Wikinews:Featured article candidates/archive/2

Highway bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapses August 2, 2007
Don't know why this has gone under the radar for so long, a prime, comprehensive example of a breaking news event which shows the highly collaborative nature of Wikinews at it's best. --TUFKAAP (talk) 06:33, 18 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Of course, as nom ;) --TUFKAAP (talk) 06:33, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Agree with, a nice piece, meets all the criteria. Cirt (talk) 06:52, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Clear and timely. Monado
 * This is what got us in every major US paper. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 04:14, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
 * One of the best articles we've ever written here. R .T . 12:25, 8 March 2009 (UTC)

2008-09 Wikipedia for Schools goes online October 22, 2008
I was the primary contributor on this, but I feel it is a good piece worthy of some recognition. The article segment is long enough to have stood on its own but is supplemented by interview segments. It has been featured on the Wikimedia blog and complimented by WMF staff as an informative piece that covers an important use of Wiki content. --Brian McNeil / talk 20:47, 29 October 2008 (UTC)


 * as main contributor. --Brian McNeil / talk 20:47, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
 * it's a very well done article and deserves FA status. --PatrickFlaherty (talk) 21:09, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Good read, informative, clear. Well done. Cirt (talk) 05:42, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Per others. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 18:57, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Nice article. :) --TUFKAAP (talk) 06:33, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

Global markets plunge, October 11, 2008
Article includes collaborative work between editors, free-use images and free-use audio. It is nice and long/in depth and it covers an very important international event. Note that although the article is not archived, it is over a day old so should not be edited. Anonymous101talk 19:09, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
 * as major contributer to article/nominator Anonymous101talk 19:09, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
 * as the initial author but as you go though the history, you can see that a lot of people worked on it. --PatrickFlaherty (talk) 21:08, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
 * - An educational piece on a grim topic. Flows well with good structure. Cirt (talk) 05:52, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Educational and very historical. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 18:58, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Important topic, well covered. Durova (talk) 10:51, 31 October 2008 (UTC)
 * A good piece! --TUFKAAP (talk) 06:33, 18 December 2008 (UTC)


 * The following discussion is preserved as an archive of a successful featured article nomination. Please do not modify it.

YouTube accounts of Scientology critics suspended, April 18, 2008
Article includes collaborative work between editors, free-use images and free-use audio media, interview statements, and original reporting. Note: the article was previously nominated by, but I had asked him to remove it at that time because I wanted to wait until after the article had been archived. Thank you for taking the time to consider this FAC nomination. Cirt (talk) 11:05, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
 * as nom. Cirt (talk) 11:05, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
 * see my previous nom of this for reasons. Anonymous101talk 11:03, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I remember reading this article before I was a Wikinews member because other mainstream news sources like The Register had picked up on it. Excellent article Kamnet (talk) 13:00, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
 * meets all the criteria. Durova (talk) 01:52, 10 October 2008 (UTC)
 * per others. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 14:45, 10 October 2008 (UTC)
 * excellent article. --PatrickFlaherty (talk) 14:50, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Wikinews interviews Eric Saussine, director of the James Bond fan film Shamelady, July 16, 2008
Comprehensive interview I did including pictures, proper formatting, sources, etc. The introduction was written by more than one Wikinews member and done well. This interview is, in my opinion, an example of how other Wikinews interviews could be done. --WNewsReporter (talk) 06:28, 18 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Although it is a good interview, there are no free images and there was no collaboration on the questions. Anonymous101 (talk) 06:31, 18 July 2008 (UTC)
 * as nominator and interviewer. --WNewsReporter (talk) 06:44, 18 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I really like it. Interesting and well done. —Calebrw (talk) 15:37, 7 August 2008 (UTC)
 * It is a good article with a well-written intro/background section, however brings up a good point about lack of free-use images and collaboration on the rest of the article. Cirt (talk) 17:56, 9 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Should this be closed now? It's been up for nomination for far longer than a week. I suppose it passed as it recieved two positive votes, one negative and one neutral. --WNewsReporter (talk) 18:27, 12 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Is the person who wrote the article allowed to vote? Anonymous101talk 18:30, 12 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I believe so. I've seen that done in past featured article nominations.--WNewsReporter (talk) 19:09, 12 August 2008 (UTC)
 * OK. Anonymous101talk 19:10, 12 August 2008 (UTC)


 * - I don't think it is a problem for the nominator or the significant contributors to the article to vote, though I do think that the nominator/significant contributors to the article should not be the one to close an FAC discussion. Cirt (talk) 20:44, 12 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Either way, featured article or not, this nominating session should end now or very, very soon. It's been just a few days shy of a month since I nominated this article. If somebody wants to cast the final vote, or just close this and determine the status of the article with the votes it has now, that's fine by me. But leaving it open for a prolonged period of time would be pointless. --WNewsReporter (talk) 03:00, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

UK minor faces charges for calling Scientology 'cult' at protest, May 21, 2008
Well written with images, quotes and excellent detail. Harris Morgan (talk) 15:10, 23 May 2008 (UTC).
 * (I was the article creator.) Many thanks to the nom for thinking of this article, and for the kind words. Cirt (talk) 15:22, 23 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Hits the spot. --Brian McNeil / talk 15:31, 23 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Anonymous101  15:32, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Wikinews interviews team behind the 2,000th featured Wikipedia article, April 13, 2008
Comprehensive article and interview. Includes collaboration from multiple contributors, good use of images, well-written and well-organized, formatted correctly, original reporting, is an example of reporting exclusive to Wikinews, and has lasting value. Cirt - (talk) 06:38, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
 * as nom. Cirt - (talk) 06:38, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
 * per nom -- —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Anonymous101 (talk • contribs)
 * TheCustomOfLife (talk) 00:05, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
 * DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 01:41, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
 * As chief inquisition officer on this one I'm pleased to see it getting some support. I'd like to think it is kinda unique in that we got the interviewees to edit in their answers. --Brian McNeil / talk 15:30, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Pope Benedict XVI visit to the United States begins, April 16, 2008

 * I didn't start this article, although I was by far the majority contributor. I did work really hard on this, including uploading images to Commons. I am not nominating this article to aggrandize myself. Rather, I think the resulting article is pretty darn good and could be an example for those who contribute to Wikinews from the comfort of their keyboard. --SVTCobra 02:15, 17 April 2008 (UTC)


 * - Mmmm, looks like some tasty cake ... Albeit it would have been nice to see some more collaboration from multiple editors together, as well as some OR - but can't argue that this is not a very well-written article, well-organized, and with excellent use of tasteful free-use images. Great work overall.  Cirt - (talk) 04:30, 17 April 2008 (UTC)
 * because of the ue of free images and the legnth of the article --A101 - (talk) 07:37, 17 April 2008 (UTC)
 * No original content. All photos are from the Whitehouse press machine. Small number of contributors (4 or 5). Doubtless, it is well written - just not a "best of". --Brian McNeil / talk 08:37, 17 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I will just point out that those are not requirements but just something "we should try to choose" per the top of the page. --SVTCobra 10:56, 17 April 2008 (UTC)
 * As far as the 'WH press machine' comment, I will just say that, yes, that is where the pictures came from, but since this was an official state visit, which almost by definition is a staged event, I don't think it would have mattered who 'snapped the pics'. Prior to this event, I posted a request at WN:SOON for collaboration and original reporting and photos. Not a soul responded. But hey, we can soon celebrate the one-year anniversary of Wikinews without any FAs. Hurray! --SVTCobra 02:03, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
 * The lack of extensive collaboration was why I did not nominate this article - although there would be a delicious degree of irony to make an article about a WP FA featured. This is one I thought should have been featured, along with Wikinews international report: "Anonymous" holds anti-Scientology protests worldwide, which is the biggest collaborative effort to date. The Scientology article has a longer table of contents than some of what we publish. Another one which I worked on and I'd describe as taking on a life of its own is here; this hit the spot for getting people to read the site. --Brian McNeil / talk 08:39, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I agree with you that we do have more content that should be nominated. Virginia Tech shootings is a good example. But while "Anonymous" holds anti-Scientology protests may be a landmark in collaboration, it remains a disaster to try to read from top-to-bottom and I'd hate to be the poor soul that has to try to archive that. But back to the nomination at hand, I submit that it is better than the later Pope concludes visit to US with Mass at Yankee Stadium which has many more free images that are free of White House press machine taint. The reason I say this is that the nominated article was updated as events unfolded while the latter was written the day after. Cheers,--SVTCobra 01:01, 22 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Rarely do you see an article as well written, and as long, as this on Wikinews. The great, free use White House photos just compliment it. Great job. Happyme22 - (talk) 01:36, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
 * per Brianmc --Skenmy(t•c•w) 17:59, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
 * DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 01:42, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
 * It is a well-written article. TheCustomOfLife (talk) 01:44, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Popular soap opera 'The Young and the Restless' celebrates 35 years on the air, March 26, 2008
Out of the interviews I've done, I feel that this one is probably the most suited for featured status. A month of work was put together coordinating the interviews with all three ladies, complete with freely-licensed pictures from the stars themselves. When I have to pick which original reporting piece I'm most proud of, this one is it. Hopefully it is worthy. TheCustomOfLife - (talk) 07:39, 30 April 2008 (UTC)


 * as nom. TheCustomOfLife - (talk) 07:39, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
 * per nom Anonymous101  17:24, 16 May 2008 (UTC)
 * per nom. Cirt (talk) 18:54, 16 May 2008 (UTC)
 * OMG TOTALLY. Cary Bass (talk) 00:00, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I had this article on my watchlist, so I got an email when the FAC template was added to it :) Per above. Daniel (talk) 00:02, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I won't vote against it, as it is high on quality on many levels. However, it has never been fully copy-edited since the "" character still appears several times. Also, but this is a personal opinion, I find the interested readership for this to be limited. It is a daytime US soap, which to my knowledge means that it is broadcast only in the US and no other English-speaking countries and only during the daytime which further limits viewership, though it is, admittedly, at the tops of the Nielsen Ratings for its category. --SVTCobra 00:17, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
 * About the "only in the US" comment, the article clearly states that it is aired in foreign countries such as France, Italy and Germany, and Melody Thomas Scott even remarked about the reception they got while in Turkey. It's definitely not a limited readership issue. If anything, it's an "I'm not interested in the subject matter" issue, and if that's a criteria, I should vote against a lot of articles because some of them bore me to tears. TheCustomOfLife (talk) 01:36, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Also, I cannot see on my browser what you're talking about with "", can someone tell me so I can get an admin to fix it? TheCustomOfLife (talk) 01:37, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I fixed them, they are some odd side effect of how Word or maybe IE handle qoutes I think. I fixed a bunch of them when it was first published, but it looks like I missed a few.--Cspurrier (talk) 01:52, 21 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Was a good read. Used to watch it a long time ago off and on. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 01:41, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
 * a good example of a high quality interview. --Cspurrier (talk) 01:52, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Only by doing such an interview can you come to appreciate how much work is required to pull something like this together. --Brian McNeil / talk 15:31, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Halema`uma`u crater erupts in Hawaii, USA, April 19, 2008
IMO it is an interesting subject with the good and informative original images and original reporting. The eruption still going on, so the article might make the news for a while.Thank you.--Mbz1 - (talk) 06:15, 20 April 2008 (UTC) Because of the original images it is probably the best article on the NET for this subject.--Mbz1 - (talk) 16:37, 20 April 2008 (UTC)
 * although some of the images could be featured on commons --A101 - (talk) 16:13, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
 * but the images are very good. --Skenmy(t•c•w) 17:59, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
 * May I please ask you to state the reason for your oppose votes that I would be able to improve my work next time. Thank you.--Mbz1 - (talk) 20:29, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
 * IMO, Its not quite long enough for FA status. --A101 - (talk) 08:01, 27 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you,A101. Have you seen that I added contest to the article?--Mbz1 - (talk) 13:11, 27 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh I see you removed my new additition with the summary "no ate edits". I am afraid my English is not good enough to understad what does it mean "no ate edits", but IMO the edits were very interesting and added value to the article.Thanks.--Mbz1 - (talk) 13:15, 27 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I meant no late edits. It was a typo A101 - (talk) 14:29, 27 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I was sure it was a new English idiom, which I did not know. I was about to memorize it and use in some of my edit summaries :-) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mbz1 (talk • contribs)

Asbestos controversy aboard Scientology ship Freewinds May 16, 2008
Comprehensive article on a public health issue. Includes a free-use image, original reporting, an exclusive interview, and information from multiple investigative sources. Cirt (talk) 19:19, 30 October 2008 (UTC)


 * as nom. Cirt (talk) 19:19, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Seems good to me. A nice in-depth read. --TUFKAAP (talk) 06:33, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Iz good -- Shakata Ga Nai ^_^ 21:38, 8 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I agree. Good article and in depth. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 16:55, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Good article. Tempodivalse [talk]  19:15, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

Result: Consensus reached, article promoted to FA. Tempodivalse [talk]  22:01, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Swine flu outbreaks appear globally; WHO raises pandemic alert level to 5
Nominating one of my own articles. I think it's of a good enough quality to be a FA: it's in-depth, has extensive coverage, has some original reporting, and was worked upon by several editors. Tempodivalse [talk]  21:53, 11 May 2009 (UTC)


 * as nom. Tempodivalse [talk]  22:06, 11 May 2009 (UTC)
 * . I really like it. Very in-depth. Mike Halterman (talk) 16:46, 27 May 2009 (UTC)
 * . Nicely done. Cirt (talk) 10:19, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Eurovision '82 winner Nicole talks about 'Ein bißchen Frieden', her success and the Contest today February 2, 2009
This exclusive interview incorporates a free-use image, has a well-written lead-in to the interview, and the interview itself covers interesting reflections on aspects of the celebrity's career. I believe it is of a high quality and place it here for consideration. Cirt (talk) 22:45, 9 May 2009 (UTC)


 * as nom. Cirt (talk) 22:45, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Comment: It also received small recognition in the German Wikinews upon publishing, becoming a "Quote of the Day" and also the article of the day for two days or so after publication. Mike Halterman (talk) 22:47, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I will definitely have to agree. DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 22:49, 9 May 2009 (UTC)
 * good interview. Tempodivalse [talk]  00:31, 10 May 2009 (UTC)
 * As a recognition for all the hard work Mike has done with the Eurovision interview in past few months. Tomasz W. Kozłowski (talk) 07:18, 14 May 2009 (UTC)