Wikipedia:WikiProject Wikipedians for encyclopedic merit/Working standard for encyclopedic merit of images

Working standard for encyclopedic merit of images

This WikiProject page is meant to serve as a draft of a standard for encyclopedic merit of images. Once the WikiProject is happy with it, it should be placed under an RfC to encourage outside comments, and then proposed as Wikipedia Policy.

Images must be encyclopedic
For an image to be considered for inclusion, that image be encyclopedic. This means it should pass the following tests at a bare minimum:
 * It should have educational merit.
 * The image must be relevant to the article, or elucidate an important aspect of the article's subject. Images which are only tangentially related can distract attention from the article.
 * It should illustrate article content or provide unique information to the article that is not inherent in the text. Images are particularly valuable when they show what cannot be as conveyed in words -- for instance, the appearance of an animal or plant; the operation of a machine; the visual appearance of a landscape, setting, or artifact; or the representation of data that is possible with a chart.
 * It should not needlessly reproduce already existing content. Articles are frequently improved by having multiple images, but when images are redundant with one another, the best should be selected. Extra images may be referred to on Wikimedia Commons or another media resource.
 * The addition of images for non-informative or sensational purposes (for instance, to shock or offend readers) is a form of vandalism.

Editorial choice is not censorship
One of the more controversial aspects of image selection has been the tension between editorial choice of images (choosing the best image for a purpose) and censorship of images (the deletion or concealing of images deemed "offensive".) As a settled matter of policy, Wikipedia is not censored for the protection of minors or other "sensitive" groups.

Nonetheless, a reasonable editorial choice should take into account that images which offend readers may be distracting from the subject of an article, and inappropriate for that reason. For instance, it would be possible to illustrate articles about cities by depicting a naked person in each city or a murder victim in each city. However, this would be distracting from the subject at hand, which is sufficient reason not to do it.

As a general guideline, readers should expect that articles about "possibly offensive" topics may (and should) contain images that are directly relevant to those topics. For instance, articles about sexual acts may contain depictions thereof; articles about wars or murders may contain explicit images of the results of violence. Contrariwise, articles which are not about these topics will generally not have such images.

Framing discussions of images
Because Wikipedia is (by policy) not to be censored, it is rarely if ever useful to frame the discussions of image appropriateness in terms of censorship or related concepts (such as "obscenity", "indecency", or "free speech".) Editors working to decide on the inclusion of an image must be prepared to assume good faith of each other, and likewise to act in good faith towards each other.


 * 1) Avoid absolutism. It is rarely productive to make absolute statements or demands about images when there is a serious difference of opinion among good-faith contributors. For instance, to label an image as "pornographic" or "disgusting" and to demand its removal -- or to engage in a revert war in an effort to keep it out of an article -- is counterproductive behavior. Likewise, if an image is removed from an article for discussion, it is counterproductive to accuse the remover of "censorship" or "POV-pushing", or the like.  Engage the discussion with good faith about the goal of producing an encyclopedia, without characterizing or attacking the other's character.
 * 2) Do not use WP:IfD to discuss relevance. The Images and media for deletion system is for the removal of images which are unusable for copyright, quality, or other problems; or which are not used in any article. If there is (or would be) an active discussion over whether an image is relevant to a specific article, proposing that image for deletion is likely to be perceived as a destructive and disruptive action. The relevance of a specific image to a specific article is a matter for that article's talk page.
 * 3) When removing images for discussion, place it (as a thumbnail) on the talk page. People need to be able to see the image that is being discussed in order to have an opinion about it and to come to a consensus about its use. Blanking the image, replacing it with a derogatory message, or otherwise making it hard to see will make it hard for people to discuss it.