(Attention) Add British Academy Television Awards to ITNR

It seems rather odd to have one nation's television awards in the shape of the Emmys, and not to include others. Can I suggest British Academy Television Awards are added to the regular list. It would help avoid Wikipedia:In the news/Candidates#British Academy TV awards where nationalistic nonsense over "our television is better than anyone else's" is the reaction of some. There is much ignorance in that section on what the British Academy Television Awards actually is: it is not just British productions, but co-productions, etc too (which is why some programmes are up for awards at both the Emmys and BATAs too). I fail to see any significant difference between the two, outside the silly nationalistic one at any rate. - SchroCat (talk) 16:20, 4 August 2020 (UTC)

Emmys- Game of Thrones, The Americans, The Crown, The Handmaid's Tale, Stranger Things, This is Us, Westworld
BAFTA TV- Killing Eve, Bodyguard, Informer, Save Me
If you can't already tell, clicking through to the Wikipedia articles or researching statistics on these shows should give you a sense of the gaps in popularity and significance. Do the same for any category in any year and I think you will find a similar pattern. The reality is, for better or worse, the epicenter of English-language TV is very skewed towards Hollywood. Additionally, as I argued in the ITN/C nom, television simply has less long-term cachet than film, so I find it reasonable to only have one TV awards ceremony at ITN/R. Bzweebl (talkcontribs) 17:34, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
I'm not sure what the list of the nominations is supposed to prove, but it's fairly clear that all those programmes are broadcast internationally. The rather blinkered "US is best on this" is just too tiresome to take seriously, particularly as BAFTA TV include co-productions, and many of the programmes in both sets of nominations are crewed and acted by professionals from both Britain and the US, as well as further afield (The Crown, for example, listed as an Emmy nom if a UK-US production, GoT was partly produced and filmed in N Ireland, etc). That such a narrow view is being used to block what would only be one ITN entry a year is a bit silly. - SchroCat (talk) 20:08, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
It’s to demonstrate that the most popular and well-known television shows in the Anglosphere (and perhaps the world) are typically found at the Emmys and not the BAFTA TV Awards. I don’t care which country is “best” as that’s too subjective to seriously discuss. Bzweebl (talkcontribs) 20:17, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
SO that fact that UK-US co-productions are nominated at both the Emmys and BAFTA TV means we should list only the US? Neither BAFTA TV nor Emmy (nor, for that matter Oscars and BAFTA film) take any account of "most popular and well-known" as part of their criteria: they look for the best. Popular or well-known ≠ best. - SchroCat (talk) 20:50, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
I don’t understand how your first sentence relates to my argument. And it is not the job of ITN to decide what TV shows are best. We can only assess significance and extent of global news coverage, as per WP:ITN. Bzweebl (talkcontribs) 21:15, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
My comment should be fairly clear, given the context of what you say. But, there again, your postings are self-contradictory, so I'm not entirely sure what your !vote is based on. - SchroCat (talk) 21:19, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
Sorry, I’m still not clear on what you meant. I apologize for any contradictions or ambiguities in my replies. I’d be happy to try and clarify anything I wrote that was confusing, as I did not intend to mislead. Bzweebl (talkcontribs) 21:28, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
Well worth reading what Kingsif writes below. Basically every single objection of yours is neatly dismissed, leaving a simple "US TV is better than UK TV" opinion. The Rambling Man (Stay indoors, stay safe!!!!) 21:43, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
Agreed. Bzweebl (talkcontribs) 21:48, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
Further comments by Kingsif

The 'examples' listed above by Bzweebl (sorry for calling you out, it's for reference) are being used inaccurately. First, the nomination schedules are different, so it's hard to compare, but just looking at Chernobyl's sweep at last year's Emmys and this year's BAFTAs suggests that it would be more accurate to judge the ceremonies with such a gap - which also covers all the US-UK co-productions, the dominant force in TV nowadays, that air in the UK later than in the US. For this matter, I'll point out that Game of Thrones was nominated for a BAFTA this year, showing that it qualifies, but not in a major category (maybe all the BAFTA juries just didn't like it, maybe British TV has a lot to offer that the US audience by default don't know about) and so was The Crown (which it has for the past three years, natch). Equally, Killing Eve took more noms at the Emmys this year than the BAFTAs.

Then the matter of popularity and significance is brought up. OK, shows not aired in the US will have a much lower viewership - which is perceived as being less popular - by default. The UK is much smaller. They're also going to covered in the US press and likely Wikipedia much less, because if they're not shown nobody is going to write about them and we know the disparity in entertainment articles still exists on WP. Given that the UK has television channels dedicated to foreign programming (e.g. Walter) on satellite and not just the internet, the BAFTAs are arguably more international because they have that pool to choose from. Both ceremonies are theoretically restricted to their national productions, having broadened over the years and now basically nominating the same things. This also brings up the concept of exceptionalism, the idea that even though there will be TV shows not broadcast in one of the two countries (and vice versa), it is the ones not shown in the US that are by default second rated, an irrational suggestion. Especially since a lot of US TV shows are UK co-productions that maybe don't get a look in at the BAFTAs because there are some exclusively British productions that are just better. Apparently the idea that UK-only shows get lots of noms because they deserve them hasn't been considered, instead written off as 'well I haven't heard of it so it can't be good' or, crucially, 'they only got a nom because US shows couldn't', which isn't even true. And the users making that argument are plucking it from their own imaginations, since I don't think any of them are on the BAFTA juries. We're not here to decide if the selection process is solid, but if the ceremony is notable.

On that note, I have to reiterate from the ITN/C that US outlets were covering the BAFTAs. Deadline reported on the results before the BBC, i.e. the channel that broadcasted the ceremony, did. Variety was live posting the whole event. Jeff Goldblum, Billy Porter, and Matthew McConaughey presented awards - yeah, they're going to show up for a minor clip show in another country any day, right? And this is not to touch on the internationalist of the British TV industry. While the biggest of US productions obviously reach many corners of the world, British TV does the same but also takes its smaller shows - across kids, daytime, soaps, news, and comedy - too. The BAFTA TV ceremony itself is a major event on the industry calendar, more reputable than the NTV's (the UK's National Television Awards, which are truly exclusive and focus way too much on soaps and variety), and usually just as glamorous and well-attended as the Emmys. This year, it still had a physical presence, with many of the presenters being together at Television Studio (good idea? who knows), while the Emmys will be entirely virtual. I'm not commenting on the difference, because we're not the organizers, either. Really, both the Emmys and BAFTA TV awards are equally notable as the complementary ceremonies for the dual TV giants. Kingsif (talk) 21:37, 4 August 2020 (UTC)

  • These are very convincing arguments. I have changed my !vote accordingly. Bzweebl (talkcontribs) 21:48, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
I believe the American and British entertainment production environments are both quite significant. There is no possible way to objectively declare which, if either, produces higher quality programming. Both distribute globally and find healthy audiences on foreign shores. The distinction between the Emmy and BAFTA to me is that the Emmy awards those programs aired in the US, where the BAFTA is concerned with programs produced in the UK. Given the prominence of streaming services and their thirst for content, quality British programming will find its way to the American airwaves (so to speak) and be eligible for Emmys. Quality American programming will never be eligible for the BAFTAs (yes, yes, joint productions aside). This definitively means the BAFTAs are drawing from a smaller pool of potential contenders and would thus potentially exclude more quality programming. Consider recent top BAFTA winners like Peaky Blinders, The End of the F***ing World and Patrick Melrose, which were eligible for but not even nominated for Emmys. Top winner Killing Eve was nominated, but lost to a program ineligible for BAFTA. - - - If we are to argue in favor of promoting British voters, I would beg that the same could be applied around the world. No country has the best TV viewers. If we are to argue in defence of those British programs that don't make it across the pond, what then of the many other domestic award shows? GreatCaesarsGhost 19:57, 5 August 2020 (UTC)
You make some good points, but haven't addressed one key thing: if I can write another paragraph to lay it out fully? Besides the intricacies of the eligibility - which I feel ultimately comes down to personal opinions on if some national shows are as good as other national shows, and here our opinions evidently differ, I won't debate further on that matter - we (Wikipedia) are here to determine if the (recurrence of) the ceremony/awards merely happening is notable. Nominees and winners will change every year, but the event to be posted won't. So, whatever your views (well thought out as they are, shown above) on the quality of nominees, we can objectively judge how the various ceremonies are treated both in their own country and abroad. The BAFTA TV awards and the Emmys are in their own league. The best comparative for other award shows I've personally seen, like in Spain and France (I could only comment on search results for others, which I'm sure you can find yourself), is the UK's National Television Awards (mentioned above). That is, they're hyped enough for a week that you remember it exists, most people don't care enough to watch but might be interested in the winners, it focuses on popularity, and is not covered abroad. Kingsif (talk) 20:13, 5 August 2020 (UTC)
Valid points. What was underlying my thoughts and unsaid is that all of these awards are somewhat trite and hopelessly subjective affairs, such that we should post as few of them as possible. Given the two, I prefer the Emmys. GreatCaesarsGhost 11:07, 6 August 2020 (UTC)
@Andrew Davidson:, @Amakuru:, @Ktin: who opposed the nom at ITN/C on notability grounds to have a voice here too --LaserLegs (talk) 10:25, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
Er, you can't do that - it's textbook WP:CANVASSING. P-K3 (talk) 12:43, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
Easily passes Wikipedia:Canvassing#Appropriate_notification targeted at users who had opposed the exact same topic at ITN/C just a few weeks before. I didn't notify the supporters because they were here already. --LaserLegs (talk) 13:49, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
Strange. There are 5 supports here, and there were 9 at the ITN/C nom. And one of the supports here opposed the ITN/C: that's 5 more users you could have pinged. Kingsif (talk) 22:41, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
Pinging @Albertaont, John M Wolfson, SchroCat, 331dot, and 130.233.3.21: those who left comments at the ITN/C who weren't invited and haven't already commented here. Kingsif (talk) 23:06, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
Cool, thanks Kingsif. --LaserLegs (talk) 23:19, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
Appreciate the ping Kingsif! Albertaont (talk) 23:46, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
Thanks for countering the blatant canvassing, Kingsif. As to comments like "is this for real": yes, of course it is. Countering knee-jerk bias is a positive step, particularly when it's based on fallacies like "the item failed to gain consensus at ITN/C" - deeply untrue: there was a consensus to post, but it was stale before it developed fully. If the open unthinking bias of "US only" is the norm, (and it obviously is) then such fallacies are to be expected in its defence, I guess. - SchroCat (talk) 13:55, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
Blatant canvassing? Oh come on, maybe WP:AGF a little? Seriously there was a wall of support here with no rep from the people who had opposed the unsuccessful nom at ITN/C so I pinged them. --LaserLegs (talk)
Seriously @SchroCat: please describe the methodology you used to determine that my Wikipedia:Canvassing#Appropriate_notification was canvassing for vote stacking. It would be the second time in as many days taht someone who knows nothing about me has claimed the ability to determine my motives and intentions. --LaserLegs (talk) 21:48, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
When someone pings everyone from one side of a discussion, it is de facto canvassing. Your explanation here that you actually wanted to ping everyone from one side of the discussion is doubling down on it. Please don’t ping me to this again; given the knee-jerk opinions of “US only”, and the use of open fallacies to reinforce the cultural bias, it’s not an area I wish to participate in any further. - SchroCat (talk) 21:56, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
Cool so you agree you have no idea what my intentions or motivations were, and then doubled down on whining about "us-bias". Thanks for the blatant WP:ABF --LaserLegs (talk) 22:14, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
  • I think you missed the point to that comment, Amakuru, which was that the US has a much larger population than the UK, and so the most-viewed shows in each country will have very disparate stats. 1 million is a good TV audience figure in the UK, in the US it is poor. (The equivalent 'good' in the US is about 10 million.) In June 2020 the peak TV viewership for a single broadcast in the UK was for football, at 4.1 million ([2]), while for the week of June 8 (the only one I could find) the US peak was 9.4 million ([3]): in a week the LA Times said had "steep viewership decline" because of no sports. The disparity is real and big. The same applies to the Wikipedia pages that you're using as a metric for popularity: more Americans = more people who can watch the Emmys = more WP Emmy pageviews. That's why I pulled on international media - the exact evidence that these awards are even remotely comparable to the Emmys in global notability that your comment suggests doesn't exist is something discussed above, so it looks like you selectively ignored it. But, yes, in the US it gets rather comparable coverage with the Emmys. Kingsif (talk) 22:36, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
  • I've now read the middle part of the comment, about global viewership of the awards ceremonies. Neither are usually available to watch outside of their respective broadcast nation. This year, because the Emmys are completely virtual, it's reported they will be broadcast online. But the BAFTAs didn't do that, so there's no available comparison. We'll have to take the media coverage of the awards at face value. Kingsif (talk) 22:52, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
  • It failed as stale, with a greater than 2:1 support:oppose ratio. It was just not being attended to. The rest of your reason is literally just "I don't like TV". Kingsif (talk) 22:36, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
  • Which of GCG's comments? Because he ended up conceding something along the lines of "TV isn't that notable so I think we should pick BAFTAs or Emmys, and I prefer the Emmys"... Kingsif (talk) 22:52, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
  • (edit conflict) Point of information: Bollywood isn't just TV, and it does have two awards in ITN/R. As a personal response, I find American ceremonies in that field take priority over those of other countries to be objectionable, I'm sure you've read why above already ;) Kingsif (talk) 23:37, 13 August 2020 (UTC)
  • Stats for Al's point: [4] With the exception of a massive spike in 2013 (ironically an unpopular ceremony), viewership of the Emmys has declined over the last 10 years. Kingsif (talk) 00:14, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
  • Yup. Seems like the Oscars are having the same issue as well. [5]. I would venture a guess to say that the chart for broadcast / network TV viewership would be similar as well. More reasons for us to accelerate our search for new-media events. Cheers. Ktin (talk) 00:31, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
  • While viewership may be declining, it's still not actually low. It's going to be a long time before any new media event gets anything like those viewing figures - and decades until it would reach the same level of notability. So to @Albertaont and Ktin: because entertainment is such a big part of most people's lives it would be remiss to not include appropriate events at ITN/R, and while some may prefer listing e.g. the most-viewed show and film every year or audience awards, there are no entertainment events bigger than the Academy and British Academy's ceremonies for TV and film - and certainly none that try to be as quality-focused to establish true acclaim and excellence in the arts. I.e. it's not right to exclude the arts, and the majors are the ones to 'start with' - this is the only major not ITN/R. Kingsif (talk) 00:51, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
  • "Decades until it would reach the same level of notability" ... That's precisely the notion that I want us to challenge. When we have not identified the disruptors, it is hard to say decades. What if that disruption has already occurred, and its just that we are oblivious to it. E.g. Take eGames - What if some of the gaming events are more "notable" than let's say the Ashes (using this as an example, only because this page has that name quoted), and we are oblivious to it because our sense for notability flows down from the TV / Newspaper world and we have taken that as-is to the online world. But, anyways, I think I am digressing from this specific add / removal discussion. Cheers and Good luck. Ktin (talk) 01:02, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
  • Korea Drama Awards - this uncited article for a ceremony that regularly doesn't present half of its awards? Or another one of the 15 TV awards ceremonies in South Korea? Oversaturation isn't a good look in awards. Anyone with Netflix knows there's a lot of Korean TV, but it's mostly soapy (even The Good Doctor) and overhyped (random example: The Producers) and producing infinite sequel series. There's a reason the Premios Platinos have a better rep than the TVyNovela awards. Korea has (at least) 8 national award ceremonies for TV, and another 7 made up of networks ranking their own shows: that is self-aggrandizing. No apparent notability in these award ceremonies, which is an ITN requirement (and one of the main ITN/R focuses). After US and UK, you're looking at Spanish TV and Nordic Noir in terms of impact, quality, etc. Kingsif (talk) 13:28, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
    • Meh. Korean TV has a bigger audience in 2020 than Spanish, Belgian, Slovakian or Belizean TV combined. But yes, their awards culture is different from the West. Who knew? Howard the Duck (talk) 13:37, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
  • The TV audience is kind of irrelevant. It's about the award ceremony being notable, and while TV audience is one metric, a bigger one is the impact and prestige, right? That's what gets it in the news, that's what makes the ceremony as its own event notable. There's nothing wrong with award ceremonies being different: the BAFTAs don't have commercials and have only one advertising partner, while advertising is really an integral part of the Emmys. It's that the set-up of the Korean award shows just makes them by default have no impact or prestige even on their own TV network. They're so evidently unimportant. If anything, that's more argument to add the BAFTAs: they demonstrate renown like the Emmys where other TV cultures just haven't mastered it. Kingsif (talk) 20:16, 9 September 2020 (UTC)
Given that this is EN.wikipedia.org, I do not see the need to necessarily focus on awards or ceremonies that do not have routine coverage in the non-English media from an ITN standpoint; in terms of having a standalone article, absolutely, let's have them as long as we can source them and we should not shy away from them, but readers here coming to the front page are come from places where English is a principle language and thus where we can presume that the news is coming to them in English in the primary or a major secondary format. Having main page ITN items on events that are just simply not covered by any English source at all is tricky to include, much less as a recurring event (exceptions made for RDs but because those are "easy" to pass). So I think trying to argue "but we don't cover these Korean awards so why should we cover the British ones" is not a great argument here. To stress, we do cover non-English events that get routine coverage in English press like the Indian Premier League, La Liga, the Berlin Int'l Film Festival, and so on, and this is not to limit what can be done in mainspace because we can make articles that only use foreign language sources. But ITN we can be a bit more selective to what is going to be of interest to English-comprehending readers. --Masem (t) 17:46, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
FWIW, most audiences of Korean dramas (who aren't Korean) consume the shows with English subtitles... or English dubbing on cellphones. You'd need to understand English to watch K-dramas. K-dramas are campy and are mostly for women, but could argue its audience is far bigger from outside its homeland than from within (sorry North Koreans you can't watch). And its audiences are required to understand (and read very fast in some cases) English, just like American and British ones.
I guess the point here is if one is making the argument that U.S. TV is big then UK TV is second-biggest but with quite a far distance so if we're posting the Emmys that nobody cares about, we'd post about the TV BAFTAs as well... that's not readily apparent at least in 2020. One could argue British cinema, literature and music are big globally, that's why you can argue for posting the movie BAFTAs, whatever book awards UK does and the Brit Awards, but for the TV BAFTAs, it's a stretch. Howard the Duck (talk) 18:45, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
While audience size can play a role, for ITN its still about the coverage, and again, as en.wiki, what it gets in English sources for featuring on the main page ITN. Maybe the Korean TV shows draw a billion people when you factor in those that watch with subs but if narely a drop is mentioned in English RSes, its not really news for the en.wiki ITN main page. (This is basically why we don't simply use popularity, viewership, or similar counts as a sign of notability, because that doesn't always mean good sourcing follows). --Masem (t) 18:55, 14 August 2020 (UTC)
I'm not disputing that, but no one's making this argument after seeing boatloads upon boatloads of wall-to-wall coverage on The Boat Race watched by billions of people.... which I incidentally didn't see on English language sources for the TV BAFTAs. Kingsif is actually right on Korean awards shows. They probably didn't copy the post-WWII awards shows in the West because maybe they were too busy killing each other. Again, different culture from what Caucasians are used to. Even pan-Asian cultural events are not that widely followed, probably because Asian countries hate each other for millennia. Well, we can still content ourselves with late breaking European election coverage in ITN. Howard the Duck (talk) 19:04, 14 August 2020 (UTC)

There should be no debate about if an item is ITNR

ITNR does not sidestep the question of significance, but documents that such question has been asked and debated, with the significance confirmed. I believe it should it go without saying if there is reasonable doubt that a nom is ITNR, that item should not be exempt from the significance discussion. Suggesting we add language to ITNR header (in graph 3) "if a reasonable argument is raised that the nominated article is not an listed item on this page, importance should be discussed in the nomination." Basically, whether an item is ITNR or not should not be a consensus discussion - if it is not clear and obvious that it qualifies, then it does not. GreatCaesarsGhost 14:45, 26 September 2020 (UTC)

What should not be happening at ITNC is the question of the recurring event in broad terms is appropriate if its already listed at ITNR. Eg, the next time the Boat Race comes around, it would be inappropriate to question at ITNC why the Boat Race is listed at ITNR; that's a discussion to have at ITNR. What is appropriate is that while the recurring event is presumed to be ITN-able each time it comes around, one specific instance may not be as relevant that time (Beyond the issue of article quality). As a hypothetical, we know Putin will probably stay president for life for all purposes, so that while Russia will have its' "elections" we know that the results are meaningless for all purposes. So while elections of heads of state are ITNR, we may argue this specific one for Russia is not really useful in this instance. That is a fair argument for ITNC for the specific instance of an ITNR item due to the unique circumstances around that specific instance, and not due to the general ITNR. --Masem (t) 15:31, 26 September 2020 (UTC)
I disagree that we should create a carve-out for Russian elections, or indeed elections from any other country, just because we think they may be illegitimate. That would be a breach of WP:NPOV. And indeed, we posted the last one. I do agree that ITN/R is pretty much irrefutable though, barring huge WP:IAR cases, much like the assured notability for RDs - having these things defined outside of the local consensuses of ITN/C discussions does make for less acrimonious discussions overall.  — Amakuru (talk) 18:25, 26 September 2020 (UTC)
I'm not proposing a Russia carveout, and that may be a bad example, just that as you say, there are IAR-situations that we should be aware of that a single instance of a ITNR event is really not all that newsworthy for some reason. Which we don't need to document to ITN rules, just treat as an IAR situation. We do want to document that the appropriateness of a listed ITNR should not be at ITNC. --Masem (t) 18:28, 26 September 2020 (UTC)
Yep, fair enough. Fully agree with this.  — Amakuru (talk) 19:03, 26 September 2020 (UTC)
If Putin transfers all power to the minister of mines and assumes that role, we should put "minister of mines" in the green box on this table for Russia and move on. We have this utterly baffling fixation with "head of state" around here when there is a list of who is actually in charge and all anyone can ever come up with is "what about Putin". Fuck Vladimir Putin there are 192 other countries that aren't run by Vladimir Putin and it is well past time to put the head of state/government absurdity to rest. --LaserLegs (talk) 23:24, 27 September 2020 (UTC)

Global significance criteria

Considering the minimum time discussion above is really about "US-bias" I want to propose an alternate track. Let's amend the WP:ITN#Significance criteria to stipulate a 3rd hard requirement:

We'd have to refactor the guidelines below which specifically contradict such a requirement but this would allow us to codify the real intent of the "minimum waiting period" suggested above - to keep "US-centric" stories off the main page - without needlessly delaying the posting of "non-US" stories. --LaserLegs (talk) 00:07, 20 September 2020 (UTC)

Templates not rendered in the August archives

Anyone know why none of the templates rendered in the August archives? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:In_the_news/Candidates/August_2020

--LaserLegs (talk) 20:51, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

Huh, very weird. No idea why though This post was made by orbitalbuzzsaw gang (talk) 15:04, 25 September 2020 (UTC)
Orbitalbuzzsaw, Weirdly, everything above August 11th seems to be loading clean. So, I am wondering if there is a stray tag between August 12 and 11. Ktin (talk) 16:06, 25 September 2020 (UTC)

Too many templates. Per the category, it is also happening at the archives for March 2018, April 2018, May 2018, October 2019, March 2020, April 2020, June 2020, and July 2020. Nohomersryan (talk) 21:50, 26 September 2020 (UTC)

We know it's too many templates? --LaserLegs (talk) 14:57, 28 September 2020 (UTC)
I asked at WP:VPT and learned that there is in fact a WP:TLIMIT so I'm going to go through the archives and remove the atop/abot tags on "closed" discussion so that the ITNTemplate renders correctly again and we're going to discontinue the harmful and unnecessary process of archiving nominations a few hours after being created. It's literally breaking Mediawiki just stop doing it already. --LaserLegs (talk) 22:08, 28 September 2020 (UTC)
started a discussion at AnomieBOT to see if they can strip out the CE transclusion from the archive pages. --LaserLegs (talk) 22:19, 28 September 2020 (UTC)
If no one objects I can also strip out the CE portal transclusion from archived discussions pretty easily with a bit of Ruby. This board seems dead, reduced to bickering and infighting so if no one cares about the technical bits I'll just do whatever I feel like until I upset some admin and get a unilateral TBAN applied. --LaserLegs (talk) 22:21, 28 September 2020 (UTC)
Why not substitute the templates and save the result? Don’t remove atop and abot as there is rationale in the closing. Stephen 22:46, 28 September 2020 (UTC)
Fair point, and either way it's a code change. Will suggest. As for the older ones, you ok with my stripping out the CE portal from months past? --LaserLegs (talk) 22:57, 28 September 2020 (UTC)
Just tested by substituting a few at the top and and it seems to work in that some of August 11 is now rendered. The downside is that the stored page bytes are markedly increased. It’s probably worth running s/((/((subst: for just as much as is needed to fix the page. There probably needs more discussion on removing CE from the archives and the whole ITN process in general; it’s largely a historical carryover from when an ITN had to be in CE if I recall. 23:07, 28 September 2020 (UTC)
I want to keep the ITN Template as a template because it's easier to parse for some analytics stuff I'm hacking on. Lets subst the CE portal transclustion (which I like at ITN/C but IMO is useless in the archive) and maybe nuke the cot/cob which will preserve the content but lower the template count --LaserLegs (talk) 23:16, 28 September 2020 (UTC)
Sounds like a plan, and great to support your analytics. I'll revert my test. Do as you propose, and then perhaps subst as many atop/abot that are needed to render the remaining broken transcluded ITNs. Stephen 23:29, 28 September 2020 (UTC)
I'm gonna start with the COT/CE/COB which will do about 90 per page and we can probably leave the the atop in place. Little regex should be easy enough I'll work on it tomorrow between meetings. Thanks for your feedback Stephen. --LaserLegs (talk) 00:14, 29 September 2020 (UTC)
I got a response from Anomie it's not the template count it's a byte count. We're going to have to just subst the ITN Candidate template (I'll learn to live with it or move on). Thoughts? --LaserLegs (talk) 21:06, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

Introducing minimum time before posting

Some users in a recent discussion on an ITN nomination have raised concerns that sometimes decisions on posting blurbs are speedily made without taking into account the time differences, thus practically depriving many users of the right to actively participate in discussions and share their thoughts. In this context, a user suggested introduction of minimum time of discussion before posting. I find this suggestion very sound and would like to propose introducing minimum time of 8 hours before posting non-ITNR nominations (this guarantees that people from different time zones could join while awake). For ITNR nominations, there is really no need to wait if the key articles are of sufficient quality. You are welcome with your thoughts on this proposal.--Kiril Simeonovski (talk) 11:00, 19 September 2020 (UTC)

That would be a bit stale since the queen of England died in 1603. Fgf10 (talk) 12:55, 19 September 2020 (UTC)
Nonsense Sir. The last queen of England died in 1714. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 01:57, 21 September 2020 (UTC)
My opinion is not special. It is just that some have demonstrated they don't have the required knowledge about ITN (they think it's a news ticker where we must rush to post ASAP) to have an informed option. Therefore theirs can be disregarded. Fgf10 (talk) 15:51, 19 September 2020 (UTC)
Expect that there was then very significant opposition after it was posted. Fgf10 (talk) 15:51, 19 September 2020 (UTC)
Exactly. That's why I'm saying it's a judgement call, not just to look at the !votes already cast, but to consider the overall picture and whether there's any conceivable reason someone might object to the posting. Any admin actively seeking to post ITN items should have enough knowledge to judge that, and I find it hard to imagine that many would consider the posting of RBG uncontroversial. That's not the same as saying that it might find consensus because of course it can, just that is it likely anyone will object? And that judgement also has to take into account the fact that US items are more likely to gain unanimous support at hours when European editors are asleep. Overall, such a measure will avoid a lot of bad blood and lead to more harmonious consensus building, and I strongly recommend that we adopt it.  — Amakuru (talk) 16:59, 19 September 2020 (UTC)
Meh, bad blood dates back to that tea party.—Bagumba (talk) 17:19, 19 September 2020 (UTC)
While I can agree with this in principle, how would you word "likely to be serious opposition" into objective guidelines? Banedon (talk) 22:52, 19 September 2020 (UTC)
You do realise that the Boston Tea Party is something that kids in the UK literally no NOTHING about? They're not taught it, no-one cares about it. It's literally a ZERO thing here. Just FYI. The Rambling Man (Hands! Face! Space!!!!) 23:26, 19 September 2020 (UTC)
Let’s be real here, many of the people pushing for this rule (not necessarily you) will be the first to say we should ignore it when Elizabeth (or Philip) inevitably kicks the bucket. -- Calidum 18:57, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
I will not be that person if this rule is implemented. In fact, I'll be the first to criticize the ones who try to flout this rule just for ol' Queenie's sake. And I'm a Commonwealther.--WaltCip-(talk) 19:08, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
How does artificially holding back articles (based on an arbitrary time) that people might be looking for help readers? 331dot (talk) 18:38, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
We're not holding back articles. The articles are there. A link on the main page is just that, a link. Articles can be searched for and found through far more means than one link on the main page: nothing is being suppressed. The wider community should have an opportunity to support or oppose a posting on the main page, and we need to be aware of any timezone bias, US- or otherwise. doktorb wordsdeeds 18:49, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
It is holding back articles. Many people still look to the MP for information and hiding it from them artificially doesn't help them. We cannot accommodate everyone on this planet who might want to comment. People within the same country work odd shifts, different hours each day, family committments, and so on. I've been on here at varying hours in the day depending on my schedule. I don't expect anyone to wait for the chance that I might comment. We have plently of after-the-fact comments and blurbs have been pulled after consensus changed; I myself was involved in such an event. We don't need more rules, we need more nominations from other places to consider. 331dot (talk) 19:56, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
"Holding back" sounds like an advance towards a news ticker, which ITN is not. If we wait 24 hours before publishing a newsworthy event, so what? This is, after all, an encyclopedia, not Wikinews or Reuters. The Rambling Man (Hands! Face! Space!!!!) 20:19, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
ITN is not a news ticker, but it should also be timely and relevant. 331dot (talk) 20:23, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
Thanks @331dot: for your responses, but I am going to have to stick to my view here. "Holding back" is not what I want, it's not what you want, and it's not what this proposal would create. Having nominations stay behind the front page, so to speak, for 24 hours would not cause those articles to be hidden or denied potential readers, in my opinion, and I hope that after all this to-and-fro, we can work on making ITN better for everyone. I rarely have such a good natured discussion on Wiki these days so thank you for disagreeing on good terms :) doktorb wordsdeeds 20:30, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
Is the US the only country in the world awake at 00:00 UTC? Do Canadians all have an earlier bed time than us? Do Australians and New Zealenders stay logged off until it’s nighttime there? -- Calidum 20:16, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
I strongly object to the nefarious-sounding "posted in the middle of the night" terminology being bandied about here. There was nothing nefarious here. I have participated here at varying hours of the day and everyone else here is capable of doing so as well- not that that's required. Blurbs have been and can be pulled. I've done so myself. "Doesn't reflect the opinion of the global community" is your opinion, which you are entitled to, but that isn't clear. If you want to keep debates open while an item is posted, that is a different proposal. 331dot (talk) 20:21, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
Strongly object as much as you like but it's patently true. This judge death was posted within half an hour of proposal during a time when Europe was "asleep". By the time anyone was awake enough to object, it had overwhelming consensus from America and that was game over. Cry foul all you like, but that was how it happened. The Rambling Man (Hands! Face! Space!!!!) 20:24, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
How provincial of you to think Europe=the world. And for the record, at least one user from the EU and one from NZ supported the nomination before it was posted. -- Calidum 20:30, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
Um, amazing how you can make up so much bollocks, but well done! I'd say give it another go, but I'm afraid the best you'll come up with is "Europe=the world"!!! Inane. The Rambling Man (Hands! Face! Space!!!!) 20:52, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
It is certainly not true that there was a nefarious motive here, nothing like "let's keep those Brits or Aussies or Europeans from commenting and post now!!!" 331dot (talk) 20:34, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
Perhaps you mis-interpreted what I said. It wasn't nefarious, it was just "rushed through" (like, mega-rushed through like we've never seen before) as typifies the actions of those who think this is American Wikipedia. In a time when RDs being posted as blurbs is considered contentious, this one took the yankee biscuit, less than 30 minutes from nom to full blurb. When the majority of Europe are sleeping (and Calidum, no need to be a WP:DICK, we realise that other non-American contributors exist, outside Europe, just in low numbers compared to Europe, we're not stoopid you know), it's simple irony that an Amurican will get a free pass to ITN. The Rambling Man (Hands! Face! Space!!!!) 20:52, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
Remember the hours of the day aren't created equal. Some people are going to be more active at 10am compared to 10pm local time, others vice versa. Banedon (talk) 20:19, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

minimum time before posting part deux

Eight hours is a little crazy, and that nom is going nowhere. But 20 minutes is ridiculous, too. So how about we try a 90 minute waiting period between nomination and posting? GreatCaesarsGhost 20:42, 21 September 2020 (UTC)


How about this: No posting of anything except for ITNR and RDs between 22:00 and 6:00 UTC. Howard the Duck (talk) 21:08, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

WP:POINT. Again and again. No Boat Race comment? I begin to wonder if there are any genuinely useful contributions from you to this project. The Rambling Man (Hands! Face! Space!!!!) 21:48, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

minimum time for closing noms

If we're going to implement a minimum time for posting, that same minimum should apply for a "snow closing". Same duration so if it's 24h to post then it's 24h to close --LaserLegs (talk) 23:01, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

arbitrary section break

Although it is being proposed for merger, death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is now its own article, which perhaps might be some ex post facto evidence as to why a blurb was warranted.--WaltCip-(talk) 12:19, 22 September 2020 (UTC)

We have a draft of Death of Naya Rivera, I'm not sure such articles hold that weight any more. On the subject, I have to again point out that in recent months the bar to post a death as a blurb has become exponentially higher, I at least hope posting RBG reminds people that the death of someone can be news enough to warrant a blurb without needing to over-analyze the individual in the way we have been. In fact, trying to place well known people in a hierarchy with those deserving of a blurb above a certain line is turning ITN into more of an obit factory: if it wants to stay true to its purpose it should be looking at the media response and if the death is notable rather than run of the mill. Kingsif (talk) 13:04, 22 September 2020 (UTC)
In the case of RBG, the notability of her death is incommensurable from a national standpoint due to its potential impact on the SCOTUS, a court system that has become a de facto legislative body over the years. The presence of one justice with an opposite (to RBG) political bent on the court can severely swing the country's outlook on issues such as healthcare, abortion, gun ownership, and civil rights. The timing with the presidential election is even more notable even without the Merrick Garland comparison. Globally, it's relatively meaningless.--WaltCip-(talk) 13:22, 22 September 2020 (UTC)