| Revision as of 04:47, 3 May 2008 view sourceTvoz (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers28,638 edits Undid revision 209837398 by 98.26.167.36 (talk) revert vandalism← Previous edit | Revision as of 16:09, 22 June 2008 view source Shem (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users2,181 edits Added User:Bigtimepeace's comments on race to the FAQ.Next edit → | ||
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| '''A1''': To the extent that his absent father was a lapsed Muslim, it ''is'' mentioned. As a child he was taken to the mosque by his stepfather, a practicing Muslim, but he has denied ever praying in a mosque and the ] so far is that the subject is not significant enough to mention here. See, however, the article: ] | '''A1''': To the extent that his absent father was a lapsed Muslim, it ''is'' mentioned. As a child he was taken to the mosque by his stepfather, a practicing Muslim, but he has denied ever praying in a mosque and the ] so far is that the subject is not significant enough to mention here. See, however, the article: ] | ||
| ;Q2<nowiki>:</nowiki> The article refers to him as African American, but his mother is white and his black father was not an American. Should he be called African American, or something else ("biracial," "mixed," "Kenyan-American," etc)? | |||
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| '''A2''': Obama himself and the media identify him, the vast majority of the time, as African American or black. Thus we use this term in the introduction. We could call him the first "biracial" candidate or the first "half black half white" candidate or the first candidate with a parent born in Africa, but Misplaced Pages is a tertiary source which reports what other sources say, and most of those other sources say "first African American." Readers will learn more detail about his ethnic background in the article body. | |||
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| ⚫ | ;Q3<nowiki>:</nowiki> This article is over 100kb long, ] says that it should be broken up into sub-articles. Why hasn't this happened? | ||
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| ⚫ | '''A3''': The article size restrictions mentioned in ] is for '''readable prose''' and, as of ] ], this article had '''37kb''' of readable prose, well within the 50kb readable prose guideline at WP:SIZE. Please consider adding ] to your ] so you can see the size of the readable prose on an article. | ||
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| ;Q4<nowiki>:</nowiki> Why isn't a |
;Q4<nowiki>:</nowiki> Why isn't there a criticisms/controversies section? | ||
| ⚫ | '''A4''': Because a section dedicated to criticisms and controversies is no more appropriate than a section dedicated solely to praises and is an indication of a poorly written article. Criticisms/controversies/praises should be worked into the existing prose of the article. | ||
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| ;Q5<nowiki>:</nowiki> |
;Q5<nowiki>:</nowiki> Why isn't a certain controversy/criticism/praise included in this article? | ||
| ⚫ | '''A5''': Misplaced Pages's ] says that "views of critics should be represented if they are relevant to the subject's notability and can be sourced to reliable secondary sources, and so long as the material is written in a manner that does not overwhelm the article or appear to side with the critics give a disproportionate amount of space to critics". Also, including everything about Obama in a single article would exceed Misplaced Pages's article size restrictions and a number of sub-articles have been created and some controversies/criticisms/praises have been ] here or been left out of this article altogether, but are covered in some detail in the sub-articles. | ||
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| ;Q6<nowiki>:</nowiki> But this controversy/criticism/praise is all over the news right now! It should be covered in detail in the main article, not buried in a sub-article! | |||
| ;Q6<nowiki>:</nowiki> This article doesn't have any criticisms/controversies at all! | |||
| ⚫ | '''A6''': Misplaced Pages articles should avoid giving ] to something just because it is in the news ]. If you feel that the criticism/controversy/praise is not being given enough weight in this article, you can try to start a discussion on the talk page about giving it more. See ]. | ||
| ⚫ | ;Q7<nowiki>:</nowiki> This article doesn't have any criticisms/controversies at all! | ||
| ; OR | ; OR | ||
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;Q7<nowiki>:</nowiki> This article includes too much criticism/controversy! | ||
| ''' |
'''A7''': Please try to ]. Like all articles on Misplaced Pages, this article is a work in progress so it is possible for biases to exist at any point in time. If you see a bias that you wish to address, you are more than welcome to start a new discussion, or join in an existing discussion, but please be ready to provide sources to support your viewpoint and try to keep your comments ]. Starting off your discussion by accusing the editors of this article of having a bias is the quickest way to get your comment ignored. | ||
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;Q8<nowiki>:</nowiki> I notice this FAQ mentions starting discussions or joining in on existing discussions a lot, if Misplaced Pages is supposed to be the encyclopedia ], shouldn't I just ] and fix any biases that I see in the article? | ||
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'''A8''': It is true that Misplaced Pages is the encyclopedia that anyone can edit and no one needs the permission of other editors of this article to make changes to it. But Misplaced Pages policy is that, "While the consensus process does not require posting to the discussion page, it can be useful and is encouraged." This article attracts editors that have very strong opinions about Obama (either positive or negative) and these editors have different opinions about what should and should not be in the article, including differences as to appropriate level of detail. As a result of this it may be helpful, as a way to avoid content disputes, to seek ] before adding contentious material to or removing it from the article. | ||
Revision as of 16:09, 22 June 2008
- Q1: Why isn't Barack Obama's Muslim heritage included in this article?
A1: To the extent that his absent father was a lapsed Muslim, it is mentioned. As a child he was taken to the mosque by his stepfather, a practicing Muslim, but he has denied ever praying in a mosque and the consensus so far is that the subject is not significant enough to mention here. See, however, the article: Early life and career of Barack Obama
- Q2: The article refers to him as African American, but his mother is white and his black father was not an American. Should he be called African American, or something else ("biracial," "mixed," "Kenyan-American," etc)?
A2: Obama himself and the media identify him, the vast majority of the time, as African American or black. Thus we use this term in the introduction. We could call him the first "biracial" candidate or the first "half black half white" candidate or the first candidate with a parent born in Africa, but Misplaced Pages is a tertiary source which reports what other sources say, and most of those other sources say "first African American." Readers will learn more detail about his ethnic background in the article body.
- Q3: This article is over 100kb long, WP:SIZE says that it should be broken up into sub-articles. Why hasn't this happened?
A3: The article size restrictions mentioned in WP:SIZE is for readable prose and, as of March 26 2007, this article had 37kb of readable prose, well within the 50kb readable prose guideline at WP:SIZE. Please consider adding Dr pda's prosesize tool to your monobook.js so you can see the size of the readable prose on an article.
- Q4: Why isn't there a criticisms/controversies section?
A4: Because a section dedicated to criticisms and controversies is no more appropriate than a section dedicated solely to praises and is an indication of a poorly written article. Criticisms/controversies/praises should be worked into the existing prose of the article.
- Q5: Why isn't a certain controversy/criticism/praise included in this article?
A5: Misplaced Pages's Biography of living persons policy says that "views of critics should be represented if they are relevant to the subject's notability and can be sourced to reliable secondary sources, and so long as the material is written in a manner that does not overwhelm the article or appear to side with the critics give a disproportionate amount of space to critics". Also, including everything about Obama in a single article would exceed Misplaced Pages's article size restrictions and a number of sub-articles have been created and some controversies/criticisms/praises have been summarized here or been left out of this article altogether, but are covered in some detail in the sub-articles.
- Q6: But this controversy/criticism/praise is all over the news right now! It should be covered in detail in the main article, not buried in a sub-article!
A6: Misplaced Pages articles should avoid giving undue weight to something just because it is in the news right now. If you feel that the criticism/controversy/praise is not being given enough weight in this article, you can try to start a discussion on the talk page about giving it more. See WP:BRD.
- Q7: This article doesn't have any criticisms/controversies at all!
- OR
- Q7: This article includes too much criticism/controversy!
A7: Please try to assume good faith. Like all articles on Misplaced Pages, this article is a work in progress so it is possible for biases to exist at any point in time. If you see a bias that you wish to address, you are more than welcome to start a new discussion, or join in an existing discussion, but please be ready to provide sources to support your viewpoint and try to keep your comments civil. Starting off your discussion by accusing the editors of this article of having a bias is the quickest way to get your comment ignored.
- Q8: I notice this FAQ mentions starting discussions or joining in on existing discussions a lot, if Misplaced Pages is supposed to be the encyclopedia anyone can edit, shouldn't I just be bold and fix any biases that I see in the article?
A8: It is true that Misplaced Pages is the encyclopedia that anyone can edit and no one needs the permission of other editors of this article to make changes to it. But Misplaced Pages policy is that, "While the consensus process does not require posting to the discussion page, it can be useful and is encouraged." This article attracts editors that have very strong opinions about Obama (either positive or negative) and these editors have different opinions about what should and should not be in the article, including differences as to appropriate level of detail. As a result of this it may be helpful, as a way to avoid content disputes, to seek consensus before adding contentious material to or removing it from the article.