can totally understand Drmargi's objection, because it's not clear what proper editorial rules the great Harvey Levin insists upon for his "journalists".  However, I also respectfully disagreed with Drmargi on this issue because TMZ did provide a photocopy of the cert, and as you pointed out, other reputable agencies reported the news and gave TMZ credit for the scoop.  Whatevs, I've found a better source for the cause of death: the Riverside-based Press-Enterprise.  Riverside County is where Huell died, so it's not unreasonable to expect that they've performed due-diligence on the facts.   I'm hopeful that we're all sorted on the issue of reliability. Cyphoidbomb (talk) 04:55, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

text: UPDATE: as I'm sure you've noticed, Drmargi was correct to remove the CBSlocal link, because it erroneously claimed LA County was the issuing county for the death cert, when it was Riverside County. I didn't realize that earlier when I suggested we keep the CBSlocal link.  Cyphoidbomb (talk) 06:56, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text:  The result is the same, but she removed it because she said that TMZ had their facts wrong, as proved by the CBS report, but it was CBS's error, as they had made the Los Angeles/Riverside mistake. She used it to justify removing TMZ, but should have removed CBS instead, and left TMZ alone.Wikisurfer61 (talk) 07:09, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text:  If you're going to discuss me, please do me the courtesy of notifying me in future.  The established protocol is to discuss the source, not the editor.  TMZ is a tabloid, and Wikipedia has a pretty firm policy regarding tabloid sources being unreliable. Once a source is challenged, it should not be returned to the article until there is consensus it is reliable (a tough sell with a tabloid), and the burden lies with the editor providing it to establish it is reliable.  Moverover, the death certificate is heavily redacted by TMZ (in addition to what Riverside Cty did) without explanation, and that causes me to question its validity -- reputable news sources will note the reason for redactions.  TMZ has a reputation for failure to fact-check, for publishing rumor and for other questionable practices associated with tabloids; I've never seen it used as a reliable source on Wikipedia, and that's a good thing.  Once it was challenged as a source, it should not have been restored to the article; I simply improperly removed it and the CBS source when I made my last edits, then went back to fix them later when I saw what I'd done.  The CBS Local source was a tertiary source, citing TMZ, making it unreliable twice over (we use secondary, not tertiary sources.)  The CBS Local made the error it did meant it didn't do some very basic fact-checking, a critical criterion for being a reliable source.  Frankly, there's no need for either of them now there is a reliable local source for the edit; the Press-Enterprise is the local newspaper and would fact-check before publishing.  --Drmargi (talk) 13:39, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: I understand Drmargi's concern about TMZ, but I think that in this case it is demonstrably a reliable source, cited by numerous others; moreover, by omitting it in this case, where it was actually the original source that broke the story and was cited by multiple other sources, we would do a disservice to our readers and incompletely represent the basis for the assertion.  On the broader question of TMZ's reliability, according to the archives at WP:RS/N, TMZ is often found to be a reliable source, though it should be used with caution. See, e.g., Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard/Archive 72#Is TMZ a reliable source?; Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard/Archive 115#TMZ for info in Celebrity Rehab article. In this case, I think the footnote should be restored, along with the Press-Enterprise cite.--Arxiloxos (talk) 15:10, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: We'll go with the Press-Enterprise then, even though they also have factual errors in their report (and I suspect that they also borrowed from TMZ, who broke the story). The redaction of a person's home address does not really call the validity of the document into question... that's pretty standard practice, and for an obvious reason. His sister's address, and the signature of the doctor were also removed... as well as the name of the funeral home, not too surprising either. I think that while I wouldn't normally use TMZ, they did the work here, and were quoting the original source, the Riverside County Department of Health. Credit where credit is due.76.173.107.38 (talk) 00:47, 19 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Validity of TMZ as a source? 

message: I've seen some sources that claim Huell Howser had two children, boys. Most mainline sources say he had no children. Does anybody have any info on this? Opus131 (talk) 01:44, 5 February 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Nope. Haven't seen reliable info on this. Cyphoidbomb (talk) 02:35, 5 February 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Children? 

message: This article is extensively sourced. If there are errors they should be described here so that other can fix them. MarnetteD|Talk 03:30, 17 July 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Agreed. I don't think that major changes like this one (the third or so of several contested edits) adds any strength to the article if it, like the others precedent, lack references. When exactly did Howser become a comedian, as asserted? Cyphoidbomb (talk) 03:37, 17 July 2015 (UTC)
replies: text:  The editor did catch a few small errors that needed attention, nut they're lost in a morass of garbage edits.  I've reverted yet again.  --Drmargi (talk) 03:57, 17 July 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: Errors?

message: Howser while at WSM-TV in Nashville (now WSMV-DT) produced "happy talk" news feature stories, a then-new concept when the station first expanded its local news coverage, not full-length programs but rather segments.  Certainly this was a precursor to his later work in NYC and California.  He might never have left Nashville had it not been for his interest in preventing the destruction of a former Tennessee Governor's Mansion, which was slated for demolition in order to locate a Popeye's Fried Chicken on the site in the summer of 1979.  He continued to mention this on the air after being told by station management not to, and was suspended for 30 days, during which time he lined up his NYC gig.  It would be great for someone who has access to either The Tennessean or the old Nashville Banner archives to document this and put it into the article, as it provides lots of insight into his personality.  2600:1004:B103:2067:5071:D5B:4F0A:8A48 (talk) 01:00, 16 June 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: An interesting idea. I'd like to encourage you to consider opening a request at our Reference Desk. Some folks there work in libraries or have access to such archives and may be able to dig something up. I'm not sure what section would be most appropriate, but perhaps Humanities or Entertainment? Regards, Cyphoidbomb (talk) 01:33, 16 June 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  What he did in Nashville 

message: Did a search of their archives of commencement programs by entering "Huell" and three different programs with his name popped up.  Shows in three programs from December 1975, March 1976 and June 1976.  All show him as majoring in Education.  Maybe that includes the major of "History", as listed here.  I guess he left school, maybe for the Marines, and returned to graduate.  Also, maybe he got his diploma in December but hung around for the traditional June ceremony.
https://digital.lib.utk.edu/collections/islandora/object/utkcomm%3A18142#page/10/mode/1up/search/huell (12/75)
https://digital.lib.utk.edu/collections/islandora/object/utkcomm%3A18517#page/10/mode/1up/search/huell (3/76)
https://digital.lib.utk.edu/collections/islandora/object/utkcomm%3A18391#page/16/mode/1up/search/huell (6/76)
I didn't know where to squeeze this in, so I'm leaving it here.BillVol (talk) 19:31, 12 February 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  U. of Tennessee grad year, major 

message: should add that Huell was a United States Marine from 1961 to 1966. He was proud of his service. 2603:8000:CC41:F200:4C11:5B7:3DA3:15C5 (talk) 05:45, 25 July 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Could you give any reliable sources that back up your claims? A09 (talk) 14:52, 25 July 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  HUELL Howser