Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Price of milk question

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. (non-admin closure) ~~ OxonAlex - talk 19:01, 9 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Price of milk question (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log · Stats)

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Don't seem to be SIGCOV RS for this in sources given that are mainly news articles, and I doubt there exists any SIGCOV RS anywhere. This is at best some mildly recurring press conference question but either way no well-documented rhetorical tactic as the article seems to make it out to be. Gaioa (T C L) 19:57, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

• Feel there could be more on this. Hyperbolick (talk) 21:03, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
• if the nominator would use words, that would be swell. Wikipedia is hard enough to navigate due to the bureaucracy, and initialisms aren't all that hard to avoid.~TPW 21:58, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Politics-related deletion discussions. CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 23:15, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

• Delete Unclear that this is a cohesive topic that has the notability for an encyclopedia article. Citations do not give substantive coverage establishing that a "price of milk question" is an actual thing, though Politician#Criticism could certainly be expanded to cover the concept of politicians being out of touch. One of the links mentions the Food stamp challenge, not knowing the amount of a pension, celebs not doing their own laundry, not using stamps, and not taking the subway, but there should not be an article about milk. LOL at the idea AFD editors being unfamiliar with WP:RS, that should be a minimum for voting here. Reywas92^Talk 23:47, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
• Delete as a WP:NEOLOGISM that absolutely nobody has used. Clarityfiend (talk) 19:59, 26 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • If you mean the title itself, that's a description of the topic that was picked in the absence of any commonly-used name. The article is about the political/journalistic trope, not the phrase Price of milk question itself. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 21:27, 2 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of United States of America-related deletion discussions. North America¹⁰⁰⁰ 20:26, 26 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of United Kingdom-related deletion discussions. North America¹⁰⁰⁰ 20:26, 26 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

• Comment. It's a trope or meme. I'm unsure whether it's worth as whole article. Could this be redirected or merged somewhere? Bearian (talk) 13:27, 30 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Gotcha journalism looks like the place for it, given that the question is an attempt to get a soundbite of an incorrect answer. Tophattingson (talk) 22:37, 30 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
    • I'd be fine with this. The BBC's reference to "ambush" seems to support it. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 03:04, 3 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
• Delete. A poorly sourced article that is doubted to be encyclopedic. Nikoo.Amini (talk) 23:28, 1 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

• Keep (and would be open to a merge) per the significant coverage in multiple independent reliable sources.

  Extended content

  Barford, Vanessa (2012-04-24). "Should politicians know the price of a pint of milk?". BBC Online. Archived from the original on 2019-11-02. Retrieved 2019-11-02. The article notes: Rudgard, Olivia (2015-06-24). "How much is a pint of milk? A celebrity's guide to normal people's lives". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2019-11-02. Retrieved 2019-11-02. The article notes: Smith, Jennifer; Sharman, Samantha (2012-07-12). "Why the 'pint of milk' test is past its sell-by date". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2019-11-02. Retrieved 2019-11-02. McNeilly, Claire (2013-10-03). "So what do milk and bread cost?...We test seven public figures". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2019-11-02. Retrieved 2019-11-02. The article notes: Polman, Dick (2007-04-12). "Much bigger tests than cost of milk". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2019-11-02. Retrieved 2019-11-02. The article notes: Kostigen, Thomas M. (2011). The Big Handout: How Government Subsidies and Corporate Welfare Corrupt the World We Live In and Wreak Havoc on Our Food Bills. New York: Rodale, Inc. pp. 62–63. ISBN 978-1-60961-318-1. Retrieved 2019-11-02. The book notes: McSmith, Andy (2012-07-11). "Diary: A Tory who really should know the price of milk". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2019-11-02. Retrieved 2019-11-02. The article notes: Judkis, Maura (2018-08-01). "Trump shows he's clueless about groceries — like so many politicians before him". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2019-11-02. Retrieved 2019-11-02. "Name that price: politicians struggle with cost of groceries". The Daily Telegraph. 2014-05-20. Archived from the original on 2019-11-02. Retrieved 2019-11-02.

  There is sufficient coverage in reliable sources to allow the subject to pass Wikipedia:Notability#General notability guideline, which requires "significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject".

  Cunard (talk) 09:22, 2 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

• Pinging Sangdeboeuf (talk · contribs), who significantly expanded and sourced the article.

  Cunard (talk) 09:22, 2 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

• Comment: The sources I linked above demonstrate that this is notable: the topic of politicians' being asked the price of milk or of other groceries and products to test whether the politicians are out of touch with their constituents.

  BBC Online says in 2012, "It's a classical political ambush that has been popular on both sides of the Atlantic for decades."

  The Daily Telegraph in 2012 says, "This one has been tripping up politicians around the world for years" and "Politicians who have been caught out by the price of milk question include former farming minister Jim Paice".

  The Daily Telegraph in a 2015 article says "Why the 'pint of milk' test is past its sell-by date".

  The Belfast Telegraph in 2013 says politicians' being asked "the price of milk or bread" is "he oldest booby-trap in the book – yet politicians keep falling for it".

  The Philadelphia Inquirer says in 2007, "The price test is just a lazy journalistic gimmick designed to imply that a political candidate is out of touch with the lives of the masses."

  Thomas M. Kostigen wrote in a 2011 book, "And a typical test of a politician's "Americanness" is to be able to quote the price of a gallon of milk."

  The Independent notes in 2012, "The price of milk is a time-worn interviewer's weapon".

  If this material can be merged to an article where it fits better, I would support that. I oppose deletion since this is well-sourced material that sources have highlighted as being significant.

  Cunard (talk) 09:22, 2 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

• Keep per Cunard's sources. FOARP (talk) 21:01, 2 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
• Keep (thanks Cunard for the ping). I see enough sources providing evaluation and analysis of the topic to meet WP:SIGCOV. While there's not a ton of info here, it seems like a notable enough topic given the multiple sources over a number of years. I'd also be open to a merge, but I'm not sure what a good target would be. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 21:13, 2 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
• Weak keep. If the sources found were added to the article, and I'd see some fixes, then I'd go along. Bearian (talk)
• Keep I would strongly advocate to keeping it as is, and expanding the stub. This topic gets media coverage quite often, and should be expanded upon with sources.⭐ Ahmer Jamil Khan ^💬 14:58, 8 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
• Keep per Cunard. Passes WP:GNG.4meter4 (talk) 16:20, 9 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.