Talk:Chip Berlet: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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::Alexander Cockburn was certainly a prominent, though hardly an even-handed or "scholarly", political commentator. His take on Berlet is probably worth a brief mention by, I would suggest, combining it with Wilcox and George's criticism in a sentence or two. Let's be pretty concise in both the positive and negative takes on Berlet's work. [[WP:DUE|We are not talking about Orwell or George Kennan]]. [[User:Badmintonhist|Badmintonhist]] ([[User talk:Badmintonhist|talk]]) 16:20, 11 July 2014 (UTC)

:::I think I have presented enough evidence to support two basic points: that Berlet is not simply an anti-Rightist, but also targets leftists and moderates including Daniel Sheehan, Daniel Brandt, Ace Hayes, New Alliance Party, LaRouche(?) -- and also that Berlet has been accused of using the same conspiracy theory methods that he denounces. Here's another instance, where David Horowitz refers to Berlet as a "leftwing conspiracy theorist": http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=16570 [[User:55 Gators|55 Gators]] ([[User talk:55 Gators|talk]]) 16:58, 11 July 2014 (UTC)

::::A more accurate statement would be that he writes about people who believe in conspiracies, including those who were once on the Left. Sheehan for example was a UFO enthusiast, Larouche claims that Elizabeth II runs the international illicit drug trade. [[User:The Four Deuces|TFD]] ([[User talk:The Four Deuces|talk]]) 17:16, 11 July 2014 (UTC)

::The relevant policy is [[WP:WEIGHT|"Due and undue weight"]]: "Neutrality requires that each article or other page in the mainspace fairly represents all significant viewpoints that have been published by reliable sources, in proportion to the prominence of each viewpoint in the published, reliable sources. Giving due weight and avoiding giving undue weight means that articles should not give minority views or aspects as much of, or as detailed, a description as more widely held views or widely supported aspects."

::In his book Fenster describes Berlet's views and says "his is an important and generally worthy critique of the politics of conspiracy theory." He then says he is "not without his critics in both conspiracy-fearing and progressive circles." But the nay-sayers, [[Alexander Cockburn]] and [[Laird Wilcox]], are well outside the mainstream, if the mainstream is defined as groups such as the ADL and SPLC, and major news media such as Fox News, NBC ant the ''New York Times.''