[Foundation-l] RE: [Wikinews-l] Editorials

Fri Jul 22 22:23:28 UTC 2005

Anthere wrote:

>>==As a wiki==
>>Wikis content is open for modification. An editorial
>>on a wiki needs to be
>>open for editing by anyone. This means that a person
>>with an opposing POV
>>should have as much access to the editorial as the
>>original writer(s). ON a
>>wiki, an editorial - unless protected - will most
>>likely devolve into an
>>edit war.
>>
>>It also runs the risk of having that project, all
>>wikinews project, or even
>>the foundation taint as a biased organization where
>>a given topic is
>>concerned. On a legal level, I have concerns about
>>liability issues for the
>>foundation in regard to views expressed in the
>>editorials.
>>    
>>
>
>Correct 
>  
>
It seems to me that a wiki is a terrible place for editorials, as all the points listed above (and on the parent post that went into more detail) MediaWiki software is simply the wrong tool for the job.  If I were to finance and set up an editorial website, I would rather use something like slashcode (the underlying software for Slashdot.org) where the user is clearly identified and the opinion nature of the content is very clear.  

IMHO it would be a facinating website to take content from Wikinews, run each story as "submissions" in slashcode, and add editorials to that article that don't have a NPOV statement.  I've learned quite a bit from similar websites, even with obvious biases involved in the community.  There is also a huge diversity of opinion, and in general I havn't been squelched when I've been very pointed on my political opinions.  At least this way you know exactly who is posting the opinion even before you get into the content.

Now if the Wikimedia Foundation should be involved in such an enterprise is yet another matter.  The bandwidth issues wouldn't be that huge to start out with, but it would require a developer that is willing to maintain a totally different software tool than MediaWiki, with inherant problems of trying to decide who gets to maintain editorial control over the content (i.e. become admins).  And it does violate the general NPOV issue that has been discussed as a general guideline.

In short, I would suggest the foundation stay away from such a project.

-- 
Robert Scott Horning