[Foundation-l] Re: Formal request: Wikinews project

Wed Oct 13 04:13:00 UTC 2004

Anthere-
> Erik and I discussed all this, and a proposal is to have a solid and
> clear presentation in english, then to have it translated and promoted.
> A poll will follow to clarify opinion of contributors toward that new
> project.

Here's my suggestion:

1) We cut down the Wikinews proposal to five minimal requirements:

   a) that we launch Wikinews in all languages where there are people
      interested in working on it;
   b) that the project goal is to report news in a wide range of
      subject areas from a neutral point of view;
   c) that it will include original reporting on these subjects;
   d) that articles will undergo at least three stages:
      development - publication - archiving;
   e) that, in recognition of the increased responsibility and legal
      liability that comes with original reporting, each Wikinews project
      will try to develop checks and balances to assure that articles are
      fair and accurate at the time of publication.

The specific implementation(s) and possible further requirements will be  
worked out through the usual wiki process on the project website once it  
is operational.

2) [[m:Wikinews]] will elaborate on these requirements.

3) [[m:Wikinews/Vote]] will list them in short form as above, and ask  
users to vote on them (Yes/No).

4) [[m:Wikinews/Implementation proposals]] will be an open space for  
exploring possible policies and software changes to satisfy requirements  
b)-e) (this will include much of what is currently at [[m:Wikinews]]). The  
purpose of this page is to make sure that we have some ideas to build upon  
if/when we actually launch the project.

After these pages are finished, we will then invite translators to  
translate at least [[m:Wikinews]] and [[m:Wikinews/Vote]]. There will be a  
period of 7 days for translations.

After the period for translations is over, there will be a period of 21  
days for voting. The vote will be widely publicized.

If, within the first 7 days of voting, there is a 90% level of agreement  
or higher, the project can launch immediately. Seeing as this procedure  
may well become the standard for future Wikimedia project proposals, I  
find it important to minimize bureaucratic overhead for proposals which  
have an exceptionally high level of agreement, even if that may not be the  
case for Wikinews.

Is this agreeable?

Regards,

Eirk