Talk:Clare Rewcastle Brown

Autobiographical editing

Recent edits to the page seem to establish that the subject or an associate, specifically under the Samuel London account, is editing the content in a non-neutral, autobiographical manner. The following evidence supports this claim and discussion is encouraged:

• The correction of the names of the subject's parents, which are neither public domain information nor referenced.
• Edits to the Wikipedia page of the subject’s spouse and the page for her website.
• Extensive, long, and detailed edits lacking references, which are only cited after being reverted or queried by other users.
• A significant reliance on sources from the subject's blog or books.
• A non-neutral portrayal of the criminal litigation involving the subject and a Malaysian royalty figure.

Allthingsm1 (talk) 03:51, 23 July 2024 (UTC)

I am not the subject of the article though I have a close familiarity with her work and the 1MDB saga. Responses to the points above in turn:

- The names of the subject's parents are public domain and I had carefully referenced them. (I note that Allthingsm1 has found a further public domain reference to them and has thereby added their middle names, which I was not aware of.)

- As it is my field of interest, it is hardly surprising that I have edited a few other pages on overlapping subjects.

- I am a newbie here and admittedly I did not include all citations before publishing. However in my subsequent edits over the next couple of days, I added citations for the whole article. I fail to see how the fact that the citations were added slightly later is relevant to the reliability of the contributions.

- There are very many citations I added which are not of the subject's website or book. But I note that citing the source's own website or book is permissible within Wikipedia's policy. Furthermore, the website (and book) in question are widely recognised in financial and journalistic circles as reliable, as the record of unsuccessful legal threats they have withstood from malefactors (several of whom have subsequently been convicted of crimes and imprisoned as a result of the information published on the site) attests. In a similar vein with regard to reliability, note the number of stories Rewcastle Brown has uncovered and broken on the website in collaboration with high-profile newspapers such as the Sunday Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Edge. The number of important awards she has garnered for her investigative journalism surely also gives weight to the reliability of her news site. Therefore I do not accept that such citations are in some way invalid.

- I do not at all accept that my very factual portrayal of the criminal case involving Rewcastle Brown's sentencing to two years in prison for defamation of the Sultanah of Terengganu was non-neutral. Allthingsm1, on the other hand, introduced a tendentious rephrasing, which I have now reversed, which seemed to imply as fact that Rewcastle Brown suggested in the book the Sultanah wielded undue influence in Terengganu politics -- thereby begging the question of the very issue which was in dispute in the court. I have not (or at least not yet -- I think probably best to defer to neutral and experienced editors on this) reversed the other revisions about the case that he introduced, though his emphasis on quoting the detail of criticism made by the sultanate's court of Rewcastle Brown seems in contrast to his eagerness to abbreviate, elide and eliminate -- presumably on the grounds that they are not notable? -- the details of legal battles which unfolded in her favour (though I have likewise refrained from reversing those revisions, again leaving it for now to those more experienced than me to take a view on what constitutes notable).

Since the above comments begin by casting aspersions on my neutrality, I am afraid I think it is only fair to ask Allthingsm1 to consider whether he has any affiliations he should be declaring? Especially given the documented history of smear campaigns against Rewcastle Brown, including through the editing of this page, and that there appears to be a puzzling tendency of the revisions he has made to minimise and abbreviate information unfavourable to Barisan Nasional, Najib and his family and to introduce very subtly disobliging references to Rewcastle Brown calling into question or minimising her work. This appears to accord to a longer-term pattern: I note that in January 2022 one of the earliest edits by Allthingsm1 to Wikipedia was to a page about Rewcastle Brown's website Sarawak Report in which he changed the opening line from 'Sarawak Report is a whistle-blowing site and political blog' to 'Sarawak Report is an opinion, commentary and political activism blog' https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sarawak_Report&diff=prev&oldid=1064626774 Given that its activity has principally been as a news site publishing highly newsworthy documents obtained from whistle-blowers or elsewhere revealing corruption (and resulting in some of the most significant global law enforcement action in the history of fighting kleptocracy), his rephrasing to eliminate the term 'whistle-blowing' and dismissively characterise it, as disgraced Prime Minister Najib's cheerleaders attempted to, foremost as an 'opinion', 'commentary' and 'activism' website is a rather telling indication that he is perhaps on shaky ground when preaching about bias. Samuel London (talk) 14:21, 30 July 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for your detailed and passionate response, @Samuel London. It is clear from the length and detail of your reply that you are deeply engaged with the subject matter, which could suggest some degree of bias. These remarks are not personal; they are about collectively enhancing the quality and neutrality of Wikipedia. Here are my thoughts on the points raised:

1. Citations and Timing: I recognise the challenges new editors might face. However, accuracy and timely citation are critical, especially for contentious information. It's good practice to include citations at the time of editing.
2. Use of Primary Sources: While using primary sources like the subject's own writings is allowed, over-reliance can lead to a biased portrayal. Broadening the range of sources could help provide a more balanced perspective.
3. Portrayal of Legal Issues: Maintaining neutrality in describing legal matters is essential. Regarding the edits about the Sultanah’s case, I noticed they were reversed by an anonymous IP user. I assume this was you, not logged in. My edits were intended to summarise the situation concisely, which is required for an encyclopaedic tone. Whether it involves a phrase, a paragraph, or a chapter, the essence of the case concerns libel, and the details should reflect that without implying guilt or speculation.
4. Characterization of Sarawak Report: In response to your point about my previous edits to the description of Sarawak Report, I believe the terms “gossip,” “commentary,” and “political activism” accurately describe aspects of its activities. It’s worth noting that the nature of Sarawak Report allows it to publish leads and information before they are thoroughly vetted by mainstream media. This has led to significant revelations, such as the 1MDB scandal. However, it has also led to unverified reports, such as claims about Jho Low being an American citizen, allegations about Kevin Morais’s death, and supposed text messages involving the company Aker, which turned out to be fake.
5. Bias and Conflict of Interest: I appreciate your call for transparency. My goal is to ensure factual accuracy and neutrality. I am open to community commentary and further discussion to improve our editing approach.
6. Template Consideration: Given the ongoing concerns about the autobiographical tone of the article, I propose reinstating the ‘autobiography’ and ‘resume’ templates to alert readers and editors to these issues until they can be adequately addressed.

Let’s aim to work collaboratively and involve other experienced editors to ensure the article adheres to Wikipedia’s standards for neutrality and verifiability. Allthingsm1 (talk) 23:49, 30 July 2024 (UTC)

Malaysian arrest warrant

Another instance of something not going to fruition, this seems more recentism WP:RECENT and 10 years from now would this warrant so much space?--AhmedFaizP (talk) 16:32, 17 September 2015 (UTC)

The recent addition nullifies this section. If it is just allegations then it doesn't belong in Wikipedia. I think they both should be left off.--AhmedFaizP (talk) 19:45, 22 October 2015 (UTC)

Orphaned references in Clare Rewcastle Brown

I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of Clare Rewcastle Brown's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "nytimes.com":

• From Wikipedia: Naom Cohen (May 1, 2014). "Media: Open-Source Software Specialist Selected as Executive Director of Wikipedia". The New York Times.
• From Sarawak Report: Mullany, Gerry (16 August 2013). "Barred From Malaysia, but Still Connecting With Critical Jabs". The New York Times.

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT⚡ 01:07, 9 July 2016 (UTC)