Talk:Disrupt Asia

Latest comment: 4 years ago by Eesan1969 in topic Source quality matters

Source quality matters

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Eesan1969: My last edit summary didn't properly address the first of your two. You are correct that citations shouldn't be deleted without caution. I reviewed all that I deleted, and the writing did not seem to be journalistic in nature. I'd be happy to discuss specific instances if you like. —jameslucas ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ 20:32, 25 October 2020 (UTC)Reply

JamesLucas: Maybe the content might be not journalistic in nature, but they appeared in the leading English newspapers of Sri Lanka.Eesan1969 (talk) 00:28, 26 October 2020 (UTC)Reply
Eesan1969: It’s frustrating that some newspapers publish proper journalism side-by-side with press releases, and even more frustrating that those newspapers are sometimes more widely read than more scrupulous newspapers. Fortunately, there are some quick and easy ways to detect fake journalism that work most of the time. Just now I picked at random one of the deleted references to double check: "ICTA's 'Disrupt Asia 2018' showcases advanced assistive technologies for persons with disabilities". Daily FT. September 4, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2020. This is the first paragraph:
The 2018 edition of Disrupt Asia, Sri Lanka’s premier start-up conference and innovation festival, was successfully concluded recently at the Trace – Expert City with the participation of a large number of organisations and individuals connected to the growing startup industry in Sri Lanka.
Right away, the adjective ‘premiere’ and the adverb ‘successfully’ raised big red flags that I was reading promotional material, not journalism. The next thing I looked for was a byline, and there is none. The lack of an author’s name suggests either that no one was willing to stake their reputation on being associated with the content, or the author couldn’t be disclosed because she or he has a conflict of interest.
For a more on this, I recommend visiting WP:NEWSORG. The line about ‘churnalism’ is most relevant here, but the whole thing may be of interest to you. I’m also available if you have questions. —jameslucas ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ 12:06, 26 October 2020 (UTC)Reply
JamesLucas:Thanks for your detail explanation and information sources.Eesan1969 (talk) 10:57, 30 October 2020 (UTC)Reply