The Charlie Hebdo tragedy, and how WP "handles" it

[EricBarbour]

First, I've already mentioned that Wikipedians can't agree on which article should handle the shootings.

Now, try this: do a current Google News search for "Djamel Beghal". A friend/mentor to one of the killers.

Then look at Djamel Beghal (T-H-L). A pathetic stub, not substantially updated since April 2008, except for the usual category/template/etc. gnoming.

Plus, it's amazing how much of this "coverage" looks like Redditors speculating about the Boston bombers or the Navy Yard shooter. The story is still developing, and they're quite happy to collect random media stories and pile them up like marbles -- now up to 252 "references" and 121k bytes.

Plus, shit like this. Given that she was getting phoned death threats calling her a "dirty Jew", yeah, that's relevant. But if you can't prove she was Jewish, why "discuss" it?

Elsa Cayat, 54, psychoanalyst and columnist of Jewish[relevant? – discuss] descent.[74]

Oh look, there's already an article. Elsa Cayat (T-H-L). Where are the articles for all the other victims?

[Poetlister]

Oh look, there's already an article. Elsa Cayat (T-H-L). Where are the articles for all the other victims?

Eric, I'm not clear what point you are making. There are articles on six of the other victims. Maybe the remaining five aren't notable or have too little available information to produce an article; maybe people are actively working on articles at present. Georges Wolinski (T-H-L) (who was also Jewish) has had an article since 2007.

And according to CNN, "She was definitely killed because she was Jewish", which makes it rather relevant.

[EricBarbour]

Eric, I'm not clear what point you are making. There are articles on six of the other victims. Maybe the remaining five aren't notable or have too little available information to produce an article; maybe people are actively working on articles at present. Georges Wolinski (T-H-L) (who was also Jewish) has had an article since 2007.

Elsa Cayat wasn't "notable" until the day after she was murdered -- on 8 January. Only a few victims got an article after their murder -- Cayat, Philippe Honoré (cartoonist) (T-H-L), Bernard Maris (T-H-L), and Tignous (T-H-L). Please explain the "criteria" here.

You know damn well what my point is. Twenty people were murdered, two of them "probable" Muslims. I'll shut up when Ahmed Merabet and Mustapha Ourrad have their own articles.

"Aren't notable"? Do a Google News search on any of the victims' names. Any of them. Try Michel Renaud for one. Are you going to tell me he's "not notable" after all that?

[Poetlister]

Elsa Cayat wasn't "notable" until the day after she was murdered -- on 8 January. Only a few victims got an article after their murder -- Cayat, Philippe Honoré (cartoonist) (T-H-L), Bernard Maris (T-H-L), and Tignous (T-H-L). Please explain the "criteria" here.

You know damn well what my point is. Twenty people were murdered, two of them "probable" Muslims. I'll shut up when Ahmed Merabet and Mustapha Ourrad have their own articles.

"Aren't notable"? Do a Google News search on any of the victims' names. Any of them. Try Michel Renaud for one. Are you going to tell me he's "not notable" after all that?

There are loads of people who don't have articles who should. Plenty of people don't get articles until they die and so come to the attention of Wikipedia editors, and until they get obituaries that will provide reliable references. Clearly, the editor of the magazine should have had an article already; it was just one of many thousand oversights.

And if someone is a victim in a mass murder so that there are many references to him or her in news stories about the mass murder, I don't believe that these references make the person notable.

[lilburne]

All of it is fucked. My wife has gone through a whole gamut of views and emotions in the last week. From reminiscing on seeing Algerian's having knife fights in the streets of Rouen back in the early 60s, and one beating up on her sister, though to deciding that you have a bunch of arseholes encouraging and promoting violent stupidity, and a fertile ground for the violent stupidity to thrive in the minds of a minute number of the alienated underclass of poor and unemployed from the ex-colonies living in the suburbs.

[Notvelty]

All of it is fucked. My wife has gone through a whole gamut of views and emotions in the last week. From reminiscing on seeing Algerian's having knife fights in the streets of Rouen back in the early 60s, and one beating up on her sister, though to deciding that you have a bunch of arseholes encouraging and promoting violent stupidity, and a fertile ground for the violent stupidity to thrive in the minds of a minute number of the alienated underclass of poor and unemployed from the ex-colonies living in the suburbs.

I blame Wikipedia.

[JCM]

All of it is fucked. My wife has gone through a whole gamut of views and emotions in the last week. From reminiscing on seeing Algerian's having knife fights in the streets of Rouen back in the early 60s, and one beating up on her sister, though to deciding that you have a bunch of arseholes encouraging and promoting violent stupidity, and a fertile ground for the violent stupidity to thrive in the minds of a minute number of the alienated underclass of poor and unemployed from the ex-colonies living in the suburbs.

I blame Wikipedia.

I blame everybody but me. That's more or less my standard response to damn near every problem on the planet.

[Hersch]

Mod's note: offending post and replies moved into oblivion.

[greybeard]

[Mod note: all off-topic posts (i.e. not specifically and primarily concerning Wikipedia) and replies to those posts (even if they did mention WP articles) were split to the off-topic area.]