Portal talk:Current events/2023 September 29

Death of Dianne Feinstein

Should the below entry be included in the Portal?

• Incumbent senator Dianne Feinstein, the longest serving female U.S. Senator, dies at the age of 90. (NBC News) (AP) (PBS)

Carter00000 (talk) 16:07, 30 September 2023 (UTC)

Exclude. Per the instructions, the portal ususally specifically excludes the ordinary deaths of prominent persons. The death should be featured at the recent death section of WP:ITN instead, which is integrated with the portal from a viewer. Carter00000 (talk) 16:09, 30 September 2023 (UTC)

Include. The guidelines are quite clear that an exception is made for a prominent individual who has died in office. Dianne Feinstein was an incumbent US Senator when she died, and thus I think she should fall under the exception provided by the guidelines. I think it would only make sense to exclude her if she was not a sitting US senator at the time of her death. Rcain1993 (talk) 16:37, 30 September 2023 (UTC)

They emphatically are not, and misquoting the parts of a guideline that support your point never ends well.

Do not list the ordinary deaths of prominent persons here. That's what recent deaths is for. Exceptions to this rule are made for prominent persons who died in office (such as Pope John Paul II and Omar Bongo) or other instances where the death in itself has a major impact. (emphasis mine)

When John Paul II and Bongo died, those deaths were the most significant occurrences in their respective polities that year. Feinstein's death wasn't the most significant story in the US that day, and not even the most significant story coming out of the US' legislature: it was, and still is, well overshadowed by the brinkmanship over the impending shutdown. "Died in office" plainly does not mean "died in any office", and this death did not have the required "major impact". —Cryptic 17:10, 30 September 2023 (UTC)

I agree that even if the instructions makes allowances for the inclusion of persons in office, distinction should be made on the actual notability of the person, and additions should not simply be added because they fit into the criteria. Carter00000 (talk) 08:48, 1 October 2023 (UTC)

US Senators who have died in office. Average of roughly 1.3 a year overall; a little more than one in every three years after 1978. —Cryptic 19:16, 1 October 2023 (UTC)

Exclude. Recent deaths have their own dedicated section. No need to repeat ourselves. Moscow Mule (talk) 17:24, 1 October 2023 (UTC)

Removed. I've removed the entry, per the general consensus on this talk page. Carter00000 (talk) 05:00, 2 October 2023 (UTC)