Difference between revisions of "Wikipedia"
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==Sigenthaler Scandal== | ==Sigenthaler Scandal== | ||
| − | In May 2005, an anonymous user created a Wikipedia article on John Seigenthaler Sr, an assistant to former attorney general Robert F. Kennedy that states: | + | In May 2005, an anonymous user created a Wikipedia article on John Seigenthaler Sr, a journalist and an assistant to former attorney general Robert F. Kennedy that states: |
<blockquote> | <blockquote> | ||
John Seigenthaler Sr. was the assistant to Attorney General Robert Kennedy in the early 1960s. For a short time, he was thought to have been directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both John, and his brother, Bobby. Nothing was ever proven. | John Seigenthaler Sr. was the assistant to Attorney General Robert Kennedy in the early 1960s. For a short time, he was thought to have been directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both John, and his brother, Bobby. Nothing was ever proven. | ||
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In September 2005, a friend of Seigenthaler's discovered the Wikipedia entry and alerted Seigenthaler, whom then contacted the Wikimedia foundation to have the article corrected, however the false biography had remained on Wikipedia for many months. | In September 2005, a friend of Seigenthaler's discovered the Wikipedia entry and alerted Seigenthaler, whom then contacted the Wikimedia foundation to have the article corrected, however the false biography had remained on Wikipedia for many months. | ||
Wikipedia critic Daniel Brandt later discovered the prepetrator of the prank was Brian Chase, an aquintence of Seigenthaler Sr. John Seigenthaler Sr later published an article in USA Today on the whole affair<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x.htm</ref>. | Wikipedia critic Daniel Brandt later discovered the prepetrator of the prank was Brian Chase, an aquintence of Seigenthaler Sr. John Seigenthaler Sr later published an article in USA Today on the whole affair<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x.htm</ref>. | ||
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==Essjay Scandal== | ==Essjay Scandal== | ||
Revision as of 07:25, March 23, 2007
Wikipedia is a free-content online encyclopedia established by Jimbo Wales and Larry Sangers on January 15, 2001. It currently has over 6 million articles, written in 250 languages[1] on various topics, including over 1,600,000 articles in the English version. Like Conservapedia, it is a wiki that is written and edited by its users. Under its GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), anyone can add to or edit the content on Wikipedia.
Initially, Wikipedia was hosted on servers operated by Bomis Incorporated, a pornographic search engine funded by Jimbo Wales. Then in 2003, Jimbo Wales created the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation with himself as board president, to oversee the day-to-day operation of Wikipedia.
Sigenthaler Scandal
In May 2005, an anonymous user created a Wikipedia article on John Seigenthaler Sr, a journalist and an assistant to former attorney general Robert F. Kennedy that states:
John Seigenthaler Sr. was the assistant to Attorney General Robert Kennedy in the early 1960s. For a short time, he was thought to have been directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both John, and his brother, Bobby. Nothing was ever proven.
and
John Seigenthaler moved to the Soviet Union in 1971, and returned to the United States in 1984. He started one of the country's largest public relations firms shortly thereafter.
In September 2005, a friend of Seigenthaler's discovered the Wikipedia entry and alerted Seigenthaler, whom then contacted the Wikimedia foundation to have the article corrected, however the false biography had remained on Wikipedia for many months. Wikipedia critic Daniel Brandt later discovered the prepetrator of the prank was Brian Chase, an aquintence of Seigenthaler Sr. John Seigenthaler Sr later published an article in USA Today on the whole affair[2].
Essjay Scandal
In February 2007, Wikipedia critic Daniel Brandt discovered that a prominent Wikipedia administrator, bureaucrat and arbitrator nicknamed Essjay has lied on Wikipedia and in phone interviews with the New Yorkers magazine about his age, job, background, and academic credentials[3]. Essjay, who later identified himself as Ryan Jordan and who was an employee at Wikia Inc. funded by Jimbo Wales, had claimed to be a 40 year old homosexual, holding doctoral degrees in theology and canon law and is a tenured professor at a private university; but he was in fact a 20 years old community college dropout from Kentucky. This fraud was reported by ABC, BBC and many other major news organizations. Jimbo Wales upon learning of this incident, stated: "I regard it as a pseudonym and I don’t really have a problem with it."[4]
Wikipedia and Bias
Wikipedia has been accused by the American Public at large in numerous news articles, talk shows, and forums of containing biased and inaccurate entries, including the concept of "Wikiality". The article detailing confirmed incidents of liberal bias is found here: Examples of Bias in Wikipedia.