[WikiEN-l] Sourcing "popular culture" items

Thu Nov 9 14:38:11 UTC 2006

I recently, on a whim, picked up a copy of a magazine called "Filmfax  
Plus: The Magazine of Unusual Film, Television, and Retro Pop  
Culture." I was quite struck by the depth, detail, and maturity of  
writing in this rather schlocky-looking periodical.

This particular periodical is at issue number 111. There are stories  
in it about Chesley Bonestell, the artist who almost single-handedly  
created the visual experience of space travel in dozens of science- 
fiction magazines, SF movies, and a museum diorama or two; on Kirk  
Alyn, an early film portrayer of Superman; on the making of Walt  
Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea;" on John Belushi; and a host  
of others. The articles in it are highly detailed, factual,  
apparently nonpromotional, and generally written at an intelligent  
adult level. (Their greatest weakness is that it is not clear what  
the writers' credentials are or what sources they used for the  
article; in the case of the Belushi article, it was an interview with  
Belushi's widow).

This underlines my belief that there are plenty of good, verifiable  
sources for popular culture material.

This cuts both ways, of course. On the one hand, I believe it is  
_quite possible_ to write good, well-sourced, encyclopedic articles  
on popular culture. On the other hand, I believe that such articles  
should be held to exactly the same standards as any other Wikipedia  
article, including deletion of material that cannot be sourced after  
sources have been requested and the requests have been outstanding  
for a reasonable length of time.