User talk:HighlandWriter

Hello, HighlandWriter, and welcome to Wikipedia! I'm Mathglot and I've volunteered to be your Wikipedia mentor. I'm here for you whenever you need help with Wikipedia. It's great to have you on board to help create this online encyclopedia.

See your homepage for a brief tutorial. Here are a few links you might find helpful:

Need some ideas about what kind of things need doing? Try the "Suggested edits" module top left on your homepage, or the Task Center. Based on your contributions, you might want to consider joining WikiProject Internet.

Help is available: as your Mentor, you can always find me listed in the "Get editing help" module bottom right on your homepage; there are also additional help links there. You can also ask me questions directly on my talk page, or try the Wikipedia:Teahouse to get help designed especially for new users from a team of experienced volunteers. So go ahead and ask questions — we're here to help!

Once again, welcome to Wikipedia! Mathglot (talk) 07:25, 23 March 2026 (UTC)Reply

 Courtesy link: User:HighlandWriter/sandbox

Hello Mathglot,

Thank you so much for the warm welcome and the 'cup of tea.' I truly appreciate you stepping in as a mentor.

To be honest, I feel a bit like someone who tried to fix their own plumbing and realized they were in over their head! I’ve been working on a sandbox draft for a biography of Mark Monaghan, and while I have a deep archive of primary sources (press clippings and academic cites from the 90s), I am still learning the 'manual of style' and the technical nuances of the platform.

Thank you for the edits you already made to my disclosure and the draft; seeing the 'Scottish Highlands' and 'MCPS' links corrected makes it much clearer.

I’ve reached a point where I have the 'bones' of the story supported by about 13-14 verified sources, but I want to ensure the tone is appropriately neutral and academic before I move forward with the biographical sections (Early Life/Education). I'd be very grateful for any guidance you can offer as I refine this.

Best, HighlandWriter

HighlandWriter (talk) 10:00, 23 March 2026 (UTC)Reply

Hi, HighlandWriter. Saw your post on my Talk page. For starters, Wikipedia prefers secondary sources, because we are an encyclopedia (i.e., a tertiary source), and because we don't want random Wikipedia editors writing up their opinions about what they read in primary sources. That is the business of the secondary sources. Our articles, ideally, are a neutral summary of all of the secondary sources, in proportion to their prevalence among the views of all secondary sources. I've broken out your reply to the Welcome section above, as your draft is a different topic that deserves its own section; I hope this is okay with you. Mathglot (talk) 21:06, 3 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

The main issue for you regarding this draft is WP:Notability, and it will succeed or fail almost entirely on these grounds, so this is what you should address above all else. Note that Notability has *nothing* to do with what is in the article; it is solely a property of the article topic itself, and not what you have written about it. No amount of expanding or altering the draft or adding tangential citations will fix a topic that is not notable; conversely, a well-written one-paragraph draft with WP:THREE solid citations to highly reliable sources (five or six is even better) conclusively demonstrating Notability is very likely to pass WP:Afc.

So, the topic (Monaghan) is already notable or it is not notable; nothing you can do will change that. What you have to do, is *demonstrate* notability of the topic through your choice of citations in the draft. Please read WP:Notability (paying attention to WP:SIGCOV) and WP:NPERSON (esp. WP:ANYBIO), and get back to me with a list of the three to five citations that you believe proves notability of the topic. One more thing: notability is not inherited; so if you find three (or a dozen) great sources each having extensive coverage of, say, Highlander Internet Radio, and all twelve mention Monaghan as founder in the first sentence, this conclusively establishes the notability of Highlander Internet Radio per WP:SIGCOV, but not of Monaghan. Thanks, Mathglot (talk) 22:12, 3 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

Afternoon @Mathglot

I’ve gone through my sources and stepped back from what I know and tried to look at it from a distance with as good a wiki-hat on as I can. I think that the records show an enduring notability over a 30 year linear trail which was subsequently recalled in a 2024 ICAS CA magazine article which references his work in the 90s by a second party.

I have picked out some of the sources as you asked for:

Ross shire Journal, March 26 1993 page 2, An individual profile 3 years before the internet projects. 1,800 words - 2 photos - A3 size regarding Monaghan’s personal life and his recording studio days that led to his achievements. It’s a personality and artistic philosophy piece. I think it is Significant Coverage of a person, completely independent of the 1996 projects.

The Aberdeen Press and Journal, 1 Feb 1996 a centre page piece on page 3. This is a biographical source stating a 6-year professional background in recording studios, his age at the time and work in electronic publishing as the “driving force” and “personal gamble” behind his “Magazine” prior to the radio station's launch.

Inverness Courier, 11 Apr 1997. 1300 words and large photo of Monaghan - “Photo Caption: Mark Monaghan prepares to broadcast another programme of Scottish music on the Internet.” - identifying him as a “Ross-shire electronics designer” and the station's “brainchild”. The focus is on the technical craft and personal professional vision, not just a business launch.

The Irish Times, 8 Dec 1999. Cites his professional opinion via his work with “internet radio” regarding MP3 technology and the shift away from traditional record company models.

Academic & Internal Verification: His editorial work achieved academic recognition in Prof. Graeme Morton’s William Wallace: A National Tale (Edinburgh University Press 2014 ). Furthermore, the Wallace Sword Wikipedia page uses his research published in his Highlander Web Magazine as its #1 reference, and notable wikipedia biographies (like Fiona J. Mackenzie) cites his Scottish Internet Radio as a career milestone.

I also have a request edit waiting in the Internet Radio wiki page that Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing) thankfully restored to its talk page for me and is awaiting editors to review…

I’m just trying to show that this wasn't a one-off inherited event from a single project and that Monaghan was the common thread behind the “firsts” documented for his projects in many further secondary sources from newspapers and TV news…

Does this linear trail feel like it clears the WP:BIO bar… or am I skating on thin ice? HighlandWriter (talk) 16:13, 8 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

Hello, I'm Deacon Vorbis. An edit that you recently made to Talk:Internet radio seemed to be generated using a large language model (an "AI chatbot" or other application using such technology). Text produced by these applications is usually unsuitable for an encyclopedia, and may contain factually inaccurate statements, fictitious citations, or other problems. You should instead read reliable sources and then summarize those in your own words. Your edit may have been reverted. If you want to practice editing, please use your sandbox. If you think a mistake was made, or if you have any questions, you can leave me a message on my talk page, or ask your questions at the Teahouse, a friendly place for new users. Thanks. –Deacon Vorbis (carbon • videos) 00:36, 3 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

Discussed at Wikipedia:Teahouse#"Lost" piece of UK broadcasting history (1996). Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 17:41, 4 April 2026 (UTC)Reply