Talk:Ian Charles Stewart

Did he actually co-found Wired magazine?

Or was he just sort of around when it happened (if that)? I can't find any sources that don't come from him and the official account doesn't mention him at all. - Richfife (talk) 19:13, 1 August 2013 (UTC)

Louis Rossetto credits him specifically here: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=20621729&authToken=U2C3&trk=prof-exp-snippet-endorsement-name. Not sure how to include this in the References section of the page. Carl Thoren (talk) 10:11, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

Can you post the text of that? It's only available to people that are linked to Rossetto. Plus, it seems like there are still reliable source problems. The statement "cofounded" is easily abusable since many, many people contributed to its founding, down to and including the pizza guy. - Richfife (talk) 14:47, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

Given how relentlessly self-mythologizing Wired is, this is extremely worrying. - Richfife (talk) 17:57, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

The follow is copied from User talk:Carl Thoren - Richfife (talk) 16:28, 3 September 2013 (UTC)

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Hi, I understand the problem. It appears that he was a behind-the-scenes business guy, not an in-the-media publisher or editor. Also, all this went on before everything was being published on the internet. So the best reliable sources, if available, are probably in print archives. Below is the Rossetto quote, which is available on Stewart's LinkedIn profile. I found some writings on the web that portray Stewart as actively engaged with running Wired, but none of them were the kind of credible primary sources that are ideal.

"Ian Charles Stewart Co-Founder Without Ian, there very likely wouldn't have been a Wired. Ian was literally the first person who saw the nascent business plan and recognized its potential, giving Jane Metcalfe and me the crucial first validation we needed to pursue our dream.

I was a journalist living in Amsterdam, and he was an investment banker with Lazard Brothers in London focusing on new media, and we had met via via. Ian helped shaped the B-plan, and his wise counsel helped us to navigate the hard times from big idea to concrete reality.

Ian negotiated our first investment from Condé Nast (at a valuation three times what we had hoped), and helped establish Wired's UK edition. We thought so highly of Ian that we tried to hire him to be CEO. I still wonder how the Wired story might have turned out if Ian hadn't decided instead to pursue his own singular vision, which ultimately brought him to embark on his adventure in Beijing.

Ian is equally adept at operating at the highest strategic levels, as well as being supremely tactical. And he understands people — what makes them tick, how to get the best out of them, how to get them to do what you want. He's whip smart, his insights are acute, his counsel utterly reliable, his instincts unerringly right. If I could design the perfect CEO, someone with deep b-school knowledge, broad real world experience, street smarts, big vision, and big heart – that would be Ian.

Twenty five years after our first meeting over the Wired b-plan, even as our lives have taken us in different career directions and we're separated by a dozen time zones, Ian remains a friend, and a trusted advisor, now to our New American Chocolate company TCHO. I could not recommend anyone I have ever worked with more highly than Ian.less September 27, 2010, Louis worked directly with Ian Charles at Wired Magazine"

Carl Thoren (talk) 03:24, 3 September 2013 (UTC)

Sifting through the various pages of guidelines and... my brain hurts. I'm going to put up a "Request for Comment". - Richfife (talk) 16:26, 3 September 2013 (UTC)

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RfC: Should Stewart be credited as a Wired Magazine co-founder?

Should Ian Charles Stewart be credited as a co-founder of Wired (magazine)? - Richfife (talk) 16:35, 3 September 2013 (UTC)

http://www.xmedialab.com/mentor/ian-charles-stewart This link may be cited if we can agree whether it is RS/not RS.--Canoe1967 (talk) 18:14, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

A bio of that form is ultimately a form of marketing, which isn't a reliable source. Stewart himself is almost certainly the only source that it draws from. - Richfife (talk) 23:52, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Comment - Wired has been around long enough that there should be a WP:RS in existence to confirm this. --Scalhotrod - Just your average banjo playing, drag racing, cowboy... (talk) 05:31, 16 September 2013 (UTC)

There are, and I added a couple, from The Guardian and The Australian, which are probably OK sources. And there are more if you look, probably. Both of these sources just say "...Wired magazine co-founder Ian Charles Stewart..." and don't go into detail or provide proof, and there's no way to know if they're not just repeating a false claim that is generally circulating. I doubt if in either case the piece was fact-checked. But he's widely described as the co-founder, and if he's not, there would probably be material saying that. Absent any reliable source showing a credible claim that his widely-circulated status as the co-founder of Wired is a canard, I'd say we can accept the Guardian and Australian refs and close this RfC. Herostratus (talk) 13:11, 16 September 2013 (UTC)

Seems like the reasonable course of action to me. Certainly the sources themselves are decent enough, so I agree the claim ought to stand for the time being, until a more robust source clears the matter up, one way or another. Snow (talk) 07:25, 18 September 2013 (UTC)

• Should someone just email wired.com and ask them?--Canoe1967 (talk) 17:50, 18 September 2013 (UTC)

The Wikipedia Wired article says that it was founded in 1993 and lists the two founders, and Ian Charles Stewart is not one of them, and does not even mention him in the article. But then it also lists the first issue as January 1993 which would almost certainly mean that it was going in 1992. My guess is that since there is no technical definition of "founded" that it is a matter of interpretation/spin and that a "cut and dry" answer will not be found. (Even from Wired.....if the parting was rough, they might want to de-emphasize him/his role). My thought is "listed by many sources as the co-founder or Wired", and give up the idea of a categorical statement in the voice of Wikipedia (e.g. in an info box) unless something really solid is found that says he is. North8000 (talk) 20:45, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

• Yes. We can't use Wired.com as a source because it is self published. They may be trying to re-write their history but en:wp shouldn't believe them. We have two RS above that have him as co-founder so that should suffice until secondary RS deny it.--Canoe1967 (talk) 21:06, 23 September 2013 (UTC)