Talk:Adam Kovacevich

4 Tweaks

I’d like to submit the following four requests for review. I’ve tried to keep the changes as limited as possible. For each claim, I’ve provided at least one substantive source and explained my thinking. Thank you for your consideration.

1. Add (Donations)

I’d like to change this sentence:

Kovacevich personally donated to the 2018 campaign of United States Representative Jim Jordan and helped campaign for Tom Cotton's U.S. House of Representatives election in 2012 and his Senate run in 2014.

to this:

During his time at Google, Kovacevich personally donated to both Democratic and Republican candidates.

Explanation: The original sentence is incomplete and misleading. Here’s a full list, as verified by OpenSecrets.org (https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=adam+kovacevich):

10 Democrats: Joe Biden, Suzan DelBene, Mike Doyle, Tim Kaine, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Lieberman, Zoe Lofgren, Brian Schatz, Eric Swalwell, and Inez Tenenbaum.

6 Republicans: Tom Cotton, Will Hurd, Jim Jordan, Jerry Moran, Ben Sasse, and Roger Wicker.

Also, there seems to be a bias toward including Tom Cotton, so if we single him out, then it’s only fair to note that in 2021, Kovacevich said of Cotton, “I support him as a friend, but that doesn’t mean we agree on policies” (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/04/chamber-of-progress-google-facebook-amazon-twitter/).

2. Remove (Serbian)

I’d like to remove the following sentence:

He is a fourth generation American of Serbian ancestry.

Explanation: The footnotes for this claim — https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1997/12/1/non-unionized-farms-not-exploitative-says-grape/ and https://adamkovacevich.com — don’t say anything about Serbia. Perhaps that’s because Kovacveich is not of Serbian ancestry. :-)

3. Change (Magnate)

I’d like to change this:

Kovacevich is the son of John J. Kovacevich, a California agriculture magnate.

to this:

Kovacevich is the son of John J. Kovacevich, a California agriculture businessman.

Explanation: John Kovacevich was hardly a “magnate.” That’s a loaded term, which makes people think of wealth and power. In fact, Kovacevich Farms filed for bankruptcy and shut down in 2016 (https://www.bakersfield.com/news/business/farmers-loss-is-gain-for-another/article_b123f73c-ec85-5fb2-9192-519b3037721b.html). It seems that “businessman” is both more accurate and less biased than “magnate.”

4. Add (Biden’s Tax Increase)

I’d like to add the following sentence to the “Politics” section:

In 2021, Kovacevich expressed support for President Biden’s proposed tax increase on corporations.

Explanation: This position has been well-documented; see, for example, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/15/tech-industry-group-funded-by-amazon-facebook-and-google-supports-a-corporate-tax-hike.html.

Signed,
BlueRoses13 (talk) 10:33, 26 October 2021 (UTC)

 Done.

Thank you very much, Heartmusic678! Signed, BlueRoses13 (talk) 14:46, 8 November 2021 (UTC)

@BlueRoses13: You're welcome. Heartmusic678 (talk) 14:49, 8 November 2021 (UTC)

3 Additions for Context

I'd like to submit three more requests for review. These changes add context that's missing, without which the article is incomplete. For each change, I've provided multiple substantive sources and explained my thinking. Thank you for your consideration.

1. First Sentence (Lead)

I’d like to change the first sentence from this:

Adam Kovacevich is an American lobbyist and the CEO and founder of Chamber of Progress.

to this:

Adam Kovacevich is an American lobbyist, former Google executive, and former Democratic aide who is the CEO and founder of Chamber of Progress.

Explanation: Kovacveich is known as much for his decade at Google as he is for founding the Chamber of Progress; hence the addition of "Google executive," which is supported by https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-tech/2021/04/30/leaked-google-email-reveals-ties-to-new-pro-tech-group-794997 and https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2021/07/11/nowhere-to-be-found-the-internet-industrys-dc-powerhouse-recedes-1388216.

And neither of these positions would have been possible without his time in Democratic politics; hence the addition of "Democratic aide," which is supported by https://www.bakersfield.com/columnists/in-the-eye-of-a-political-storm/article_0619fdd8-e5d1-5e8f-8c33-843389bf82ee.html.

2. Politics and Google Blog (Career)

I’d like to change this sentence:

After graduating from Harvard, Kovacevich worked for United States Senator Joe Lieberman before going to work for Google, where he spent 12 years, eventually becoming senior director of public policy.

to this:

After graduating from Harvard, Kovacevich worked in Democratic politics. He served as spokesperson for then-congressman Cal Dooley, who was a founder of the moderate New Democrat Coalition; for Senator Joe Lieberman, both in the United States Senate and on his 2004 presidential campaign; and for Inez Tenenbaum in her 2004 campaign for the United States Senate.

In 2007, he went to work for Google, where he spent 12 years, eventually becoming senior director of public policy. Of note: He launched Google’s public policy blog.

Explanation: I think Wikipedia readers will want to know the key details of Kovacevich’s career, each of which I've documented with footnotes.

3. Grape Ban (Early Life and Education)

After this:

Kovacevich was successful in having the Harvard grape ban overturned.

I’d like to add this:

In 2000, following the vote by students at Standard to overturn that university's grape ban, the United Farm Workers announced a permanent end to its grape boycott.

Explanation: I believe Wikipedia readers deserve greater context about this incident, which was covered by the Los Angeles Times (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-22-mn-55663-story.html) and the Stanford Report (https://news.stanford.edu/news/2000/december6/grapes-126.html).

Signed,
BlueRoses13 (talk) 02:51, 9 November 2021 (UTC)

 Done. Heartmusic678 (talk) 12:13, 14 December 2021 (UTC)

Thanks so much, Heartmusic678! Signed, BlueRoses13 (talk) 12:49, 14 December 2021 (UTC)

@BlueRoses13: You're welcome :D. Heartmusic678 (talk) 12:51, 14 December 2021 (UTC)

References

Adding a Sentence for Kovacevich's Punditry

Would it make sense to add a sentence about Kovacevich's punditry? As you can see from his Authory page, he is often called upon by the mainstream media to offer the perspective of technology companies.

I think we can find a balance between, say, the 26 publications itemized in Linda Moore and the single sentence in Michael Beckerman ("He appears in the media to offer the industry's perspective on topical policy issues").

Here's what I propose (maybe as as the last line in the "career" section?):

For your convenience, I've formatted the six footnotes.

Thank you for your consideration.

His op-eds, on tech issues, have appeared in media such as the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Fortune, and he's appeared on TV channels such as Cheddar, C-SPAN, and Bloomberg Television.

Signed,
BlueRoses13 (talk) 01:14, 4 January 2022 (UTC)

 Done. Heartmusic678 (talk) 11:48, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

References

Notability

I'm not sure this guy is notable. Most of the references are to his own work or his own site. A quick Google News search shows he's been ~commenting on tech-related things, but there's nothing really about this guy or why he's notable. Open to other interpretations. MAINEiac4434 (talk) 20:12, 7 August 2023 (UTC)

MAINEiac4434 - apparently I created this article, at the time thinking it's WP:N. On further review, I'm inclined to agree with you insofar as I think it's a very marginal case. There's enough coverage to fill-out a BLP, however, it takes the form of a sentence from a source here and a sentence from a source there, that are then cobbled together into what gives the appearance of SIGCOV but may not actually be. If it's nominated for deletion I'll weakly support deletion, but I'm not likely to nominate it myself. Though I think it should be resolved one way or the other rather than just having the template hang over the top of the article. Chetsford (talk) 08:22, 1 February 2024 (UTC)