Submitted by Cathy Davidson on Aug 20, 2007, 06:15 PM
In an earlier posting, "Wikipedia R Us," I wrote about the power of all of us to contribute to Wikipedia. WikiSkanner has revealed that "all of us" includes the CIA, FBI, Disney, Fox News, and other corporate and political interests who are using this tool for propaganda and, in some cases, defamation of character. Jimmy Wales should be giving Virgil Griffith a prize for exposing this. Wikipedia is only as good as its abilities to uncover its own flaws. In fact, one of the reasons I'm so fond of Wikipedia is, precisely, that it is constantly evolving, constantly changing its community rules in order to address the wiles of those (politicians, corporate interests, or ideologues of various stripes) who want to use the "many to many" editing approach as a way to fudge, obscure, or simply prevaricate. How great that, if the CIA or Fox News is editing entries in a politically motivated way, that WikiScanner or other tools can expose exactly what they are doing and then Wikipedia can adjust its approach accordingly. I was already a fan of Virgil Griffith since he helped to "bust" Blackboard a few years ago (Blackboard is not my favorite educational technology, to say the least). Now, if only he could find a way to expose the way that political and corporate interests are tampering with mainstream media--newspapers, magazines, television--I will nominate him for a Nobel Prize. The Wikiscanner revelations are not, to me, evidence that Wikipedia is bankrupt but, rather, evidence that the CIA, FBI, Disney, and Fox News (et al), just might be. WikiScanner has caught them out here. What can we do, as citizens, to do the same for their pernicious control of the media in the rest of our lives? Virgil? Virgil? Are you listening?
In an earlier posting, "Wikipedia R Us," I wrote about the power of all of us to contribute to Wikipedia. WikiSkanner has revealed that "all of us" includes the CIA, FBI, Disney, Fox News, and other corporate and political interests who are using this tool for propaganda and, in some cases, defamation of character. Jimmy Wales should be giving Virgil Griffith a prize for exposing this. Wikipedia is only as good as its abilities to uncover its own flaws. In fact, one of the reasons I'm so fond of Wikipedia is, precisely, that it is constantly evolving, constantly changing its community rules in order to address the wiles of those (politicians, corporate interests, or ideologues of various stripes) who want to use the "many to many" editing approach as a way to fudge, obscure, or simply prevaricate. How great that, if the CIA or Fox News is editing entries in a politically motivated way, that WikiScanner or other tools can expose exactly what they are doing and then Wikipedia can adjust its approach accordingly. I was already a fan of Virgil Griffith since he helped to "bust" Blackboard a few years ago (Blackboard is not my favorite educational technology, to say the least). Now, if only he could find a way to expose the way that political and corporate interests are tampering with mainstream media--newspapers, magazines, television--I will nominate him for a Nobel Prize. The Wikiscanner revelations are not, to me, evidence that Wikipedia is bankrupt but, rather, evidence that the CIA, FBI, Disney, and Fox News (et al), just might be. WikiScanner has caught them out here. What can we do, as citizens, to do the same for their pernicious control of the media in the rest of our lives? Virgil? Virgil? Are you listening?
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