Talk:Robert Black (serial killer)

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This article has been viewed enough times in a single week to appear in the Top 25 Report. The week in which this happened:

September 20 to 26, 2015 (15th)

Info

This article needs a few names of places in there. Where was he from etc?

Terminology

i changed 'renowned child killer' to 'infamous'...i dont think renowned is really the appropriate word.....

He just died

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-35296135

Shane Meadows

I've watched some edit-warring, sadly. @John: the source is explicit about it: In fact, [Shane Meadow]'s revved himself up to do this interview.... "There was an event in my life that happened at a fucking unbelievably unlucky moment in time…" ... In the summer of 1982, Meadows’s dad, Arty, was taken into custody on suspicion of murder. Arty, a lorry driver, had found the body of an 11-year-old schoolgirl, Susan Maxwell, beside the A518 near Uttoxeter, and the police wrongly thought he might have killed her. Most of the article is about the traumatic effect of that and events that cascaded from it. It's difficult reading, but it makes it clear how serious and lasting impacts of the murder were on the Meadows. My impression is that this brief mention's appropriate, maybe even scanty. NebY (talk) 20:31, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

It does. And I think it's fine to include this on the Shane Meadows article. I'm really not sure it belongs on this one though. The source doesn't even mention Black. John (talk) 21:40, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, I hadn't noticed it doesn't name Black. I wonder if Shane Meadows and/or the interviewer Miranda Sawyer made a deliberate choice there, following the "some asshole" rule of not naming mass shooters so as not to give them the spotlight and memorialise them like Herostratus. Still, after reading the source, I think I'd argue that the Meadows suffered significantly (I'd say notably if it wasn't a term of art here) because of Black. And it's not as if we're following a rule of not naming witnesses. NebY (talk) 22:14, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

No question about that. And you may be right about the "some asshole" thing. It just doesn't seem quite right to include this here. At least not without a consensus here. It might be borderline WP:SYNTH. John (talk) 21:20, 29 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

It has been put back in again. This has WP:TOPIC and WP:DUE problems and isn't worth mentioning in this article.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 06:59, 30 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I think I agree. Open to discussing it if anyone has anything to say. Until then, let's leave it out. John (talk) 08:12, 30 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

On reflection, I agree. If we had a guideline on including collateral damage (maybe we do and I've not found it), I'd expect it to preclude mentioning it this way. Otherwise yes, WP:TOPIC and WP:DUE apply, and they in turn emerge from the principles and practices of inclusion and exclusion that have evolved over the years. NebY (talk) 11:10, 30 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Just my opinion of course, but this is spin-off, inconsequential (showbiz?) trivia. I have a reference in Church's book (page 57) confirming a Uttoxeter-based lorry driver called Arthur Meadows discovered the body, but, aside from depth, why is his name more important of noting in the article than the other individuals who made these discoveries?--Kieronoldham (talk) 13:38, 30 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]