Wikipedia:Press coverage 2009

January

 * "Disagreeable and closed to new ideas - that's the picture that emerges of contributors to community-curated encyclopaedia Wikipedia from a survey of their psychological attributes." CyberPsychology & Behavior (DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2007.0225)
 * "Disagreeable and closed to new ideas - that's the picture that emerges of contributors to community-curated encyclopaedia Wikipedia from a survey of their psychological attributes." CyberPsychology & Behavior (DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2007.0225)


 * Reports on the effect of Jimmy Wales personal appeal on the number of donations.
 * Reports on the effect of Jimmy Wales personal appeal on the number of donations.


 * The author sees Wikipedia's dynamic knowledge sharing as a potentially revolutionary aid to businesses.
 * The author sees Wikipedia's dynamic knowledge sharing as a potentially revolutionary aid to businesses.


 * "As if suffering a seizure during President Obama's post-inaugural luncheon wasn't bad enough, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) endured an additional ordeal Tuesday, as did his friend, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) -- death by Wikipedia."'
 * "As if suffering a seizure during President Obama's post-inaugural luncheon wasn't bad enough, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) endured an additional ordeal Tuesday, as did his friend, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) -- death by Wikipedia."'



February





 * At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2009, British prime minister Gordon Brown, quoting the artist Titian, referred to him as "the great painter who reached the age of 90". At Prime Minister's Question Time on 11 February 2009 opposition leader David Cameron cited as an example of Brown's alleged lack of skill with facts "You told us the other day you were like Titian aged 90. The fact is Titian died at 86." and shortly afterwards (at 1234 GMT) the Wikipedia entry for the artist was changed to match the age given by Mr Cameron at an IP address registered at the Conservative Party's HQ in London. Press comment such as on the BBC Daily Politics pointed out that there was little certainty on Titian's age at death and a Conservative spokesman apologised with "This was an over-eager member of staff putting right an incorrect entry on Wikipedia."
 * At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2009, British prime minister Gordon Brown, quoting the artist Titian, referred to him as "the great painter who reached the age of 90". At Prime Minister's Question Time on 11 February 2009 opposition leader David Cameron cited as an example of Brown's alleged lack of skill with facts "You told us the other day you were like Titian aged 90. The fact is Titian died at 86." and shortly afterwards (at 1234 GMT) the Wikipedia entry for the artist was changed to match the age given by Mr Cameron at an IP address registered at the Conservative Party's HQ in London. Press comment such as on the BBC Daily Politics pointed out that there was little certainty on Titian's age at death and a Conservative spokesman apologised with "This was an over-eager member of staff putting right an incorrect entry on Wikipedia."


 * Blog entry about how this vandalism to Barack Obama was reverted after two minutes, but remained Google's snippit entry for several hours. Says this bolsters the case for flagged revisions.
 * Blog entry about how this vandalism to Barack Obama was reverted after two minutes, but remained Google's snippit entry for several hours. Says this bolsters the case for flagged revisions.


 * Comedian David Mitchell describes why he like Wikipedia but fears Twitter, and why he despises people who vandalize the encyclopedia.
 * Comedian David Mitchell describes why he like Wikipedia but fears Twitter, and why he despises people who vandalize the encyclopedia.

March

 * BBC journalist analyses effects of vandalism on Wikipedia articles about UK politicians.
 * BBC journalist analyses effects of vandalism on Wikipedia articles about UK politicians.


 * "Wikipedia, the online 'free encyclopedia' mega-site written and edited entirely by its users, has been deleting within minutes any mention of eligibility issues surrounding Barack Obama's presidency, with administrators kicking off anyone who writes about the subject, WND has learned."
 * "Wikipedia, the online 'free encyclopedia' mega-site written and edited entirely by its users, has been deleting within minutes any mention of eligibility issues surrounding Barack Obama's presidency, with administrators kicking off anyone who writes about the subject, WND has learned."




 * Challenges editor reverted in the Obama article controversy, User:Jerusalem21, to reveal himself as the author of the same news article in WorldNetDaily, Aaron Klein.
 * Challenges editor reverted in the Obama article controversy, User:Jerusalem21, to reveal himself as the author of the same news article in WorldNetDaily, Aaron Klein.


 * 




 * also Guardian Diary
 * A UK's heritage body, English Heritage uses a printed page from Wikipedia to support an application for a listing of the former home of noted architect Colin St John Wilson and is criticized for doing so.




 * From a review of Andrew Lih's memoir The Wikipedia Revolution. Lih is known to us, the editors, as User:Fuzheado.
 * From a review of Andrew Lih's memoir The Wikipedia Revolution. Lih is known to us, the editors, as User:Fuzheado.


 * Encarta, the first attempt to use computers and the internet to build a new form of encyclopedia finally adits defeat to Wikipedia. Wikipedia has 97 per cent of the visits that web users in the US made to online encyclopaedias, Encarta trailed in second, with 1.27 per cent.
 * Encarta, the first attempt to use computers and the internet to build a new form of encyclopedia finally adits defeat to Wikipedia. Wikipedia has 97 per cent of the visits that web users in the US made to online encyclopaedias, Encarta trailed in second, with 1.27 per cent.

April

 * Review of Andrew Lih's The Wikipedia Revolution, "a hagiography" of a project Kamm considers to be a cult which does not advance learning or follow standard methodology.
 * Review of Andrew Lih's The Wikipedia Revolution, "a hagiography" of a project Kamm considers to be a cult which does not advance learning or follow standard methodology.


 * As Encyclopedia Britannica was threatened by Microsoft Encarta, so Wikipedia has now supplanted Encarta. About time the project was accepted, in Naughton's opinion.
 * As Encyclopedia Britannica was threatened by Microsoft Encarta, so Wikipedia has now supplanted Encarta. About time the project was accepted, in Naughton's opinion.


 * Opinion piece by Cravitz dealing with how Wikipedia has now surpassed Microsoft's Encarta to the point where Microsoft announced at the end of March that the Encarta websites are being discontinued in late 2009.
 * Opinion piece by Cravitz dealing with how Wikipedia has now surpassed Microsoft's Encarta to the point where Microsoft announced at the end of March that the Encarta websites are being discontinued in late 2009.


 * Letter from William L. Anderson of Frostburg, Maryland regarding the 6 April 2009 Wall Street Journal article by Crovitz about how Wikipedia's model follows that of Friedrich Hayek and The Use of Knowledge in Society.
 * Letter from William L. Anderson of Frostburg, Maryland regarding the 6 April 2009 Wall Street Journal article by Crovitz about how Wikipedia's model follows that of Friedrich Hayek and The Use of Knowledge in Society.



May







 * Examples cited by Eli Hacohen, director of Tel Aviv University's Netvision Institute for Internet Studies, are that Hamas is not defined as a terrorist organization, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is not called a Holocaust-denier and Operation Cast Lead in Gaza is described as an "intense bombardment" by Israel on a civilian population. The Wikimedia Foundation executive director Sue Gardner replied that Wikipedia reflected public discourse as it fluctuates, and news is the first draft of history.
 * Examples cited by Eli Hacohen, director of Tel Aviv University's Netvision Institute for Internet Studies, are that Hamas is not defined as a terrorist organization, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is not called a Holocaust-denier and Operation Cast Lead in Gaza is described as an "intense bombardment" by Israel on a civilian population. The Wikimedia Foundation executive director Sue Gardner replied that Wikipedia reflected public discourse as it fluctuates, and news is the first draft of history.




 * (Also reported by : The Irish Times, The Australian)






 * Nominally a review of The Wikipedia Revolution by Andrew Lih, Runciman is positive about the nature of the project, though he considers some articles overworked or dully written.
 * Nominally a review of The Wikipedia Revolution by Andrew Lih, Runciman is positive about the nature of the project, though he considers some articles overworked or dully written.


 * pcworld / h-online








 * The Register

June










July

 * Related discussion:
 * Related discussion:




 * Psychologists are objecting to details and images on the Rorschach inkblot test page which might allow patients to convey false responses.
 * See also *
 * See also *


 * An article which looks at the reliabilty of health advice on the web concludes that Wikipedia has high factual accuracy but a narrow range of topics covered and was able to answer only 40 per cent of the drug related questions asked of it
 * An article which looks at the reliabilty of health advice on the web concludes that Wikipedia has high factual accuracy but a narrow range of topics covered and was able to answer only 40 per cent of the drug related questions asked of it

August

 * A study by the Palo Alto Research Center (Parc) in California, showing how wikipedia's environment has become more and more hostile towards new users, and how a clan of established users is discouraging new people from contributing.
 * A study by the Palo Alto Research Center (Parc) in California, showing how wikipedia's environment has become more and more hostile towards new users, and how a clan of established users is discouraging new people from contributing.




 * This error-strewn piece celebrates English Wikipedia's addition of its 3 millionth article, Beate Eriksen. Wikipedia, we are told, was "formally launched on January 15 in 2001 by Ward Cunningham and Richard Stallman" (someone should tell Jimbo and Larry).  Suggests misleadingly that Wikipedia has only recently overtaken the Yongle Encyclopedia in size. Nitpickers will notice that the article talks about 271 "other languages"; according to the list of Wikipedias there are 271 Wikipedias in total.
 * This error-strewn piece celebrates English Wikipedia's addition of its 3 millionth article, Beate Eriksen. Wikipedia, we are told, was "formally launched on January 15 in 2001 by Ward Cunningham and Richard Stallman" (someone should tell Jimbo and Larry).  Suggests misleadingly that Wikipedia has only recently overtaken the Yongle Encyclopedia in size. Nitpickers will notice that the article talks about 271 "other languages"; according to the list of Wikipedias there are 271 Wikipedias in total.


 * Reports the launch of an iPhone App for Wikipedia by The Wikimedia Foundation. "The Wikimedia Foundation acknowledged that while its official software lacked some features compared to existing applications, it was focusing on "speed and simplicity" with the first version of its software."
 * Reports the launch of an iPhone App for Wikipedia by The Wikimedia Foundation. "The Wikimedia Foundation acknowledged that while its official software lacked some features compared to existing applications, it was focusing on "speed and simplicity" with the first version of its software."


 * Other reports on upcoming addition of Flagged revisions for biographical articles.
 * Other reports on upcoming addition of Flagged revisions for biographical articles.




 * The software is called WikiTrust. It's also here as a Firefox add-on.

September

 * "Take Wikipedia, for example. The whole premise of Jimmy Wales’ enterprise has been to sweep away the traditional intermediary of editors and publishers, thus replacing traditional expertise and authority with Wikipedia’s radically open and collaborative principles. But... now it seems as if the reformists have won and the wiki-revolution is being routinised. Beginning this autumn, Wikipedia will be radically less open."
 * "Take Wikipedia, for example. The whole premise of Jimmy Wales’ enterprise has been to sweep away the traditional intermediary of editors and publishers, thus replacing traditional expertise and authority with Wikipedia’s radically open and collaborative principles. But... now it seems as if the reformists have won and the wiki-revolution is being routinised. Beginning this autumn, Wikipedia will be radically less open."


 * "Why is Wikipedia such a men's club?...of [Wikipedia editors] women constituted a paltry 13%... about seven men for every woman"
 * "Why is Wikipedia such a men's club?...of [Wikipedia editors] women constituted a paltry 13%... about seven men for every woman"


 * "Mr. Wilson’s outburst came in response to the president’s statement that his proposed changes to health insurance laws would not give coverage to illegal immigrants. ..That is when the argument among Wikipedians — which can be read in full on the discussion page starting here — really took off.
 * "Mr. Wilson’s outburst came in response to the president’s statement that his proposed changes to health insurance laws would not give coverage to illegal immigrants. ..That is when the argument among Wikipedians — which can be read in full on the discussion page starting here — really took off.




 * (note: subscription-only article, I have not read past the abstract and extract available)

October

 * "As part of the ongoing push to make the site more "encyclopedic", there is a system in place that allows volunteers to flag up dubious articles for deletion. These pages remain live for days while Wikipedia administrators - and the original authors - debate whether the entries should be allowed, improved or removed. Below we present 20 of the more bizarre and surprising articles flagged for deletion over the past few weeks, with extracts from the pages and some of reasons offered by moderators for why they should be erased."
 * "As part of the ongoing push to make the site more "encyclopedic", there is a system in place that allows volunteers to flag up dubious articles for deletion. These pages remain live for days while Wikipedia administrators - and the original authors - debate whether the entries should be allowed, improved or removed. Below we present 20 of the more bizarre and surprising articles flagged for deletion over the past few weeks, with extracts from the pages and some of reasons offered by moderators for why they should be erased."


 * History Today is, it likes to boast, 'the world's premier, and probably oldest, history magazine', carrying 'essays on all periods, regions and themes of history, many of them by the world's leading scholars.' Having contributed to the magazine since the early 1990s, historian Dr A. D. Harvey was slightly surprised to find some suggested additions to an article on Austrian dictator Engelbert Dollfuss for the magazine's July issue this year, when the page proofs were sent for his approval by editor Paul Lay.  He was even more surprised when he did some digging, and discovered that three passages inserted into the text had been lifted word-for-word from the Wikipedia entry on Dollfuss.  'The piece inserted into your piece from Wikipedia, and subsequently removed at your request, was intended to add background information.  There is no disagreement over the factual accuracy of the information,' sniffed History Today's publisher Andy Patterson when Dr Harvey contacted him to complain.
 * History Today is, it likes to boast, 'the world's premier, and probably oldest, history magazine', carrying 'essays on all periods, regions and themes of history, many of them by the world's leading scholars.' Having contributed to the magazine since the early 1990s, historian Dr A. D. Harvey was slightly surprised to find some suggested additions to an article on Austrian dictator Engelbert Dollfuss for the magazine's July issue this year, when the page proofs were sent for his approval by editor Paul Lay.  He was even more surprised when he did some digging, and discovered that three passages inserted into the text had been lifted word-for-word from the Wikipedia entry on Dollfuss.  'The piece inserted into your piece from Wikipedia, and subsequently removed at your request, was intended to add background information.  There is no disagreement over the factual accuracy of the information,' sniffed History Today's publisher Andy Patterson when Dr Harvey contacted him to complain.


 * "People are talking about Limbaugh’s Wikipedia inaccuracies on Wikipedia. According to anonymous commenters, some of the Wikipedia entries that Limbaugh is complaining about have been traced back to an IP address from the law firm Patterson Belknap." [links included in original]
 * "People are talking about Limbaugh’s Wikipedia inaccuracies on Wikipedia. According to anonymous commenters, some of the Wikipedia entries that Limbaugh is complaining about have been traced back to an IP address from the law firm Patterson Belknap." [links included in original]


 * A computer in the House of Commons was used in June 2009 to remove politically embarrassing information about Michał Kamiński three days after he became leader of the Tories in the European Parliament.
 * A computer in the House of Commons was used in June 2009 to remove politically embarrassing information about Michał Kamiński three days after he became leader of the Tories in the European Parliament.


 * This article is about Paul Offit.
 * "Go to Wikipedia to read his bio and, as often as not, someone will have tampered with the page. The section on Offit’s education was once altered to say that he’d studied on a pig farm in Toad Suck, Arkansas. (He’s a graduate of Tufts University and the University of Maryland School of Medicine)."


 * "Lewis joined thousands of other amateurs toiling in obscurity on Wikipedia, where facts are more important than the star historians who tend to dominate the popular view of history. On Wikipedia, anyone can be a historian. It's easy: Most pages are edited just by clicking on a button that says 'edit this page.'" [Appeared on the front page of the print edition.]
 * "Lewis joined thousands of other amateurs toiling in obscurity on Wikipedia, where facts are more important than the star historians who tend to dominate the popular view of history. On Wikipedia, anyone can be a historian. It's easy: Most pages are edited just by clicking on a button that says 'edit this page.'" [Appeared on the front page of the print edition.]


 * This article is about Flagged protection.
 * Article in Time magazine about BLP problems in which the Foundation supposedly indicated that: Under the new policy, anonymous Web editors would still be allowed to freely change biographical Wikipedia entries — but their changes would be made visible to readers only after an experienced Wikipedia volunteer had approved them. However, in the article Jimbo refutes that understanding: There's only one problem with the new policy: "It's just completely wrong," says Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's co-founder.  Wikipedia's ruling body of volunteers never decided to impose restrictions on all articles about living people. Instead, the site will adopt "flagged protection" — the new method for requiring editorial approval before changes to Wikipedia go up — for a small number of articles, most likely on a case-by-case basis.

November

 * An interview with Jimbo Wales in the Telegraph (London) touching on the award of the Monaco Media Prize, "flagged revisions", the slowing rate of new articles submitted to the English Wikipedia, improving accessibility, expansion of foreign language Wikipedias, Wikia, the end of Wikipedia.
 * Story which debunked a hoax that Keshia Chanté was severely injured in a Toronto-area motor collision, following circulated rumours on Twitter and vandalism to her Wikipedia article.
 * Subscribers only, but see article reprint at Resource Shelf
 * Reports research at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid which shows Wikipedia editors are leaving in increasing numbers and speculates many are being burnt out by the increasingly hostile editing environment.
 * Story which debunked a hoax that Keshia Chanté was severely injured in a Toronto-area motor collision, following circulated rumours on Twitter and vandalism to her Wikipedia article.
 * Subscribers only, but see article reprint at Resource Shelf
 * Reports research at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid which shows Wikipedia editors are leaving in increasing numbers and speculates many are being burnt out by the increasingly hostile editing environment.



December

 * Discusses density of geotagged articles in different countries compared with area & population.
 * Discusses density of geotagged articles in different countries compared with area & population.


 * Reports the case of a woman who believes a blackmailer editted a Wikipedia article on her as part of a threat of blackmail.
 * Reports the case of a woman who believes a blackmailer editted a Wikipedia article on her as part of a threat of blackmail.


 * "Singaporeans seem to be losing interest in writing and editing articles on Wikipedia, one of the world's most popular websites. ... Messages on the online Singapore Wikipedian noticeboard have slowed, and many articles relating to the country have not found additional contributors. The community has not met offline in more than two years. Senior members of the group hope it's a passing phase. Nanyang Technological University assistant professor Brendan Luyt ... said Wikipedia 'could be losing some lustre as it tries to move up the value chain'. That has led to more checks to yield credible reports, but this could be putting off contributors. Mr Edward Yong ... believes the current trend will not affect the popularity of the website. 'The membership has always been fluid. The drop in numbers could be because of the current economic climate,' Mr Yong said, alluding to attention being diverted to issues like job security. 'Or it could be that the earlier contributors have written about most of the topics they were interested in,' he noted. 'But it is also possible that there are many like me who can't find the time to contribute; but then we come back again. That does not make me an inactive contributor.'"
 * "Singaporeans seem to be losing interest in writing and editing articles on Wikipedia, one of the world's most popular websites. ... Messages on the online Singapore Wikipedian noticeboard have slowed, and many articles relating to the country have not found additional contributors. The community has not met offline in more than two years. Senior members of the group hope it's a passing phase. Nanyang Technological University assistant professor Brendan Luyt ... said Wikipedia 'could be losing some lustre as it tries to move up the value chain'. That has led to more checks to yield credible reports, but this could be putting off contributors. Mr Edward Yong ... believes the current trend will not affect the popularity of the website. 'The membership has always been fluid. The drop in numbers could be because of the current economic climate,' Mr Yong said, alluding to attention being diverted to issues like job security. 'Or it could be that the earlier contributors have written about most of the topics they were interested in,' he noted. 'But it is also possible that there are many like me who can't find the time to contribute; but then we come back again. That does not make me an inactive contributor.'"


 * "Much about Singapore can be found on Wikipedia but there's more to be done still. The Wikipedian community here lists dozens of topics that need to be created or expanded, from this year's flu pandemic to the battle of Bukit Timah and the country's flora and fauna. Yet, few have come forward. Regular contributors believe part of the reason could be the tight scrutiny by the diehard contributors and editors who have raised the stakes for newcomers. Contributors said the evaluation and rating of an article – done by a peer review – can be intimidating. Only six of the 3,368 articles relating to Singapore have been given a top rating so far."
 * "Much about Singapore can be found on Wikipedia but there's more to be done still. The Wikipedian community here lists dozens of topics that need to be created or expanded, from this year's flu pandemic to the battle of Bukit Timah and the country's flora and fauna. Yet, few have come forward. Regular contributors believe part of the reason could be the tight scrutiny by the diehard contributors and editors who have raised the stakes for newcomers. Contributors said the evaluation and rating of an article – done by a peer review – can be intimidating. Only six of the 3,368 articles relating to Singapore have been given a top rating so far."


 * Wikipedia may be forced by a judge to reveal the identity of an anonymous editor.
 * Wikipedia may be forced by a judge to reveal the identity of an anonymous editor.


 * A Scottish deputy headmaster causes a furore by suggesting that pupils would benefit through use of Wikipedia.
 * A Scottish deputy headmaster causes a furore by suggesting that pupils would benefit through use of Wikipedia.




 * also Daily Mail
 * British journalist Alexander Chancellor reports how his biography on Wikipedia was vandalised and escaped detection by the 'Living people' article process for two weeks.