Talk:Neil deGrasse Tyson/Archive 15

Final draft text

During December 2018, four separate accusations of sexual misconduct were raised against Tyson, first reported by Patheos.^[1][2] Thchiya Amet El Maat accused Tyson of drugging and raping her while both were graduate students at UT Austin in 1984.^[3] Katelyn Allers, a professor at Bucknell University, asserted Tyson inappropriately touched her at a 2009 American Astronomical Society gathering.^{[4] [5]} Ashley Watson, Tyson's assistant on Cosmos, described inappropriate sexual advances he made to her in 2018 which led her to resign from the position days later.^{[4] [5]} A fourth anonymous woman asserted Tyson made inappropriate comments to her during a 2010 holiday party at the American Museum of Natural History.^[1] Tyson denied El Maat's rape accusation, and corroborated basic facts around the situation of Allers and Watson's assertions, but claimed his actions were misinterpreted and apologized for any misunderstanding or offense.^[6][7][8] Tyson asked for an investigation into the accusations, and The Museum of Natural History and the producers of Cosmos, Fox and National Geographic, announced investigations.^[9]

This seems basically OK to me. Just one grammatical comment: The very end jumps from "investigation" (singular) to "investigations" (plural) in a weird way. --DanielRigal (talk) 16:43, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

 Done thanks ResultingConstant (talk) 16:53, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

• Oppose - Too much detail considering none of the investigations has completed. And, I still don't like the sourcing for the fourth, and am not certain it can be called sexual misconduct. O3000 (talk) 16:50, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

The text above is well within WP:WELLKNOWN. Take BFN to RSN if you think it is not sufficiently sourced, but since both the site and the author have many creds, I think you are wasting your time. Regarding calling it sexual misconduct, we should follow the sources, many of which say 4 women (and specifically the 4th woman) accused him of "sexual misconduct". , etc. You can rightly point out that most of those sources are just talking about BFN's reporting - that is more evidence that BFN is in fact an RS for this. WP:USEBYOTHERS. ResultingConstant (talk) 17:06, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

A point of order: We would not take such a question to RSN while this discussion is still ongoing; any given issue should have one, centralized consensus discussion, not a WP:TALKFORK (which is apt to have a forum-shopping effect at best, and come to completely contradictory conclusions or cause both discussions to come to no conclusion).  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  20:35, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

• I support this language. I don't see any reason to not add it today - if there is discussion later, it can be edited (this is a wiki after all..). No reason to hold off inclusion any longer. ‡ Єl Cid of ᐺalencia ^ᐐT₳LKᐬ 17:08, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
• Support as it reads neutrally. -A lad insane (Channel 2) 17:21, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
• Oppose. Way too much in terms of WP:DUE and minimal inclusion mentioned in the RfC so far. WP:NODEADLINE and especially WP:NOTNEWS policy still applies. Kingofaces43 (talk) 18:50, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

Kingofaces43 Could you please either !vote on this proposal, or the other, as your !vote is double counted now relative to everyone else who only commented under one of the proposals. ResultingConstant (talk) 18:57, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

That's the intent of RfCs. If there is something wrong with a specific proposal, an oppose explanation goes there as it would on a proposal with support. If I were neutral on this proposal, then I would not have commented on it here. Kingofaces43 (talk) 19:13, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

• Support 98.165.105.12 (talk) 19:15, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
• support this length of text is required to give proper context to the allegations and Tyson's denial. ResultingConstant (talk) 19:17, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
• Oppose. Too much detail and undue weight of unverified allegations. See my proposal for minimal inclusion above. UpdateNerd (talk) 19:20, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
• I think that the "Final draft text" post below is sufficient.MagicatthemovieS (talk) 19:17, 13 December 2018 (UTC)MagicatthemovieS
• Oppose - far too much detail. One or two sentences is all we need here. Fyunck(click) (talk) 19:28, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
• Support - it covers the allegations, includes Tyson's rebuttal and mentions that Fox and NatGeo are investigating. Language is also unbiased.Byconcept (talk) 19:36, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

Just to add, this version makes it appear as though the allegations were first brought forward in 2018. Thchiya had accused Tyson years earlier and although the 2010 incident at San Francisco’s Palace of the Fine Arts hasn't been confirmed, she had written about it on her blog in 2014. Also, in his facebook post, Tyson didn't ask for an investigation. He simply said he welcomed the investigations announced by NatGeo etc. Perhaps an improvement along the lines of During December 2018, four separate accusations of sexual misconduct were raised against Tyson, first reported by Patheos.[1][2] Thchiya Amet El Maat, who had raised allegations in her blog years earlier, accused Tyson of drugging and raping her while both were graduate students at UT Austin in 1984.[3] Other accusers include Bucknell University professor Katelyn Allers[4][5] and Ashley Watson who claims that inappropriate sexual advances made by Tyson led to her quitting her job as his assistant on Cosmos.[4][5] In a Facebook post, Tyson denied El Maat's rape accusation and corroborated basic facts around the situation of Allers and Watson's assertions, although he claimed his actions were misinterpreted and apologized for any offense.[6][7][8] Tyson also welcomed the investigations announced by The Museum of Natural History and the producers of Cosmos, Fox and National Geographic[9] This is shorter, leaves out the excessive details, and mentions that Thchiya had publically made allegations earlier than 2018.

• Support – this seems reasonable. I will point out that the wording Ashley Watson, Tyson's assistant on Cosmos, described inappropriate sexual advances he made to her in 2018, causing her to resign from the position days later is a bit ambiguous as to whether the sexual advances or making the accusation led Watson to resign. Better wording could be Ashley Watson, Tyson's assistant on Cosmos, described inappropriate sexual advances he made to her in 2018, which had led to her resignation from the position. _signed, Rosguill ^talk 19:58, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

Thanks,  Done ResultingConstant (talk) 20:01, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

• Support. This summary seems to provide about the right level of detail to cover the allegations that have been reported in the New York Times, Washington Post, and many other news outlets. I also support the suggestion to include the material immediately, as WP:BLP and the RfC consensus make it abundantly clear that this content belongs in the biography. Serpentine noodle (talk) 20:03, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
• Too much detail, but overall the right approach. This needs to be compressed by at least a third, and the anonymous allegation thing is too iffy to include. I could go create a temporary e-mail address right now and make an anonymous claim about Tyson myself, but that would not make it encyclopedic. If the real world can't verify anything substantive about that fourth claim, then neither can Wikipedia. That said, the general intent and scope of this version is correct, in providing context and giving balance between the allegations, Tyson's response, and what is happening. It's just mired in too much detail. PS: Some of the wording in the anon's original version above (under "RfC Consensus text") is better. A merged version that aims for concision is the right angle.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  20:37, 13 December 2018 (UTC); rev'd., 20:46, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

  @SMcCandlish: Why do we trust any report for any controversial fact? We don't know who the 4th accuser is, but BuzzfeedNews does, and did the due diligence on our behalf of verifying information, just like every reporter does with every source. This is not some random blog, they are a credentialed and awarded outlet. BuzzfeedNews also knows the recipient of the email. If they had named the source that wouldn't make the allegation suddenly more reliable. To the degree that anonymity makes the source less reliable, we have called it out as anonymous to let the reader know to take that portion with a grain of salt. I think part of the "detail" is required by BLP in Tyson's favor. All of the allegations are not of the same severity, and as you point out perhaps not of the same reliability. We need to give enough to the reader to let them weigh the accusations. At this point that one of the accusations is rape is widely known, if we just say "4 accusations" and don't give the detail, that can lead people to believe there are 4 rape accusations. Could you quote the specific text from above you think is better? Or specific text you would cut from this version? ResultingConstant (talk) 21:12, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

  I could be mistaken; but as I understand it, BFN did not communicate with the accuser. They merely saw a copy of an email provided by yet another person. If this is true, it is well below the level of due dilligence taken by the NYT or WaPo. O3000 (talk) 21:01, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

  @Objective3000: you are mistaken, as I have pointed out to you multiple times above. From the article, again : Now a fourth woman has told BuzzFeed News her experience of sexual harassment from Tyson ResultingConstant (talk) 21:12, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

  Re: "Why do we trust any report for any controversial fact?" – In point of fact, we don't – not just any report, and not just one. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary sourcing, doubly so for a BLP. That is, we expect to see multiple reliable sources in agreement with each other and other RS not contradicting them. Even then, just because something can be sourced doesn't make it encyclopedic. This is not RumorAndAnonymousAccusationPedia. The non-anon stuff is already well-sourced enough both as to the allegations and the responses that including the iffy anon bit is not useful to do. BuzzFeed is not a high-quality source, and a real journalist wouldn't agree that's news. It's unaccountable smearing.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  12:56, 15 December 2018 (UTC)

• Support. While lengthy, it appears to have all the elements written in a neutral tone. The alternatives, while shorter and more palatable to some, miss information as detailed in their oppose votes. Ifnord (talk) 00:34, 14 December 2018 (UTC)
• Oppose We are an encyclopedia, not a newspaper. We have no deadlines. None of the allegations have been confirmed and some of the aren't even allegations of misconduct. According to this article, one the interactions was simply Tyson looking at someone's tattoo. The supposed victim admits it might not be assault and it took her 9 years for her just to think of it as "creepy". The other so-called sexual assault was a hand-shake. As a WP:BLP, we shouldn't just report every little incident or complaint just because it gets covered in the news. If it turns out that there is merit to these accusations, then we should approach it appropriately. Until then, we should take a wait and see approach.

I know that some people have attempted to compare this to Kevin Spacey or Brett Kavanaugh. The situations are entirely different. With Kevin Spacey, the allegations had a huge impact on his career and life. First off, the allegation prompted him to came out as gay. Second, he was lost his lead role on House of Cards. Third, his movie, The Gore Vidal, was canceled. Fourth, his scenes in All the Money in the World were cut from the film. These are huge and significant changes to his life and career. With Kavanaugh, the accusations reached the highest legislative branch of the US government. Nothing remotely equivalent has happened with Tyson. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 13:37, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

@A Quest For Knowledge:. Re "handshake", you forgot about the part about taking off his shirt, playing sexually suggestive music, singing those lyrics to her (do I make you quiver), asking her about "physical release", saying if he hugged her he would just want more, telling her she was too distracting to be a successful in the business, etc. ResultingConstant (talk) 14:40, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

• Support the final draft text--yet it should be redacted in a year or two and replaced with a more brief summary or conclusion.--Epiphyllumlover (talk) 18:13, 14 December 2018 (UTC)
• Support. More precise than the other proposals, but I'm not sure that this is completely BLP-compliant. (I am not watching this page, so please ping me if you want my attention.) wumbolo ^^^ 17:16, 15 December 2018 (UTC)
• Support the above and oppose the below. It is honestly a little frustrating that we have to rely on voting and stuff. I wish there were objective criteria we could apply. In fact, the community should form a consensus on how allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct should be dealt with in BLP contexts (i.e. depending on the severity, credibility, persistence, volume, with a way to somehow quantify these qualities and arrive at a number) and then simply apply it going forward. Having it out every single time makes no sense.Happy monsoon day 02:01, 16 December 2018 (UTC)

Ah, so we use Inductive reasoning and just plug values into:

${\displaystyle \Pr(A_{i}\mid B)=\Pr(A_{i}){\frac {\Pr(B\mid A_{i})}{\sum _{j}\Pr(A_{j})\Pr(B\mid A_{j})}}.}$

and the decision is made for us. Apologies for the sarcasm. But Wikipedia, much like the court system, is not yet an WP:Artificial intelligence machine. We still need to debate WP:NPOV, WP:BLP, and WP:DUE aspects. O3000 (talk) 02:19, 16 December 2018 (UTC)

• Support the gist of it but trim a little. Cut the Patheos clause, halve the lengths of the four accusation sentences and shorten the "Tyson denied..." sentence to "Tyson denied the rape accusation and claimed his actions have been misinterpreted, apologizing for misunderstanding or offense". — Bilorv_(c)(talk) 18:43, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Bilorv could you give an example of how you would halve the allegation sentences? Regarding the denial, I think that detail is somewhat important. This case is very unusual compared to many of the other #metoo incidents, in that we have proof/admission that he knows the accusers, and some of the events took place, it is merely how those events are being interpreted which is at issue - Most of the other denials are "I never met them, this never happened" - we need to be clear that that is not what Tyson is saying. ResultingConstant (talk) 18:48, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Sure. Replace "Ashley Watson, Tyson's assistant on Cosmos, described inappropriate sexual advances he made to her in 2018 which led her to resign from the position days later." with "Tyson's Cosmos assistant claimed that inappropriate advances in 2018 led her to resign". I concede that halving is quite ambitious but the current text is undue. Another example: we could shorten "Katelyn Allers, a professor at Bucknell University, asserted Tyson inappropriately touched her at a 2009 American Astronomical Society gathering." to "A Bucknell professor said Tyson inappropriately touched her at a 2009 astronomy gathering." Details like names of accusers, the name of the society etc. are not important; they are the first things to go when a text is of undue length. We only need to know that Tyson has more-or-less denied all four accusations; the fact that he knows the accusers is not for us to speculate about and not important unless you can show me some reliable sources which comment on it being a groundbreaking denial for the #MeToo movement. — Bilorv_(c)(talk) 19:02, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

I too think the Patheos bit is unimportant, but it is included as part of a compromise with Masem. I think I would probably support those edits to the accusation sentences, but since this discussion is so far along, I think it would be derailing to edit the proposal (which might make it seem as some support something they do not), or to add another proposal so late in the game. The point is not that his knowing the accusers is somehow groundbreaking, its that it eliminates a whole class of doubt regarding the allegations. And multiple sources have gone into analysis of his denial and what it does or doesn't mean, although we are not currently proposing to use those sources. (These are indeed opinion sources, and we are currently (correctly) sticking just to the facts. But which facts? I think these sources can help us inform on that point, and they go on at length regarding the content of his denial. A single (long) sentence for that is appropriate. ) ResultingConstant (talk) 19:55, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

There's a certain constraint based on the format of the discussions, but it's rather unavoidable when trying to get large numbers of people to establish consensus on the precise wording of a text. I'm not proposing changing this suggestion or adding another; I'm simply giving my opinion in full—surely I have the right to do this. I note SMcCandlish makes a similar !vote above, and if enough of us do then there will be consensus for someone to add the proposed text into the article and then shorten it a bit. In any case, with my !vote I'm supporting this proposal as the lesser of the three suggested evils. — Bilorv_(c)(talk) 20:51, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

@Bilorv: Oh absolutely you have that right, I apologize if I came across as implying otherwise. I was just saying that while I would be willing to use that feedback in the actual article, I didn't think I could change the ongoing discussion to take that into account. ResultingConstant (talk) 20:54, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

• Support While it does seem a little overlong, it is not egregiously so, and it is the best of the options suggested so far. XOR'easter (talk) 02:45, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
• Oppose Too much detail in any event, & none of the allegations has been proven; mention of the number & the names of the accusers, & dates, is plenty. TREKphiler ^{any time you're ready, Uhura} 14:45, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
• Support Definitely the best of the options presented. Contains all the relevant information and the sources are good. Written in a neutral tone. Morgan Leigh | Talk 09:57, 19 December 2018 (UTC)

Alternate proposal 1

In December 2018, Fox Entertainment and National Geographic announced investigations of alleged sexual misconduct by Tyson.^{[1] [2] [3]}

• Support As proposer. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 18:31, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
• Support - We can add to this when investigations are complete or RS introduce additional info. O3000 (talk) 18:43, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
• Support. I prefer this with Objective's qualification above. It includes the minimal inclusion that a lot of the RfC respondents want while balancing the WP:NOTNEWS, WP:DUE, etc. issues brought up by others. If issues are substantiated in further investigation, more depth can be considered, but this is about as close to consensus we'll be able to get while balancing the policy issues and satisfying those who want it in right now rather than waiting for events to develop as we normally do for encyclopedic content (as opposed to news content). Kingofaces43 (talk) 18:54, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

I'm also not entirely opposed to adding a few extra words or a short second sentence saying something to the effect that Tyson denied or "qualified" claims against him, but it might just be easier to include a source to his statement without additional text for now too. Kingofaces43 (talk) 19:44, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

• Strong oppose' No. ‡ Єl Cid of ᐺalencia ^ᐐT₳LKᐬ 18:55, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

What you're doing is - "I lost the RfC, so let's make the addition at small as possible." That's... not how any of this works. Of course people who voted 'exclude' in the RfC will support this after losing - it's gaming the system and it's ridiculous. ‡ Єl Cid of ᐺalencia ^ᐐT₳LKᐬ 18:57, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

This is way out of line. And for some odd reason, the RfC is still open. O3000 (talk) 19:01, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

Please WP:FOC, which these comments don't do. Even if I personally don't agree with inclusion before an investigation is over, this is more in line with what most of the people I initially disagreed with mentioned with minimal inclusion, so it's far from gaming. It's how an RfC and consensus-building works. Kingofaces43 (talk) 19:39, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

This is NOT how WP works. This is an overly-cautious approach because people don't want to make Neil Tyson look bad. It's gotten completely out of hand, and this is just a farce. It's a farce, it's ridiculous, and the fact that people continue to push for the bare minimum of a mention is just evidence of some strange, strong bias. It's right in line with this ridiculous talk page. The only thing out of line is the continued attempts to censor and destroy mention of these accusations. It's disturbing and gross. ‡ Єl Cid of ᐺalencia ^ᐐT₳LKᐬ 21:18, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

Please read WP:ISNOT if you're not familiar with how WP works in terms of being "behind-the-ball". The rest is just an attempt to disrupt this talk page with aspersions and completely ignoring the policy implications people do bring up. Please strike that so others don't have to remove such direct misrepresentations. Kingofaces43 (talk) 18:20, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

• Oppose Details provided by the various victims as well as Tyson's response are notable, crucial elements covered by RS 98.165.105.12 (talk) 19:17, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

The problem is that those details have not been established as encyclopedic or WP:DUE yet (WP:NOTABLE is a little different than that and merely being reported in newspapers doesn't automatically establish due weight). If we're going to go by the claimed consensus of the first part of this RfC, such details go beyond minimal inclusion mentioned there. One can debate the mention of an investigation being due weight either way, but the deck is stacked policy-wise trying to push for more than that at this time. Kingofaces43 (talk) 19:39, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

• oppose The amount of coverage on this item requires more WP:WEIGHT. Additionally Tyson's denial is somewhat required by WP:WELLKNOWN ResultingConstant (talk) 19:21, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
  • This is just a starting point. We can expand once we get back the results of the Fox and NatGeo investigations. We can also expand if the accusations result in criminal charges. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 19:50, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
• Support - this short version is better then the long version but proposal No. 2 is even better. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fyunck(click) (talk • contribs)
• Oppose This sentence does not provide any of the context necessary to understand the source of the investigation. Serpentine noodle (talk) 20:05, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
• Too short. While the first one above is excessively wordy, this is too far in the other direction, providing no context. It ends up becoming a WP:WEIGHT problem in its own way, but implying that the allegations are so likely to be true that we need not even explain them.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  20:39, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
• Oppose: too short. We need to include details of the allegations. — Bilorv_(c)(talk) 18:37, 17 December 2018 (UTC)
• Oppose Definitely too short. XOR'easter (talk) 02:50, 18 December 2018 (UTC)

Alternate proposal 2

There was another proposal that was missed.

2a - In late 2018, Tyson was accused by four women of sexual misconduct.^[1][2] No criminal charges have been filed, but FOX and National Geographic are investigating the claims.^[3] Tyson released a statement which denies any wrongdoing.^[4][5][6]

• Support - a little more info than alt proposal 1, but it is still short and to the point. Fyunck(click) (talk) 19:48, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
• oppose If we are going to say that no charges have been filed, we also need to say that the most severe allegation (rape) happened beyond the statute of limitations, and therefore no charges are even possible, otherwise it appears to be a judgement about the allegations. ResultingConstant (talk) 19:58, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
• Comment I'd support this one (as well as my own proposal above) if "by four women" is removed. The reason why is that there's a huge delta between a handshake and looking at a tattoo and actual rape. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 20:03, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

A Quest For Knowledge While I agree with you there is a big delta in severity between the allegations, the RS have categorized them all as misconduct or harassment, aren't we required by policy to defer to their description? Thats part of why I think we need the more detailed version, so that people can see that delta/gradient. ResultingConstant (talk) 21:30, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

• Also too short, and missing the key fact that Tyson himself asked for investigation. Just compress the first version above to about 1/2 to 2/3 (at most) its present verbosity.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  20:40, 13 December 2018 (UTC)
• Support, and it should include the fact that Tyson has cancelled or postponed any upcoming events. UpdateNerd (talk) 21:28, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

  That fact only came to light after this was proposed. That's why it's missing. Fyunck(click) (talk) 21:48, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

  Also, it hasn't been confirmed that the cancellations were a result of the allegations. Byconcept (talk) 22:12, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

  It doesn't need to be stated that way; just the fact that the cancellation followed shortly after the publicity of the allegations properly represents the source. UpdateNerd (talk) 22:18, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

• oppose Too short. If we are going to say no charges have been filed as if that is in any way meaningful, we should add that a rape complaint was filed with the Austin PD. The allegations of 3 of the 4 victims are not criminal so criminal charges are not particularly relevan. 2600:8800:1300:4B4:0:0:0:1001 (talk) 05:26, 14 December 2018 (UTC)
• Support as a last resort but we need a little bit more detail on the allegations. The four accusations are not the same and as a minimum, the first accusation should be described properly. — Bilorv_(c)(talk) 18:39, 17 December 2018 (UTC)
• Support. Works for me with my comments of support for the previous alternative proposal 1 text. It gives WP:DUE for an unfolding situation to avoid too much WP:RECENTISM while reigning back the proposals that go against the consensus for minimal inclusion. Basically, it avoids the WP:NOTNEWS policy issues of including too much recent events material and sticks to a more encyclopedic approach while linking to sources if finer detail is wanted by readers beyond the current encyclopedic scope. With that, comments on being too short should be more or less adequately addressed policy-wise, especially considering that if more developments come out requiring more details in terms of due weight, this can be expanded upon. We need to stay brief like this if we're going to follow the rough consensus for inclusion from the first part of the RfC though.

Specific details on each the accusations are something better left until after the news settles since detailing each of them right now can get into WP:UNDUE territory pretty easily. It'll probably be much easier to have some distilled content on that when things settle, FOX/NatGeo investigations can be sourced, etc. There's competing aspects within WP:BLP in that regard which this current proposal balances for now. There's potential undue weight in terms of detail, but also qualifying whether some accusations have as much merit as others, seriousness, etc. I don't think that's something we can do right now, so it's better for the events develop first to avoid such recentism mistakes. Kingofaces43 (talk) 18:50, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

• Oppose I agree with ResultingConstant that this version seems to be making a judgment in Wikipedia's voice, and I think SMcCandlish makes a good point about what's missing. XOR'easter (talk) 02:54, 18 December 2018 (UTC)

After reading comments and because of very recent news, perhaps a tweek of the original:

2b - In late 2018, Tyson was accused of sexual misconduct.^[1][2] No criminal charges have been filed, but FOX and National Geographic are investigating the claims.^[3] Tyson released a statement which denies any wrongdoing and has encouraged the investigations, but he has cancelled multiple talk engagements because of the controversy.^[4][5][6][7]

• Support This will work for me. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 17:47, 15 December 2018 (UTC)
  • Only to nit on this one, while the implication the talks were cancelled because of the charges in the RSes, no official reason has been given. I mean, its hard to say it was for anything else, but we should be careful on that. --Masem (t) 22:25, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

I agree. I don't particularly think 2b below is a great improvement over 2a since we have to careful about claiming events were cancelled for a reason without attribution, and that addition falls subject to WP:RECENTISM too. If there's some lasting effecting of canceling events rather than a temporary lull in hindsight, then including some information on it would satisfy WP:DUE. Kingofaces43 (talk) 18:50, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

• Support - I prefer this second and shorter version, without going into the graffic details of "drugs and rape". Rowan Forest (talk) 22:05, 17 December 2018 (UTC)
• Support - I prefer a short version until we see if anything comes of investigations. I’m still concerned about any mention of a fourth person and the sourcing is very sketchy. Caution is required by WP:BLP, and an encyclopedia has no deadline. O3000 (talk) 22:13, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

• oppose This story has exceptionally good and massive sourcing. Thisfar too short, not giving enough context for the information given. ResultingConstant (talk) 03:01, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
• Oppose I dislike this one less than 2a, but it's not enough of an improvement to win me over — still too lacking in detail. XOR'easter (talk) 03:07, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
• Oppose The significance of MeToo affecting the world of science and science communication cannot be overstated. ^[1] Proposal 2b does not acknowledge the importance of this development, nor the notable coverage in the New York Times and the Washington Post. It omits the nature of the accusations, which is an essential piece of information. Proposals 2a and 2b are inadequate to give proper weight to this development. Start from proposal 1 and perhaps trim where absolutely necessary. Serpentine noodle (talk) 05:50, 18 December 2018 (UTC)

Process

This has become rather messy. A better method might be to list the three proposals and allow editors to provide opinions on all three at once. O3000 (talk) 20:33, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

Too late, since many people have already commented substantively. And this is in fact a common RfC format for proposing major textual decisions.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  20:43, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

You may be right. But, I have seen such polls in controversial areas become so muddled they had to be restarted. O3000 (talk) 20:53, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

Because there is a risk we might have to restart things, lets just restart things. ResultingConstant (talk) 20:57, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

Let's include the shortest version, and then discuss a better alternative here. Leaving any mention out for any longer than we already have is purposeless. ‡ Єl Cid of ᐺalencia ^ᐐT₳LKᐬ 21:20, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

Well, that should reduce the time pressure some editors feel. And, it’s hard to come up with a rationale against this. O3000 (talk) 21:33, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

Considering that Tyson has cancelled public talks, likely as a result of this, I think the controversy should be minimally mentioned in the article—though we shouldn't actually state that the cancellations were a result of the controversy. UpdateNerd (talk) 22:36, 13 December 2018 (UTC)

I added the minimum as it's hard for anyone to argue against that given the consensus for inclusion. Discussion will continue on final text. O3000 (talk) 00:59, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

If enough folks would like to combine this into an RfC, I've formatted an RfC at: . I won't add this unless folks feel this makes sense as SMcCandlish has a point about lateness. O3000 (talk) 01:27, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

This is becoming a case study in gaming the system. The proposed paragraph 1 is short. It's sourced to our most reliable sources. Add the paragraph and let the process work out wording. We have already proposed paragraphs and no one has redacted the talk page which would be required if indeed the BLP arguments were valid. They are not. Add the text and lets move on. 2600:8800:1300:4B4:0:0:0:1001 (talk) 05:31, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

Objective3000 There is absolutely a consensus that the current version is too short. The proposals which match the text currently in the article have more opposes than supports, and only 4 supports. Meanwhile, the longer text is supported by 13 people. Do you really think that a neutral closer would close this discussion as anything other than option 1? You are stonewalling and gaming the system. Stop it. ResultingConstant (talk) 17:27, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Let me see if I understand this. You reopened the RfC claiming that it was closed incorrectly, even though it was essentially a SNOW. You are now essentially claiming this discussion is closed even though you are the most heavily involved editor, and adding your own text to the article. O3000 (talk) 17:31, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Once again you are inaccurately describing things. This seems to be a pattern. You misread the sources, even after having that pointed out multiple times. I did not claim the RFC was closed incorrectly. A Quest For Knowledge did. I agree with your WP:SNOW close, but I re-opened it to allow the process to continue while the issue was being discussed. The text I added was in fact written by Masem (although it is obviously influenced by my proposal). I am not claiming this discussion is closed. I am more than happy to let more discussion continue. But it is very WP:SNOW obvious that a longer version is preferred by almost everyone. Consensus is not unanimity, and yes there is consensus currently. ResultingConstant (talk) 17:37, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Your reopen was incorrect as it was not according to WP:CLOSECHALLENGE, and the eventual close challenge ruled the close was valid. Adding text during discussion of the text is also incorrect. And please avoid comments like This seems to be a pattern. Patience. O3000 (talk) 17:46, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Do you think this discussion is going to close as anything other than option 1. ResultingConstant (talk) 17:56, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

The process has been a prime example of how not to gain consensus. There have been over a dozen attacks. (It seems anyone with BLP concerns must be a “fanboy”.) The responses to the proposals are difficult to evaluate as some folks !voted on multiple and some felt they shouldn’t. Those suggesting the text is too short are in two different camps: one wanting more salacious detail and one wanting more detail on the subject’s response. Many comments did not include policy cites. Meanwhile, the story is fading and the subject has yet to receive a suspension or termination. O3000 (talk) 18:16, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Just to piggyback on your comment, it's really difficult for those claiming it's just fanboys defending Tyson to make that stick even if that was appropriate use of the talk apge (and also forgetting this page is under discretionary sanctions for such personal attacks) considering how even most of the people who initially didn't want to include at this time, etc. have given a variety of ways to address this content-wise in terms of policy, cautioned about recentism, etc. Just a reminder to those throwing those accusations out there that such commenters need to be ignored by the closer, so it's not helping the talk page one bit and is risking sanctions to boot.

In terms of process as a more general comment than individual reply, the closer will evaluate the policy-based arguments of the proposals in light of the discussion on inclusion at all. Comments with a simple support/oppose don't get "counted" in WP:CONSENSUS, nor does counting !votes help a whole lot given the policy on it either. That'll all happen when the 30 days are up. There's no rush to try to end the RfC earlier, especially since things are still being fleshed out and commented on by those finding the RfC. Plus, waiting increases the likelihood of new sources coming out that help alleviate some of the WP:RECENTISM issues inherent with this type of topic. Not rushing helps all "sides" in the dispute here, which is in part why RfCs exist. Kingofaces43 (talk) 19:08, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

There is no RFC running right now. There is a discussion. ResultingConstant (talk) 19:30, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

On a humorous note, I’ve never seen any of Tyson’s shows or lectures, and have never been to Hayden Planetarium, despite living less than two miles away during his entire tenure. So, I’d make a pretty bad fan. O3000 (talk) 19:29, 17 December 2018 (UTC)