Posted on 12/12/2005 7:18:41 AM PST by LouAvul
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A man who posted false information on an online encyclopedia linking a prominent journalist to the Kennedy assassinations says he was playing a trick on a co-worker.
Brian Chase, 38, ended up resigning from his job and apologizing to John Seigenthaler Sr., the former publisher of the Tennessean newspaper and founding editorial director of USA Today.
"I knew from the news that Mr. Seigenthaler was looking for who did it, and I did it, so I needed to let him know in particular that it wasn't anyone out to get him, that it was done as a joke that went horribly, horribly wrong," Chase was quoted as saying in Sunday editions of The Tennessean.
Chase said he didn't know the free Internet encyclopedia called Wikipedia was used as a serious reference tool.
The biography he posted, which has since been replaced, falsely stated that Seigenthaler was linked to the Kennedy assassinations and had lived in the Soviet Union from 1971 to 1984.
The entry motivated Seigenthaler to write an op-ed piece for USA Today blasting Wikipedia's credibility. He described himself as a close friend of Robert Kennedy and said he had worked with President Kennedy. He said "the most painful thing was to have them suggest that I was suspected of their assassination."
Seigenthaler said he doesn't plan to pursue legal action against Chase.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I hate wikipedia.. its a dumb idea. Too many communist and lefties edit entries for George Bush, and Capitalism write some really disgusting comments.
It's hard to take something named "Wiki"-anything seriously.
Only by liberals.
But I trust the content of Wikipedia more than I trust the content of the NYT. I'm serious. Wikipedia entries linger and effectively go through a type of peer review. There is some hope that errors (like in this story) will get scrubbed out. But if you go the local library at view the NYT on microfiche, their errors from 10 years ago are still there.
MSM is less reliable than Wikipedia. That's damning with faint praise.
Nor did I. After reading some entries, it seemed more like The Onion or Scrappleface.
It's far more useful for non-political topics. The political stuff is just laughable crap; rants from the Jihad Cindies of the world.
JFK Conspiracy Theory Points to Bush
While theories about President John Kennedy’s assassination abound, CBS News announced that it is in possession of documents proving that President Bush pulled the trigger.
Former CBS data fabricator, Mary Mapes, said an unidentified man handed her an envelope with the incriminating documents while she was touring to promote her new book.
“Taking time out from her book tour, Mary Mapes faxed us a copy of a letter in which the then 17-year-old George Bush admitted to accidentally shooting JFK while ‘goofing around’ with his hunting rifle,” said Jack Skwaht, speaking on behalf of CBS News. “The letter is a photo copy of a hand-written note, but you can almost make out the name ‘George’ in the signature area. Document experts we consulted agree that the possibility this scrawled word is, in fact, ‘George’ cannot be ruled out.”
“Look, the assassination took place in Texas,” said Skwaht. “Bush was in Texas in 1963. We think this is pretty damning evidence.”
http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens22.htm
Agreed. I've found it a useful reference. But like the rest of the Internet, it needs to be judged in light of multiple sources.
But is there something wrong with me, that I thought it sounded like a pretty good gag? Living in the Soviet Union between 1971-1984 was a really nice touch.
Hard to trust the "peer review" when the peers are all Fellow Travellers. I get your point, though.
Good for this guy to come clean like that. Wiki is a toy, he was right in discounting Wiki's value to true research.
WIKID!
That was really interesting. I didn't know Free Republic had a sister site in Canada..."Free Dominion".
Look under "Alliances" on the FR front page. Free Dominion is fourth.
Yes. Sometimes when FR is down, I visit there.
They've had "rooms" for us!
On politics though, you can crap on it.
Some left winger is always vandalizing the conservative section almost every moment of the day with BS gossip and conspiracy theories.
One of the "experts" that wrote a legal brief in support of Tom Delay (to dismiss all charges) used Wickipedia as a source (it was posted here in pdf form). When I read that, I worried about him beating the rap.
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