Talk:Nicholas F. Benton

message: Nicholas F. Benton is an important political and social figure in Northern Virginia by virtue of the influence of his newspaper far beyond just Falls Church, and its history of strong, intelligent stands on issues. His bio reflects this in the awards and recognition that he has received (there are many more not listed there). Also, he is a former White House correspondent who also remains active in the life of the overall Washington, D.C., scene. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Nfbenton (talk • contribs).
:But has he done anything that meets WP:BIO? Daniel Case 04:33, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Bio

message: *"Labor Party Candidate Seeks GOP Aid" RICHARD BERGHOLZ, Los Angeles Times Mar 14, 1978;  pg. C2
The candidate in question is Benton. It's a few hundred words long and covers Benton's early life. This is just a note to remind myself to add some info from it.    Will Beback  talk   10:48, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  1978 profile 

message: I'm going to start wikifying this page.  After that we'll see what needs to be fixed substantively.  The citations are going to be very labor intensive to fix.  I'm going one para at a time.  HAJ1300 (talk) 20:52, 13 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, I started, but the wiki-bots kicked in and started deleting things wantonly.  Knock yourselves out!  HAJ1300 (talk) 20:54, 19 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I have to agree that the new version, added  20:42, October 2, 2008, is unfixable, but thanks for trying.  I've reverted to the previous version. Future revisions should evolve from the existing text rather replacing it with poorly formatted and cited text.   Will Beback  talk   21:13, 19 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Will Beback...I put a lot of time into wikifying this entry.  Where I left off is better than where it began.  For you to undo weeks of work would be vandalism.  If you are going to justify changes to all the sources I made, you're welcome to do so, but please do so within Wikipedia guidelines rather than deleting whole portions of text and weeks of work. Thanks and kind regards, HAJ1300 (talk) 22:18, 19 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I thought you'd thrown in the towel. If you follow the history of the article, we had a perfectly good article before someone, likely the subject, replaced it with the mess you've been courageously working on. It'd be a simple matter to merge in the text you fixed if you like.   Will Beback  talk   22:31, 19 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree with going back to an older version. The one that was on the page was referenced to an unpublished manuscript, an eyewitness account of something, and lots of primary sources. SlimVirgin talk|contribs 23:26, 19 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  This page is a mess...I'll do what I can... 

message: An earlier bio with detailed citations was posted on this subject in 2008 vetted through the executive director of the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce, who posted it, and others for its accuracy. Much of that was simply deleted by someone and only random newspaper clips and other references to LaRouche were retained and magnified. All references, for example, to his gay liberation associations were stripped out. This smells of what has happened identicially to other entries on Wikipedia involving former associates of LaRouche. Someone, either associated with LaRouche or so obsessed with him as to be willing to so bespoil representations in Wikipedia as to constitute in total a gross misrepresentations of individuals, seems to be responsible for this. This subject's case is akin that of David Brock, now of Media Matters, who chronicled in his book, "Blinded by the Right," his pilgrimage from right-wing causes to his current work as a respected media watchdog. It is very unlikely and unsuitable that his bio in Wikipedia be overwhelmingly dominated by his work PRIOR to his personal transformation. Such is the case here, a subject that has built a 20 year track record of achievement in Northern Virginia through his newspaper, Democratic Party and gay activist circles. To characterize him as little more than a LaRouche lieutenant is a gross misrepresentation. The earlier citations were as accurate and credible as the newspaper clips cited about his LaRouche activities, and his original bio should be reinstated and locked in place except for new material that arises as he continues his career.
:Hi Royal, you're removing well-sourced material and replacing it with unsourced. Some of the material that you added can perhaps be kept, but you shouldn't remove material already there, unless it has no source, or a poor one. SlimVirgin talk|contribs 15:45, 28 September 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi Royal, could you find some secondary sources for the material you want to add (i.e. sources other than Benton himself)? We're allowed to use the subject as a source, but only within reason, and some of the material you're adding isn't obviously notable e.g. that he's written an editorial in every edition of his own newspaper. SlimVirgin talk|contribs 23:00, 12 October 2009 (UTC)

text: Let's not bury the LaRouche material, but let's make sure that the other periods of the subjec'ts life also receive their due. The best way to proceed with writing articles is to start with the sources. The Metro Weekly interview would be a great source for the subject's views of his own life, and I don't see a problem with using it as a principle source. The Toporek bio also appears to be a usable source, and it's  more objective. Are there any other specific sources we can use that meet Wikipedia requirements (See WP:V and WP:BLP for those standards).   Will Beback  talk   00:07, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

text: Also, another area of dispute seems to concern material about the Falls Church News-Press. Since that topic has an article of its own we shouldn't put much about it here. Only issues that are directly related to the subject, Benton, should go in this article. For example, the lead has the newspaper was named CityPaper's "Best Remnant of the Liberal Media" for 2008.[1] That doesn't belong here, but it does belong on the FCNP article where it currently isn't mentioned.   Will Beback  talk   00:17, 16 October 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  wanton deletions and additions. 

message: Mr. Benton has requested that this biographical entry be removed from Wikipedia. 
Kitzer1200 (talk) 19:31, 16 October 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Based on the edit history, it appears that Benton created this page. There's a discussion above on how to make sure that the biography is complete, fair, and properly sourced, without any libellous material. Please join in that discussion. Simply blanking the page is vandalism, and will result in the account being blocked.   Will Beback  talk   20:43, 16 October 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: he seems to be a well-known figure. If so, he is notable, & the request of the subject is irrelevant. Asking for one's bio to be taken down because some parts of it were vandalised is not justifiable, but based on the contents, I think it more likely that the actual request is because he does not want to further publicize some well sourced parts of his career. If his career was public, I  do not think it's up to him.  Even if he were a private notable person, we are not required to honour such a request. I've removed the prod. The article can, of course, be taken to AfD.     DGG ( talk ) 20:47, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

text: I am not comfortable with anecdotal reports that the principals of our biographical articles want those articles deleted.  Such anecdotal reports may be hoaxes, stemming from the principal's real world critics.  Those repeating those anecdotal reports may be the innocent dupes of the principal's real world critics.  Personally, I would prefer that we respond to such anecdotal reports by requesting the principal initiate a ticket in our OTRS.  If the principal doesn't respond to the request to initiate an OTRS request I think we treat the anecdotal report as a hoax.  Geo Swan (talk) 19:57, 22 October 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: It may be that the subject isn't sure what he wants. I've been corresponding with him and asked if he'd like for the article to be deleted. He replied that he prefered that the article be kept and improved. The sticking point concerns what improvements he wants. But until he makes it clear that he wants it deleted I won't initiate a deletion procedure.   Will Beback  talk   20:44, 22 October 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Benton request for removal of this page 

message: I don't think we need to catalog every interview Mr. Benton has given. For that reason I'm cutting the “Berkeley and the Fight for an Effeminist, Socially Transformative Gay Identity” portion of the entry.  I would welcome further discussion on this topic and certainly would entertain the idea of restoring it.  Regards,  SlimmerVirgin (talk) 04:13, 14 July 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  To remain encyclopedic... 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Nicholas F. Benton. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Replaced archive link http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:u__wHKPvFE4J:www.usc.edu/libraries/finding_aids/records/finding_aid.php%3Ffa%3DColl2011.011+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us with https://web.archive.org/web/20150226070244/http://www.usc.edu/libraries/finding_aids/records/finding_aid.php?fa=Coll2011.011 on http://www.usc.edu/libraries/finding_aids/records/finding_aid.php%3Ffa%3DColl2011.011
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 12:44, 18 February 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified (February 2018) 

message: A regular reader of Benton's paper, I have prepared a new entry on | my sandbox page with more information and a slight new emphasis.  After 32 years of publishing this paper, with much general civic involvement--regular reporting on local schools, leader in the Chamber of Commerce--Benton is more a journalist/publisher than a more one-dimensional gay rights activist, though that is an undeniable part of his past.  Feedback welcome. Tomc50 (talk) 21:40, 5 October 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Re-write of entry:  Benton is more than a gay rights activist, though he is that