Talk:China Kantner

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[edit] Songwriter

Hmmm, it's true that China received some songwriting credits when she was young. However, these were all amusing or interesting remarks she had made as a 5-10-year-old and were incorporated by her father into his lyrics; I'd be reluctant to describe her as a songwriter based on this. (The one poem she wrote and sang as an 11-year-old on her father's PERRO album is perhaps the closest we come; however, it's basically a one-off, and hardly makes her a "singer" or "songwriter.") If there's a more elegant way of phrasing this, I'd like to hear it. ProhibitOnions (T) 12:06, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Alcohol addiction

China has openly discussed her problems with alcohol addiction many times in numerous interviews. As a result, I believe this topic should not be considered in any way "negative" - China wants people to know about it and learn from her mistakes. Gidz (talk) 10:58, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Whether she wants people to know about it or not and whether some people may not consider alcoholism negative doesn't matter. Wikipedia is concerned with sourced facts only, and particularly in Biographies of Living Persons. When Reliable Sources are provided to substantiate potentially controversial information, they can generally stay. Read the notice at the very top of this page and see WP:BLP, WP:OR, WP:N, WP:NPOV and WP:V. These are policies that will be helpful in writing neutral, well-sourced and good quality articles. Thank you. Nobody of Consequence (talk) 15:45, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
So do you consider an article written by the person concerned, and published in a book easily available via eBay and any good book shop, to be a reliable or unreliable source? Because that's the primary source for this information (i.e. China's self-penned contribution to 'Playing It Straight'). This information is well-sourced, and meets Wikipedia requirements for reliable sources as they are peer-reviewed publications. In future, to avoid situations such as this, it may be an idea to check with me before considering any sections or information for deletion, as I have a very large archive of publications and other items relating to China, some dating back to the 1980s, and can usually provide a usable reference within a few days. Gidz (talk) 00:30, 7 April 2008 (UTC)
I guess my main point is this: information in the article can't be included by implied sourcing, meaning folks can't write something then say "I read it in a book" without providing the citation in the article for said book. Think about research papers you may have written in school: if you wrote a paragraph saying that toads like to wear trousers, your teacher would expect you to provide substantive evidence, right? Wikipedia treats most articles and particularly Biographies of Living Persons much the same way. The average person reading an article has no way of knowing where any of the information stated in the article comes from, so WP:BLP is very particular that potentially controversial information that does not have a corresponding citation must be removed. An article that was written by Kantner and is published in a book is a very good source (actually it's fine even if it wasn't published in a book). Newspaper and Magazine articles are good sources, books, published studies, etc. For a better explanation of what constitutes a reliable source, please see WP:RS. Good to hear you have a collection of media that can be used to cite info in the article. I learned what and how to cite mostly by reading other "good articles" (see many of them listed at WP:GA). Hope this helps. Nobody of Consequence (talk) 03:16, 8 April 2008 (UTC)