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Journalists’ use of Wikipedia and social networks

Posted by Martin Stabe on 7 January 2008 at 09:01
Tags: Ethics, Facebook, Guardian, Independent, Independent on Sunday, Privacy, Wikipedia, Wikis

In yesterday’s Independent on Sunday, reader’s editor Michael Williams looked askance at journalists’ use of Wikipedia to confirm disputed facts.

After surveying the usual pro- and anti-Wikipedia arguments, Williams concludes by reading the entries about the Independent and Independent on Sunday “a subject I ought to know something about.”

“After the first 10 errors, I stopped counting. You have been warned!”

Meanwhile, Guardian readers’ editor Siobhain Butterworth has looked at how reporters use social networking sites, asking whether Facebook members have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

The issue has arisen again after the paper, along with several others, published pictures drawn from Facebook showing 19-year-old Bilawal Bhutto in fancy dress.

“There’s no call, in these circumstances, for a heavyweight public interest argument to justify publication,” Butterworth concludes.

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Tags: Ethics, Facebook, Guardian, Independent, Independent on Sunday, Privacy, Wikipedia, Wikis

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  1. Martin Stabe&hellip |  7 January 2008 at 9:19am

    [IMG Fleet Street 2.0]Should journalists use Wikipedia?Monday, 7 January 2008, 09:01 (23 minutes ago) In yesterday’s Independent on Sunday, reader’s editor Michael Williams looked askance at journalists’ use of Wikipedia to confirm disputed facts.

  2. Craig McGill |  7 January 2008 at 10:25am

    I think there’s a use for the likes of Wiki but I would never rely on it as a primary source. I’d use it for generic information but not anything I would print before double checking.

  3. David Gerard |  7 January 2008 at 12:17pm

    I do press for Wikipedia in the UK. I’ve never spoken to a journalist who didn’t use Wikipedia as their handy universal backgrounder.

  4. Press gazette.co.uk : Fle&hellip |  7 January 2008 at 2:01pm

    [...] gazette.co.uk : Fleet Street 2.0Journalists’ use of Wikipedia and social networks"In yesterday’s Independent on Sunday, reader’s editor Michael Williams looked askance at [...]

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