[Foundation-l] Wikinews is giving out press credentials

Tue Nov 8 04:51:23 UTC 2005

--- Ilya Haykinson <haykinson at gmail.com> wrote:
> This is not a sub-group. The process is an open election, allowing
> trusted Wikinewsies to be given a status of "Trusted Wikinewsie". This
> involves the user providing their real name, and being listed on a
> protected page. The real-world slang for "trusted wikinewsie" is
> "credentialing".

Credentials are given by organizations - not by just some people on the
Internet (which is all any Wikimedia project is by itself). Using that term -
in the real world where it has a specific meaning - to describe that process is
very misleading. Using that term and the Wikinews mark implies an official
connection that does not exist. That is dishonest and an abuse of the mark. 

Internal monikers such as 'administrator' are fine and we can be loose in
giving them since they are only meant to mean anything in our little world.
However, when the purpose of a title is to gain access in the real world, then
we must be much more conservative in that use. 

IMO, the board needs to get involved via an oversight process and they also
should give permission for credentialed Wikinewies to use the Wikiness logo and
name on press badges (the foundation could even create the badges at cost). The
oversight will be almost all hands off - the only real power it would have is
the power of immediately removing credentials in egregious cases or shutting
down the whole process if it gets out of hand. 

I doubt either would ever need to be exercised by the board, but I strongly
feel they need that ability as a safety mechanism (not unlike Jimbo's power to
disband the English ArbCom if it gets out of hand). 

Everything would still work much the same way as it does now. It would just be
official and have oversight. That's all I want. 

> Nowhere does it say that we are credentialed by the board of the WMF.

Nor should it ever. But the implication is that Wikinews itself credentialed
these people. Wikinews is not an organization in any legal sense and thus can't
grant anything. The Wikinews community, however, can be - if the board agrees -
to be its agent in the selection of trusted users for accreditation. 

> I might not own the trademark "Wikinews", but I do own some copyrights
> to parts of its contents, pursuant to the site's license. I do not
> give up the right to say that I am a contributor to Wikinews. Neither
> do I give up the right to say that I've been trusted by the users of
> Wikinews -- which is what this policy-based process implies.

"Credentials" is a loaded word with a specific meaning outside our context. We
can use that, but only if this becomes an official process. 

> In the future, before raising "trademark violation" alarms about a
> process that's been around for 9 months, I would appreciate a quick
> question/post on some public place on the project, or an email to the
> project list, lest we sow confusion into the minds of any potential
> press pass givers who might be on this list.

I left such a message in July:
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews_talk:Accreditation_requests

At the time I thought it was just some odd experiment that would go nowhere so
I forgot about it. 

I think it is beyond the experiment stage. Now we need to put it through an
official beta period to work out whatever else needs to be worked out. 

-- mav

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