Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-11-13/In the news

Influence of Wikipedia
Several articles discussed the influence of Wikipedia. In What does Wikipedia say about you, Law.com advises readers to monitor Wikipedia's article about their firm and prominent members because of the influence Wikipedia has. The Dallas Morning News reported on Google's ranking criteria and the results that make Wikipedia articles and shopping sites appear first in results list. In an editorial released by opinioneditorials.com, Rex Curry reports on the references Wikipedia makes to Curry's own research in an apparent attempt to use Wikipedia to bolster his credibility. In an email from Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder, Wales asked Wikipedians to carefully verify the referenced articles.

Reputation of Wikipedia
The New Haven Register reports in Academia split on free-for-all Wikipedia that students should be "skeptical about the content, but people should be skeptical about all the content they read..." A prank that changed the president of Kazakhstan to Borat was highlighted in a short article by Digital Spy.

Wales interviewed and honored
Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, was the topic of articles in two major UK newspapers. The Telegraph carried a very long article, titled Wiki's World discussing the unlikely success story, the varying quality level of different articles, the issues involved in the biographies of living persons, and other topics. The Guardian reported on an interview of Wales (including an audio file of excerpts of the interview) where Wales answered questions about Wikipedia's success, his initial vision of the project and the dynamics of the Wikipedian community. Wales was also given the "Visionary Achievement" award by the Tampa Bay Technology Forum. In a more lighthearted vein, Wales played the 'Not My Job' game on the November 4, 2006 NPR quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!. Wales was asked three obscure questions originating from Wikipedia articles and got none of them correct.

Wikipedia processes generate coverage
Deleted Wikipedia articles also have generated minor media coverage. Ars Technica covered the deletion of NPA Theory of personality; and Gawker.com covered the deletion of the "Internet It Girl" article and how some rejected Wikipedia articles live on.

Continuing coverage
The following topics in prior "In the news" coverage continued to generate media reports:
 * Brandt complaints &bull; FOX News covered suspected plagiarism. As did CBC Canada.
 * Hackers use Wikipedia &bull; Wide coverage in USA Today, Computer World, PC World, Slashdot, and others.
 * Intellipedia &bull; Indian Express in Wikipedia of Secrets (a reprint of the 5 Nov Washington Post story)
 * China unblocks Wikipedia &bull; CNet claimed that China unblocked Wikipedia because the Propaganda Department was convinced that it is neutral. Andrew Lih's blog reported a surge in new users.

Wikipedia as source

 * Rumsfeld &bull; The Toronto Star quoted Wikipedia's article on Socrates in reporting on Donald Rumsfeld's resignation.
 * Financial &bull; Seeking alpha, an online financial news and stock information site, claims Wikipedia "is quite up-to-date on statistics in general and...provides data from a good source of industry information".
 * Define Blog &bull; VillageSoup, an alliance of local media, references Wikipedia to help define the term "blog."