Talk:Tavis Smiley

"Left-wing"

I am removing the description of Smiley as "left-wing" from the introduction, becuase as I understand the requirements for WP:BLP, unless Smiley self-identifies that way it should not be included. Certainly, it should not be included in the lead sentence. Some discussion of this point can be found on the Bill O'Reilly (commentator) page.

He has long identified himself as left-wing: http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Left-Tavis-Smiley/dp/0385484046. His book Hard Left was itself a reference to his left-wing views (which he promotes quite regularly on his PBS show). -- ~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gerkinstock (talk • contribs) 01:41, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

That is a far better source the one previously provided for calling him "left-wing." If there is a source where Smiley calls himself "left-wing," then it is of course fine to include it in his article. I have to say, however, I don't think the book title is enough; perhaps there is a quote somewhere. -Kgwo1972 13:31, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

How about these?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0385484046/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-4883758-7435845#reader-link

http://www.tavistalks.com/media/smileybooks/books

http://www.urbancure.org/article.asp?id=3060 (Just as most Democrats refused to appear at a debate organized by the Fox News Channel, many Republicans are boycotting Smiley's debate)

After all, it's no secret that he is left-wing. One of his heroes is self-described Marxist Cornell West and he has long blasted Clarence Thomas for his non-liberal views (both consertative and libertarian). He even had three critics of Thomas on his show following a [60 Minutes] piece on him, even though the piece was no softer than the ones it has done in the past on liberal figures, including Anita Hill. -- Gerkinstock 23:04, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

Cornel West describes himself as a non-Marxist socialist.Arthur Curry (talk) 21:52, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

He is a Leftist, as is Smiley. Smiley should be properly identified as such here. The only significant difference West has with Marxism is in the area of religion.--Gerkinstock (talk) 23:21, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

Labelling someone a Leftist, which is itself a undefined term, is in the US a form of slander. Currently, and i dont care who disagrees, anyone in the US who holds any political or social beliefs that have ever been described as liberal, left wing, socialist, progressive, democratic, populist, or positioned on any political spectrum as less right wing than, say, Richard Nixon, is a target of political attack dogs to be labelled as whichever term is most likely to trigger hatred among the average citizen: communist, fascist, marxist, maoist, statist, tax and spend liberal. this is all completely unencyclopedic, political discourse, which should not be repeated here as any type of reliable labelling.12.125.80.214 (talk) 19:11, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

Perhaps in general report things like this in completely factual sentences with sources, with a tendency to always include how the person identifies politically. Eg. "Smiley has described himself as a ....[source ref]". And other factual clues, such as membership of organizations, eg: "Smiley is a member of the ..... party [source ref]". Similarly for right wing figures, prioritize self identification and their membership of organizations--all the factual stuff rather than the hit pieces in the political press. Academicskeptic9 (talk) 11:23, 15 October 2022 (UTC)

Smiley is appealing the PBS decision

In addition to my edit with a news source (NBC news), Smiley confirmed in a 2022 video that he is appealing the decision here: https://youtube.com/UM8uFGtYUWE?t=7783. Wiki appears to reject youtube links, but I thought I would add an additional source here in the talk pages in case it helps other editors. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Academicskeptic9 (talk • contribs) 14:06, 28 September 2022 (UTC)