 | This is an essay on Wikipedia:Deletion policy. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: This essay encourages editors to avoid interpreting WP:ROUTINE to mean something that it doesn't. |
Editors and contributors to Wikipedia may have difficulty determining what is and is not routine coverage of people and or events.
The guideline WP:ROUTINE is widely considered to be a very good guideline. Routine coverages such as weddings, funerals, sports scores, and other "and finally..." stories can be used to add to a notable article some interesting and details about a subject. That does not necessarily mean that such articles are good sources for establishing notability of a subject in the first place.
Conversely, there are many articles of notable events. Coverage in the media may be "routine" to the media (such as routine coverage of the Super Bowl or Winter Olympics) but that does not disqualify the event from being notable.
Editors should be careful in defining what is referred to as "routine" coverage, especially when determining notability.