Talk:Fixer (person)

Merged

I have copied this article in its entirety to the article Fixer (person), which is a more general description of the term. -- MelanieN (talk) 18:08, 22 December 2018 (UTC)

What should this article be called?

We can't call it Fixer, that is a DAB page with many entries.

I thought of calling it Fixer (person). but we already have Fixer (journalism) so that won't work.

How about Fixer (facilitator)? Fixer (sidekick)? Fixer (problem solver)? Suggestions please! -- MelanieN (talk) 23:51, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

I tend toward Fixer (facilitator), but I'm wondering if we're so close to Cleaner (crime) that a new article may not be necessary or desirable. That article describes what this article is about, and/or that part in that article can be developed better with the addition of this content. The principle issue is the same - the protection of public image by legally or illegally facilitating cover-ups of negative information. It's a slippery slope from the typical spin doctor to the briber, then the blackmailer, and finally the hit man. -- BullRangifer (talk) PingMe 20:27, 16 December 2018 (UTC)

I am unconvinced that "cleaner" is really a real or significant word in this context, and I see no documentation that it is a synonym for fixer. The article is almost completely unsourced (in fact the only source provided is about something else and does not support the information in the article at all) and seems to consist entirely of original research. See my thoughts below. MelanieN alt (talk) 20:32, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

fixing sporting events?

I also came across references to a "fixer" as someone who fixes sporting events, i.e., match fixing. Should we mention that here as well? -- MelanieN (talk) 01:23, 15 December 2018 (UTC)

As a continuation of the above thread, this reveals that one Fixer (something) meta-article may be used to cover all these aspects of the subject. Just cover each aspect in its own section. -- BullRangifer (talk) PingMe 01:09, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

As I have thought more about it I am leaning the same way. Title it Fixer (person). Incoporate the fixer who covers for his boss or carries out his more disreputable wishes (could mention cleaner in that context, provided we can find sourcing); the one who fixes sporting events; the specialized definition at Fixer (journalism); and any others we come across. Then propose turning the cleaner article and the journalism article into redirects. MelanieN alt (talk) 20:24, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Sounds like a plan. It would help to clean up the whole area and leave one tidy and complete article. -- BullRangifer (talk) PingMe 00:23, 18 December 2018 (UTC)

Great work. This is going to be a good article. -- BullRangifer (talk) PingMe 01:45, 22 December 2018 (UTC)

Thanks. I think it's ready for mainspace. I was even able to find a little bit of documentation for "cleaner" so I will redirect from that, as well as from the journalism page (which I merged in its entirety). -- MelanieN (talk) 17:55, 22 December 2018 (UTC)

BullRangifer: Done, but I need help with categories. -- MelanieN (talk) 17:58, 22 December 2018 (UTC)

Well, as I see it, fixers are engaged in public relations work, hence that category, and deception is often a large factor in their work, hence that category. -- BullRangifer (talk) PingMe 23:53, 22 December 2018 (UTC)

Wouldn't it need to say so in the article - in order to be included in the category? We could expand on the kind of activities they do, and that would be good if we could find sources. -- MelanieN (talk) 00:45, 23 December 2018 (UTC)

I wish I could find a category for the "occupation" of a fixer, but so far I am baffled. Category: Personal care and service occupations? (Henchman is in that category.) Category:Informal legal technology? I think I will add Category:Guides since that is what the journalistic fixers do. On second thought I don't like that. -- MelanieN (talk) 00:55, 23 December 2018 (UTC)

Split "legal" fixing and illegal "fixing"/"cleaning"

In the facilitator section, I think it would be benifical to have separate sections on legal vs. illegal fixing/cleaning. The British use of the term is very different from the American use and I think there should be separate sections detailing the differences. Right now they are kind of jumbled together, which can be interpreted as demeaning for British business fixers. Does this make sense? - Paul^T+/_C 18:16, 1 March 2019 (UTC)

The article is in a horrible state now, presumably as a result of merging different articles where the person doing the merging didn't understand the various distinctions. As a result we have Alex Polizzi (hotel/restaurant fixer) and Winston Wolfe (fictional gangland fixer) both being supposedly covered by the same article. Ridiculous. --Ef80 (talk) 22:57, 11 January 2021 (UTC)