Talk:Mark Steele (conspiracy theorist)

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Should Mark Steele be referred to as a Conspiracy Theorist?[edit]

Is there a better way to refer to this person than as conspiracy theorist in the title of the article? I didn't check but are there a lot of Mark Steele articles? --Rocksanddirt (talk) 16:29, 4 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I think Mark Steele refers to himself as an "activist", "weapons expert", "engineer" and "freedom fighter". I don't think using any of these self-applied descriptions would be fair to our readers. I think calling him a conspiracy theorist is fair because he really does endorse many of the same theories that David Icke promotes. Unlike Icke, who was previously a footballer, sports-commentator and politician, Steele is only known for his promotion of conspiracies. --Salimfadhley (talk) 20:47, 6 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Conspiracy theorist is how reliable sources refer to him. I've added two citations to the lead. BobFromBrockley (talk) 10:49, 9 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

But it is strange to refer to his occupation as a conspiracy theorist. This title serves more like a subjective opinion than as a description of an occupation. Lightest (talk) 18:39, 26 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

He has no other occupation as far as I am aware. The ideas he promotes are clearly conspiracy theories. --Salimfadhley (talk) 10:06, 19 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

He literally begs for donations and sells bogus "anti 5g" products... You could always add that that he's grifter, but yes, yes he's a conspiracy theorist. 31.185.241.11 (talk) 18:44, 27 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

1993 conviction[edit]

In the 1990s, Steele, then 33, was convicted of shooting a teenage girl, leaving her on life support. See https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/wxeb45/my-dad-got-hoaxed-by-the-anti-5g-conspiracy-movement Is it against WP:BLP rules to mention this? BobFromBrockley (talk) 10:51, 9 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for this suggestion. I have added a section to the article using the best sources I can find. I hope you will be able to enhance this. --Salimfadhley (talk) 12:18, 10 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Removal of Sunday Mail reference from 2006[edit]

[1] This recent edit removed some information about the consequences of the shooting outside the Redskins pub. While I am aware that the Daily Mail has recently been flagged as an unreliable source, does this mean we have to remove it for all claims for all time? This citation was published 15 years ago at a time when the Sunday Mail may have had a somewhat different reputation to today. --Salimfadhley (talk) 00:44, 29 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The Sunday Mail (Scotland) is not the same newspaper as The Mail on Sunday. As in January 2006, the Sunday Mail remains part of the same group as the Daily Mirror around which there is no consensus on its reliability and it is not deprecated. You are right that significant information was removed in the edit, but sourcing to a tabloid newspaper is likely to be removed by another editor if reverted. Philip Cross (talk) 09:09, 29 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

True, but in this case can we revert that information. I think the outcome of the shooting is relevant, and we were only using the source to verify that the victim survived with significant long-term injuries. --Salimfadhley (talk) 11:35, 29 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

As you wish, my comments above were advice rather than instruction. The cited Vice article dated 8 April 2020 (mentioned by Bob from Brockley above) is probably the nearest, but is incomplete. Steele's conviction is mentioned, but not his sentence.

One problem with the Sunday Mail source is that Steele is not directly mentioned, although it is clearly the same case. Using it potentially violates WP:SYNTH. The Dundee Courier article (paywalled, but accessible via Google's cache for now) appears usable and contains the relevant details about Steele's sentence. Philip Cross (talk) 12:28, 29 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I am working on a new article about Sacha Stone[edit]

Editors may wish to contribute to Draft:Sacha_Stone. You may be aware, that Stone, a leading influencer in the "conspirituality" movement was the person who produced "5G Apocalypse: Extinction Event" - the hour long video which first promoted Mark Steele's conspiracy theories. --Salimfadhley (talk) 09:44, 7 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]