“Mr. Wales, what are you going to do about it?”
http://www.usatoday.com
A USA Today Op-Ed piece discussed a very false Wikipedia ‘biography’.
If I were to write a letter to the editor, I would say this:
As a frequent Wikipedia user, I found John Seigenthaler’s piece very interesting. While Mr. Seigenthaler was very aggressive with BellSouth, I think he should hold Jimbo Wales’ “feet to the fire.”
For example, “Mr. Wales how do you plan on correcting this very serious problem? Many people depend on your information. At this point in time, you might want to consider employing some professional editors to review your content.”
Having professional editor goes against the spirit of wikipedia. However, the community is currently developing an article validation system that will solve these types of problems, in the wiki-way. Watch this space.
Comment by Jaap Vermeulen — December 1, 2005 @ 2:54 pm
I think that’s like saying the Internet shouldn’t have advertising . . . remember that sentiment circa 1997? Wikipedia is a grownup know and needs to act accordingly.
Comment by Ken Leebow — December 1, 2005 @ 3:09 pm