Sources:Correspondence with Jim Iaccino

This page is an archive of an e-mail correspondence. The contents of these e-mail(s) are copyright by their authors, and are reproduced here with permission. Certain sections may have been omitted at the author's request, and will be noted.

Peter Farago: Sat, 22 April 2006, 5:29 PM PDT

Originally posted to User talk:The Merovingian#Your Flamewar with KR on Scifi and conveyed to Jim Iaccino by Noneofyourbusiness on the SciFi.com message boards.

Greetings. I am Peter Farago, an administrator on the Battlestar Wiki. I'm sorry to see the direction this conversation has taken, and would like to clarify a few points.

1. On the behalf of Battlestar Wiki, I want to apologize for the tone The Merovingian has taken with you. Although a valued member of the community, he is not our spokesperson, and his comments should not be taken as our official position.
2. The vote is currently underway at http://www.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Battlestar_Wiki_talk:Citation_Jihad#Koenigrules_.2F_Hollywood_North_Report , and will not conclude for some time yet. You are entirely welcome to defend your position, and I'm sure we'll be willing to extend the vote's closing date if you can address the concerns raised. In particular, it would be very helpful for us if you could answer the following questions:
   • How do you address the innacuracy of your previous reports?
   • In the future, would you be willing to identify which pieces of information come from publicly available sources (casting sides, interviews, etc.) and which are from your confidential sources?
   • Do you believe that you distinguish personal speculation from your own investigations on a reliable basis? If not, will you be willing to do so in the future?

Thank you for reading this. I look forward to reading your response on the wiki, if you choose to make one.

Jim Iaccino: Sat, 22 April 2006, 10:52 PM CDT

From: Jim Iaccino
Subject: Battlestar Wiki e-mail
Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 22:52:00 -0500
To: Peter Farago

Hi Peter:
I am posting this as I would like to defend my position.
But something has come up that needs my immediate attention.
The Provost from my University phoned me today (Saturday!) and said that he needs to see me on Monday.
Apparently someone familiar with my research on TV series, BSG, said he had some issues with my legitimacy as a researcher.
When I asked him who it was, the Provost said he would reveal more on Monday.
I find this very odd that this came the very same week that my legitimacy as a "primary source" was being questioned by one of your Wiki members, Merv.
So I really want to know whether any Wiki member is involved or not. I hope noneofyourbusiness indicated this to you.
But I am sending you this in case he did not.

In a related area, both the HNR editor and myself received an e-mail from RDM suggesting we tone down the spoilers until the episodes air in October (specifically Tigh getting his eye gouged out & Ellen dying). We promised to do that at HNR.

I have not revealed my inside source where I get these spoilers. I am not at liberty too; otherwise, the flow of information will stop.

I will e-mail my responses to you after the meeting with the Provost. I hope that you extend the time frame of the voting, but if not, I understand.
It's just very disheartening to learn all about this from some other members at wiki. And to have it impact on my workplace is just plain crap.

Feel free to e-mail me at [e-mail address withheld] if you want to discuss this further.
I probably have taken up too much of your time as it is.
KR

Peter Farago: Sun, 23 April 2006, 12:36 AM PDT

From: Peter Farago
Subject: Battlestar Wiki e-mail
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 00:36:18 -0700
To: Jim Iaccino

On Apr 22, 2006, at 8:52 PM, Jim Iaccino wrote:

I have not revealed my inside source where I get these spoilers. I am not at liberty too; otherwise, the flow of information will stop.

We haven't asked you to do that; merely to take greater pains to indicate which information comes from public sources (casting sides, interviews, etc.), which originates with your confidential sources, and which is informed speculation on your part.

I will e-mail my responses to you after the meeting with the Provost. I hope that you extend the time frame of the voting, but if not, I understand.

There won't be any problem with waiting a few days for your reply; we all have lives outside of fandom. I've placed notice that the vote will not conclude until you've been able to respond to the issues we've raised.

Feel free to e-mail me at [e-mail address withheld] if you want to discuss this further.

I probably have taken up too much of your time as it is.

I'm just glad that we can resolve this civilly. Good luck in your meeting; and let me know if there's anything I can do for you.

-Peter

Jim Iaccino: Sun, 23 April 2006, 10:24 AM CDT

From: Jim Iaccino
Subject: Battlestar Wiki e-mail
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 10:24:22 -0500
To: Peter Farago

Peter-
As I said in the skiffy thread where Merv is still flaming me, I will continue to cite my source when it comes to all spoilers.
I have done that in every article and will continue to do so.
If I am invited on Shaun's show, I will do that too. And if we discuss non-spoiler things, I will use "I think" or "I believe" whenever possible.
As far as some of the spoilers being wrong, I can't help that as they come from my source & things change. The Dirk Benedict inclusion was in the script, but Dirk was never approached. The Downloaded episode was not the Cylon PoV episode, according to my source. So an error occurred. But the spoilers have been right at a very high percentage. And I will continue to use my source, especially when he/she is telling me things that are being filmed (Tigh getting his eye gouged out, Ellen frakking Cavel) or are reported to occur shortly (Ellen dying).
[This portion of message withheld by request]
If you feel I have not satisfactorily answered your questions, please PM me.
I don't want to bring attention to myself and would rather deal with you one-on-one.
Hope you understand here,
Jim (KR)

Jim Iaccino: Sun, 23 April 2006, 10:58 AM CDT

From: Jim Iaccino
Subject: Battlestar Wiki e-mail
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 10:58:40 -0500
To: Peter Farago

I really I am hopeful we can all get along in the future.
[This portion of message withheld by request]
Needless to say, my source who frequents the sites also knows about what is going on. I hope this does not affect our relationship- but needless to say, he/she is pissed off!
If you would like to tune in to Shaun's show Tuesday night from 9-11 EST, the last half hour will be devoted to BSG/Who. Check it out at www.lvrocks.com and click LISTEN NOW. I think listening to me is way better than getting it from a secondary source.
Take care,
Jim (KR)

Peter Farago: Sun, 23 April 2006, 9:03 AM PDT

From: Peter Farago
Subject: Battlestar Wiki e-mail
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 09:03:20 -0700
To: Jim Iaccino

On Apr 23, 2006, at 8:24 AM, Jim Iaccino wrote:

As I said in the skiffy thread where Merv is still flaming me, I will continue to cite my source when it comes to all spoilers. [...] And I will continue to use my source, especially when he is telling me things that are being filmed (Tigh getting his eye gouged out, Ellen frakking Cavel) or are reported to occur shortly (Ellen dying).

Surely you must acknowledge what you reported on S2D on the 11th has a remarkable overlap with the contents of the Selloi Dedona casting side. If you are not referring to that information yourself, is it possible that your source is?

If you would like to tune in to Shaun's show Tuesday night from 9-11 EST, the last half hour will be devoted to BSG/Who. Check it out at www.lvrocks.com and click LISTEN NOW. I think listening to me is way better than getting it from a secondary source.

I will. I think this would be an excellent opportunity for you to address some of the concerns we've had with your reporting style.

[Remainder of message withheld by request]

Jim Iaccino: Sun, 23 April 2006, 11:24 AM CDT

From: Jim Iaccino
Subject: Battlestar Wiki e-mail
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 11:24:54 -0500
To: Peter Farago

I have nothing whatsoever to do with getting information from the casting side.
All my spoiler info is from my BSG source who is very close to the production, period. That is my only source for the spoilers. Some of it is script-related; some deals with actual events being filmed at the time.
Sorry if I sound curt here. That is not my intent. I just wanted to let you know that I deal with one source- no overlap with any other.
Jim

Jim Iaccino: Sun, 23 April 2006, 11:26 AM CDT

From: Jim Iaccino
Subject: Battlestar Wiki e-mail
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 11:26:53 -0500
To: Peter Farago

I believe the other problem is that Shaun & I digress to other BSG discussion areas.
I start with spoilers & then discuss episodes, etc.
But I will try to make the transition much clearer in future.
I hope that helps too.

Peter Farago: Sun, 23 April 2006, 9:34 AM PDT

From: Peter Farago
Subject: Battlestar Wiki e-mail
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 09:34:34 -0700
To: Jim Iaccino

On Apr 23, 2006, at 9:26 AM, Jim Iaccino wrote:

I believe the other problem is that Shaun & I digress to other BSG discussion areas.

I start with spoilers & then discuss episodes, etc.

But I will try to make the transition much clearer in future.

I hope that helps too.

It will. Thank you.

I have nothing whatsoever to do with getting information from the casting side.

All my spoiler info is from my BSG source who is very close to the production, period. That is my only source for the spoilers. Some of it is script-related; some deals with actual events being filmed at the time.

Sorry if I sound curt here. That is not my intent. I just wanted to let you know that I deal with one source- no overlap with any other.

Jim

Well, that certainly makes this less complicated. As long as you keep spoilers and speculation separated, it should be a simple matter to attribute information to your anonymous source when it can't be corroborated elsewhere. I will listen to your show on tuesday, and make my recommendation to the community afterward.

I don't think I have any other issues I need you to address. Do you mind if I go ahead and post our correspondence to the wiki?

Jim Iaccino: Sun, 23 April 2006, 11:52 AM CDT

From: Jim Iaccino
Subject: Battlestar Wiki e-mail
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 11:52:03 -0500
To: Peter Farago

Sure thing. [Remainder of message withheld by request]
Jim

Re-imagined Series definition: Battlestar Group ^{(TRS: "Water")}. It also doubles as an acronym for the television series itself.

Re-imagined Series definition: all-purpose vulgarism; Colonial version of "fuck" (see: frak)