Editorial: When credibility departs (follow up on carferry Wikipedia war)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Online) ^ | August 28, 2006 | Journal Sentinel Editor

[sbMKE]

Editorial: When credibility departs From the Journal Sentinel Posted: Aug. 28, 2006

We've had our doubts about the value of an "encyclopedia" whose content can be spun or altered in a fashion that would make Britannica blush. Wikipedia, billed as "the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit," has had some embarrassing moments on this score. Add one more. Advertisement

Someone has been altering Wikipedia's entry on the Lake Express high-speed ferry to emphasize apparent flaws, while linking to a Web site more favorable to a competitor, the S.S. Badger. At the same time, a glowing Wikipedia article about the Badger raised suspicions at the online encyclopedia because some of the wording appeared identical to the Badger's own Web site. The content of the ferry-comparison Web site was removed after Journal Sentinel reporter Larry Sandler inquired about the issue. And the Wikipedia article was changed numerous times after the Journal Sentinel article was published Monday.

Of course, the authors of those Wikipedia changes and links cannot be easily ascertained. Wikipedia in the recent past has managed to post an article that linked respected journalist John Seigenthaler Sr. with the Kennedy assassinations. And some congressional offices altered articles.

But maybe we're being too hard on Wiki-

pedia. Maybe this is just free-market opportunity. PepsiCo have a problem with Coca-Cola's claim in its Wikipedia article that it is "the world's most popular soft drink"? Consider it fixed. Think of what Coke might do with the theory in Wikipedia's article on how the word "Pepsi" got started - from dyspepsia (stomach ache or indigestion).

How Wikipedia can be altered is one of its alleged selling points. Lack of credibility is a demonstrably bad selling point. But let's save the harshest criticism for some of those doing the altering. Charitably, they might be called creative opportunists. Uncharitably, liars.

From the Aug. 29, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

[sbMKE]

Wikipedia at the center of a Wisconsin controversy over marketing/business-consumer politics turned dirty.

Previous coverage - 8/28 AM story Web wars ensnare ferries: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=488464

And follow up story - 8/28 late PM: Wikipedia lake ferry entry has lots of back and forth http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=488688

[martin_fierro]

NM Governor Bill Richardson (D) lied publicly for years about his being recruited for/playing professional baseball, you say?

Not according to Wikipedia's Memory Hole. Never happened.

[rockrr]

Wackypedia is the cBS of encyclopedias....

[burzum]

OMG, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is complaining about bias and spin! "Pot, this is kettle..."

[spinestein]

When considering the information one reads at Wikipedia, it is wise to remember that "you get what you pay for" and "let the buyer beware".

Yes, that's right. The information bought there is FREE, and some people are still incredulous that it MIGHT CONTAIN INACCURACIES.

[burzum]

Just in case anyone is curious, this is the same newspaper that donates to Planned Parenthood and recently wrote in an editorial:

"Another minus is that the nomination lessens the court's diversity. O'Connor herself had expressed the desire that her successor be a woman. O'Connor seems to have grown wiser about diversity as a result of her Supreme Court experience. She came to see the virtues of having a court that looks like America - doubtless a big reason she softened her opposition to affirmative action in recent years.

In losing a woman, the court with Alito would feature seven white men, one white woman and a black man, who deserves an asterisk because he arguably does not represent the views of mainstream black America."

I'd take Wikipedia over the Milwaukee JS any day.

[Lancey Howard]

Lack of credibility is a demonstrably bad selling point. But let's save the harshest criticism for some of those doing the altering. Charitably, they might be called creative opportunists. Uncharitably, liars.

Huh. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel could easily have been talking here about the New York Times, Dan Rather, and a host of other liberal "mainstream" newsrooms.

[Cacique]

hmmmm

[sbMKE]

I'm just digging on the weirdness of a dying newspaper trying to cover the Wikipedia phenomena while desperately trying to figure out how to generate revenue with blogs and youth-targeted sub publications and websites. The great irony is that the "amateurs" they are now forced to compete with lcoally are still outclassing them in scooping and investigating stories.

I can't wait for them to jump on the MySpace bandwagon and make a page for their paper.

[sbMKE]

Huh. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel could easily have been talking here about the New York Times, Dan Rather, and a host of other liberal "mainstream" newsrooms.

The Journal's in lock step with the gang you mention. Check out their star columnist Eugene Kane for a taste of the wackiness.

[libstripper]

I attended the NRA convention in Milwaukee earlier this year and rode the Lake Express ferry to and from Muskegon just to see what it's like--it's great. Coach fare for a round trip is $90.00 and first class is $120. The passage in each direction is at 40 mph and takes about 2.5 hours. This compares to about a 6 hour, 300 mile drive around the bottom of the lake on the chopped up Illinois Tollway or the chopped up Dan Ryan expressway through Chicago.

[spinestein]

I know what you mean. I'm still amused by the fact that they hate how they're being held accountable by an army of pajama wearing amateurs, volunteering their (our) fact-checking services after hours from their (our) day jobs.


Dan Rather. Hee, heee, heeeeeee. I just love saying his name and then laughing.