Talk:Watchtower Society

Redirect target

Just a year ago, a certain editor attempted to delete this entry. Now the same editor is trying to redirect it illogically.

Onlookers have often been confused about two separate notable corporations. A person typing in this entry here,
Watchtower Society, would likely intend one of the following:

• Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York
• Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

I submit the researcher is more likely searching for the New York corporation. In any event, the target for the redirect from here should be Corporations of Jehovah's Witnesses, largely because it has sections on BOTH those corporations (plus one other domestic corporation). It seems obvious to me that a person researching

1. 'Watchtower Society' of New York might search for
2. Watchtower Society without realizing "of New York" is even part of the corporate name.

A certain editor apparently disagrees. Please discuss. --AuthorityTam (talk) 16:35, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

In May 2009 I proposed deleting a low-grade article that duplicated material covered elsewhere. At the AfD discussion there were suggestions from three editors, none of whom displayed any familiarity with JW articles, that the Watchtower Society article redirect to Corporations of Jehovah's Witnesses. That was what was done.

I contend a redirect to Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania is more appropriate for the following reasons:

• The term "Watchtower Society" is a common misspelling of the parent corporation Watch Tower Society of Pennsylvania. The confusion is presumably caused by the fact that "Watchtower" is rendered as one word on the magazine title.
• The Watch Tower Society of New York is, as the 1980 Yearbook (page 257) indicates, one of many subsidiaries of the parent Pennsylvania corporation, grouped in that YB article with the IBSA in some countries and the Association Chrétienne Les Témoins de Jéhovah de France in France. Redirecting "Watchtower Society" to just one of those subsidiaries is illogical.
• The Watchtower Society of New York, to which Authority Tam has arbitrarily concluded a casual Wikipedia reader would "more likely" be searching, is a business and publishing entity established to organize business in one country. Wikipedia is a global encyclopedia. Suggesting most Wikipedia readers would be interested in just an American subsidiary entity is an example of systemic bias, to which Wikiepdia is opposed.
• Many casual readers would become aware of the Watch Tower Society only through its publications. Since Charles Russell's day, those books and magazines have originated with the Watch Tower Society, under its various name changes. It is the parent Pennsylvania corporation that originates all directives and doctrines affecting Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide. When Wikipedia articles and other books refer to "Watch Tower" doctrines and statements, they are referring to the parent Pennsylvania corporation, not a local US business subsidiary.
• For those reasons, it is logical that a casual reader typing in "Watchtower Society" should be redirected to the parent body, not one subsidiary that services the needs of one country. If the reader is indeed looking for the NY subsidiary, they can follow the "See also" link at the bottom or follow the link within the lead section. BlackCab (talk) 22:00, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Rather than guessing at what readers are 'really' looking for, there are two logical options:

1. Create a Watch Tower Society (disambiguation) page as the redirect target for both Watch Tower Society and Watchtower Society from which readers can select what they're 'really' looking for.
2. Move all the corporations to Corporations of Jehovah's Witnesses and redirect all the relevant titles to that main article.

I suggest option 1. (Done)--Jeffro77 (talk) 00:05, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

As is standard practice, links that now refer to the disambiguation page can be corrected to point to whichever specific article is relevant to the context, as they are identified.--Jeffro77 (talk) 00:50, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

I don't like your second proposal. The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania article has too much material, including governance and membership, directors, amendments to charter and property ownership, to be incorporated in the Corporations of Jehovah's Witnesses article. My reasons above for a redirect to the parent body are sound enough, but your disambig page also works. BlackCab (talk) 00:52, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

I don't really like option 2 either. It is a logical way to avoid the current dispute here, but I wasn't proposing it.--Jeffro77 (talk) 00:54, 8 May 2010 (UTC)