Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Single/2015-02-11

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11 February 2015

 

2015-02-11

We want to know what you think!

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By Pine

Dear Signpost readers,

Thank you for reading. We would appreciate your input about what you like about the Signpost and how we can improve. Please take this anonymous Qualtrics survey that we link below. We don't ask for your username, email, or real name. We appreciate your honest opinions. The survey may take five to ten minutes to complete.

Our thanks go to the Wikimedia Foundation's Learning and Evaluation Team for letting us use Qualtrics.

  • Survey link
  • The password is: FebruarySurvey (which is case-sensitive)

Sincerely,
Pine, Signpost Publication and Newsroom Manager

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2015-02-11

One editor faces likely ban for work on Wikipedia;
Jimmy Wales is awarded $1 million

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By Go Phightins!, Gamaliel

English Wikipedia editor faces ban for sockpuppetry

Editor's note: This will receive more extensive coverage in next week's arbitration report; a brief update appears here.

In the ongoing saga of

site ban, at minimum, in addition to the desysopping. Many arbitrators discussed a so-called "Super Mario Problem"—essentially, conduct that would get a non-administrator banned only gets an administrator desysopped. Although Guerillero
initially commented that "even keeping the 'Super Mario Problem' in mind, I do not feel that this reaches the level of a site ban," he later changed his vote on the site ban to support, noting that administrators should be held to a higher standard.

While a site ban appears to be a foregone conclusion at this point, arbitrators continue to discuss the wording of an associated restriction that would ostensibly remain in effect if Wifione returns to the project. The case appears to be nearing closure, and this is one case of alleged long-term abuse that the committee appears ready to put to rest. "Based upon duration, severity, etc.," wrote NativeForeigner while supporting a site ban, the "level of deception and manipulation of [point of view] rises to a very high level over a long period of time."

Wifione first edited in April 2009, racking up over 16,000 edits since. He became an administrator in September 2010, passing with about 80% in support.

Another $1 million prize for Jimmy Wales

Jimmy Wales receiving the Gottlieb Duttweiler Prize in 2011

Jimmy Wales will be one of the recipients of the 2015 Dan David Prize. First awarded in 2002 and administered by Tel Aviv University, the prize "recognizes and encourages innovative and interdisciplinary research that cuts across traditional boundaries and paradigms. It aims to foster universal values of excellence, creativity, justice, democracy and progress and to promote the scientific, technological and humanistic achievements that advance and improve our world." Each year winners are selected for their work affecting the past, present, and future in a different broad category for each time frame. A US$1 million prize is awarded to the winner or winners in each time frame. This year's categories and winners were:

Past Retrieving the Past: Historians and their Sources Peter Brown, Alessandro Portelli
Present The Information Revolution Jimmy Wales
Future Bioinformatics Cyrus Chothia, David Haussler, Michael Waterman

Last year, Wales shared a separate $1 million prize—the Knowledge Award—with Tim Berners-Lee, but was criticized for accepting money from the United Arab Emirates due to that nation's human rights abuses (see previous Signpost coverage). In a similar vein, an IP editor has asked Wales if he will turn down the award from an Israeli organization, though it remains to be seen if this award will attract as much criticism as the Knowledge Award.

In brief

  • GLAM-Wiki Conference: Conference tickets and discounted hotel rooms are now available for the 2015 GLAM-Wiki Conference, which will be hosted by the Dutch Wikimedia chapter in The Hague from April 10 to 12.
  • Ombudsman Commission announced: The composition of the 2015 Ombudsman Commission, a group of volunteers tasked by the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees with scrutinizing potential violations of the global privacy policy, has been announced.
  • Slovak Wikipedia: The Slovak Wikipedia has reached the 200,000 article mark. Slovak is spoken by approximately seven million people in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.

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2015-02-11

Is Wikipedia eating itself?

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By Gamaliel

Is Wikipedia eating itself? Probably not.

Ouroboros

In "The Wikipedia

Verifiability, not truth,' which means that citations, even wrong citations, trump all else." WP:VNT is an essay, not a policy, and Wikipedia policy does not require editors to cite information known to be inaccurate. Auerbach brings up the frequently cited example of Philip Roth and The Human Stain article. He inaccurately writes that Roth "tried to correct an error about one of his books", but Ironholds decisively showed in a 2012 blog post that Roth wanted to remove the observations of critics instead of factual inaccuracies (see previous Signpost coverage
). Auerbach writes that "Wikipedia is dragging us all down to its level" through its propagation of "bad facts". While Wikipedia certainly has issues to address with accuracy and verification, he fails to make a case that journalistic errors in reporting and fact checking can be laid at its door.

Edina edit war illustrates disconnect between new and experienced editors

EdinaTheater.JPG
Edina Theater

The

University of Illinois taught by Professor James W. Loewen
, author of Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism (2005), were assigned the task of adding to a Wikipedia article the history of such racist discrimination to the article for a particular town. The student who chose Edina added the information about its past as a sundown town numerous times last year, but it was repeatedly removed. While the edit contained citations to a number of primary sources that were clearly inappropriate for Wikipedia, such as an interview and an email message, other sources such as Loewen's book and webpage were removed as well.

The Star Tribune attributed the removals to

Reliable Source
". Another editor supported Juno's assessment in 2009, but it is disputed in a current talk page discussion with other editors writing that he is "a well known, respected, and successful writer/scholar" and "a very reliable source on the subject".

The editors attempting to insert the material citing Loewen, including the student interviewed by the Star Tribune, did not participate in any talk page discussion and may not have even known that any discussion existed. Beyond brief edit summaries, it does not appear there was any attempt at further discussion between Juno and the student, such as links to or explanations of relevant policies or dispute resolution procedures. The student told the Star Tribune she gave up her attempts at editing at the end of the course. Juno told the Signpost "I probably should have reached out to one of the ips or pushed for dispute resolution but I honestly thought it was just the same person" who had been inserting the material since 2009.

The publication of the Star Tribune article attracted the interest of other Wikipedia editors and some of the information the student attempted to add has been restored to the article in modified form. A March editathon will be held at the Southdale Library in Edina.

Attkisson: Wikipedia is "astroturf's dream come true"

At a January 23 TEDx event at the

University of Nevada, reporter Sharyl Attkisson delivered a talk about astroturf and manipulation of media messages. (TEDx events employ the format of the renowned TED conferences but are otherwise completely independent.) Attkisson called Wikipedia "astroturf's dream come true" and alleged that Wikipedia editing was part of astroturfing
and public relations efforts by pharmaceutical companies to create the illusion of a consensus that particular medications are safe and effective. She said:

While advocacy editing has long been a concern on Wikipedia (see, for example, last week's

Cochrane Collaboration
.

Attkison has previously alleged that the pharmaceutical industry has edited Wikipedia. In 2014, she wrote in an article on her website "They monitor and edit Wikipedia pages in an effort to downplay research that demonstrates associations between vaccines and autism, and to disparage those who investigate the links." In 2012, an editor purporting to be Attkison complained on the talk page of her Wikipedia article about citations and information in the article from critics who labeled her "anti-vaccine".

Canadian government investigating even more Wikipedia editing

Rehtaeh Parsons

The most recent in a series of Canadian investigations into Wikipedia editing from government IP addresses comes from the Department of National Defence. The Ottawa Citizen reports (February 9) that the DND are investigating edits to the article Suicide of Rehtaeh Parsons which appear to attempt to cast doubt on her alleged sexual assault and subsequent suicide. Parsons' 2013 suicide at the age of 17, which her parents blame on Internet harassment following her alleged gang rape at 15 by four teenage boys, caused a nationwide outcry against cyberbullying. The editing may have legal implications as well, because in Canada, a publication ban is in place to prevent the revelation of any identifying information about Parsons, including her name, due to the fact that the criminal case involved child pornography.

Last summer,

Parliamentary Press Gallery
. As a result, journalists will now be required to use a login and password to access Parliamentary computers.

Academics on Gamergate: A clash of civilizations?

In the blog of the journal

dox, intimidate IRL
and harass on wiki."

In

white nationalist BBS
founded in 1984. Wilson concludes "To go along with the liberal assumption that new technologies lead us only in the direction of collaboration and consensus is not only to deny this history, but the lived experience of those who are pursued by reactionary culture warriors. The left should affirm the persistence and importance of political conflict online, and develop strategies for combatting the right in those places where fact and history are rendered."

In brief

2015-02-11

A grizzly bear, Operation Mascot, Freedom Planet & Liberty Island, cosmic dust clouds, a cricket five-wicket list, more fine art, & a terrible, terrible opera...

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By Adam Cuerden, WPPilot, Xanthomelanoussprog, and Hafspajen
Upper New York Bay in the United States, the location of the Lady Liberty, one of the most iconic U.S. landmarks. The origin of the Statue of Liberty project is sometimes traced back to a comment made by French law professor and politician Édouard René de Laboulaye in mid-1865. Join WPPilot over New York Harbor for a spectacular aerial tour of Lower Manhattan
.
This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted to featured status from 25 January to 31 January. Text may be adapted from the respective articles and lists; see their page histories for attribution.

Featured articles

Two

featured articles
were promoted this week.

Corsair fighters and Barracuda bombers ranged on the flight deck of HMS Formidable during operations off Norway in July 1944.
  • Operation Mascot (nominated by Nick-D) Operation Mascot was an unsuccessful British air raid conducted by carrier-borne aircraft against the German battleship Tirpitz at her anchorage in Kaafjord, Norway, on 17 July 1944. The attack was just one of a series of strikes against the battleship launched from aircraft carriers between April and August 1944, initiated after Allied intelligence determined that the damage inflicted during the Operation Tungsten raid on 3 April had been repaired. A force of 44 British dive bombers and 40 fighters took off from three aircraft carriers on 17 July. German radar stations detected these aircraft while they were en route to Kaafjord so the Tirpitz was protected by a smoke screen when the strike force arrived.
  • action
    scenes.

Featured lists

Three

featured lists
were promoted this week.

Jimmy Anderson bowling during the second Test of India's tour of England in 2007

Featured pictures

Twenty-five

featured pictures
were promoted this week.

A Kodiak bear looking at the photographer on today's menu :). Luckily, this bear couldn't decide whether our photographer would be best boiled or fried, and missed his chance.
The Threatened Swan by Jan Asselijn.
Spaceship One
.
Whaler's Cove, in Point Lobos, California. Sadly, the number of tall ships has diminished, but the number of tourists has increased. Poor Whaler's Cove.
Elliðaey, an island south of Iceland, has avoided those nasty tourists. Mainly by only having one house on it.
Look, another seascape by Winslow Homer!
Hereford Cathedral wants people to visit. What a strange place. It's as if it's built for people to come to!
The Old Musician, an 1862 oil painting by Édouard Manet.
The piece was titled "Stanza of
Anglo-Saxon Poetry
" and read:

Twas bryllyg, and ye slythy toves
Did gyre and gymble in ye wabe:
All mimsy were ye borogoves;
And ye mome raths outgrabe.

Other
palaeontology
and geology. The poem was soon translated (!) into other languages too, and lots of interesting poetry come out of that. In German it goes like this:

Es brillig war. Die schlichten Toven
Wirrten und wimmelten in Waben:
Und aller-mümsige Burggoven
Die mohmen Räth' ausgraben.

It sounds best in Welsh, of course:

Mae'n brydgell ac mae'r brochgim stwd
Yn gimblo a gyrian yn y mhello:
Pob cólomrws yn féddabwd,
A'r hoch oma'n chwibruo.

Nobody can deny that original touche to it.


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2015-02-11

Bowled over

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By Serendipodous

Wikipedia presents itself as a repository for the world, and while that is a noble sentiment, it is still true that, as far as viewers are concerned, the English language Wikipedia is very often the American Wikipedia, and never has that been more apparent than this week. The

Bruce Jenner
, an American reality TV star, it's clear that American obsessions are paramount this week.

For the full top 25 list, see

WP:TOP25. See this section
for an explanation of any exclusions.

As prepared by Serendipodous, for the week of February 1 to 7, 2015, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages, were:

Rank Article Class Views Image Notes
1 Tom Brady B-class 2,144,681
Prior to this week, the
MVP for Super Bowl XLIX
for scoring four passing touchdowns.
2 Chris Kyle B-class 1,585,185
If there's one thing America loves, it's a good, old fashioned
American Sniper may not be wowing the critics (Rotten Tomatoes
places it 13th among the films he has directed), nor drawing the crowds overseas (its international box office take is currently less than a third its domestic take) but it has played spectacularly well in America's conservative heartland, leading politicians on the left and right to, well, snipe at each other about what the film and its popularity say about America, its people, and in particular its subject, the now deceased sniper Chris Kyle. While interest seems to be winding down (viewing figures for this article peaked at 5.3 million two weeks ago) the topic still has enough oxygen to keep it near the top of this list.
3 List of Super Bowl champions Featured List 1,480,853 This list invariably pops up once a year, as Americans first scramble for facts to determine which team will win, then rush back to see if their dream/nightmare came true.
4 Super Bowl XLIX C-class 1,396,896 I loathe American football, but even I would have been captivated by this game; with the teams tied at half time, the Seahawks built up a ten-point lead in the 3rd quarter, but the Patriots pulled into the lead in the final two minutes. Almost inevitably, this was the highest rated Super Bowl in history, with viewership peaking at 120 million, nearly two fifths of the entire US population.
5 Juan Cuadrado Start-class 974,691
The
Chelsea
on 2 February for £26.8 million ($40.8 million), but the negotiations went down to the wire, leading to a spike of interest the day before.
6 Katy Perry Featured Article 935,844
Super Bowl viewership rose substantially during the singer's performance at the halftime show.
7 New England Patriots B-Class 930,455
The winners of this year's Super Bowl are happily ensconced in the top 25. The losers aren't, which is sad. They're the
Guinness World Record for loudest crowd noise. Twice. They've won nine division titles and three conference championships. They won last year's Super Bowl
. The Patriots didn't. Seriously, they're a great team.
8 Fifty Shades of Grey B-Class 713,992
The onetime
fanfic that introduced 100 million bored housewives to the questionable joys of BDSM shot back into the list thanks to the imminent release of the film adaptation.
9
Bruce Jenner
 Start-Class 897,891
The former track and field Olympian and current honorary Kardashian got into the news this week.
10 Super Bowl B-class 842,313 This is clearly becoming a trend.


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2015-02-11

Brand new WikiProjects profiled

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By Rcsprinter123

It takes half your life before you discover life is a do-it-yourself project.

— Napoleon Hill

This week, we bring three of the most recently created WikiProjects to come into being on the English Wikipedia. While many long-established projects are becoming inactive, (as we have covered before), that doesn't stop new ones forming every now and then to cover a topic that a group of editors feel should be better cared for. Sometimes, they are branches and task forces of existing projects, or they may be completely new, where an editor has found a niche that needs to be represented.

It is important that, to stay alive, these projects gain a reasonable number of participants so that one or two users retiring does not completely halt its progress. Once formed, they still need to be able to respond to issues and tag articles relating to their subject. This means they should ensure their focus is not too narrow or too broad, the project's goals are clear, and the project receives adequate publicity.

So, this report will be profiling three newly founded projects to give them the exposure and, dare we say, kick start to ensure long-lived success.

Lede Improvement Team

Many Wikipedians have come across two certain categories: Wikipedia introduction cleanup and Pages missing lead section. There are maintenance tags for them available on Twinkle, and they are plastered atop many pages. But how many of us actually work specifically on improving and removing them? This is the question asked at the Teahouse by Tetra quark and DiscantX, who, despite only having been a Wikipedian for two months at the time, subsequently created this new maintenance project on January 18 this year. As many readers choose whether to read the remainder of an article based on its lead section, creating a project dedicated to lead improvement was definitely a good idea.

Noyster has shed some light on the project's goals, and how you can help:

Over 14,000 articles need their lede (or "lead") improving. More than 2,000 have no lede at all! The

lede
is the most-read part of any article. It is the introductory part that tells you briefly what the article is about, what it contains, and whether you want to read further. So improving ledes is one of the most important improvement tasks you can do. And anyone can do it—normally no research is needed, as the aim is to sum up the content already in the article itself.

A new WikiProject,

WikiProject Lede Improvement Team
, has been launched to bring together those who want to help with this work. Simple steps:

  1. Read
    this guidance
    about how the lede is normally written
  2. Mark yourself down as a participant on the
    WikiProject
  3. Pick any article from the
    Open task list
    and off you go!

Cosmology

Begun in late December, also by Tetra quark, this project already has around 16 members and looks as if it will continue to grow. Although one might think the subject is the territory of WikiProject Astronomy, founded back in 2006, any cosmologican (if that's the word) will be quick to tell you that this is less about the objects and places in the universe itself than the study of its actual existence, evolution, and eventual fate.

Cosmology also considers the physical forces and scientific laws at work around us, and indeed many of the projects highest-importance articles reflect this; articles such as

Hubble Bubble. Although most of the articles that come under this project have already been created, which might make some consider WP:Cosmology a latecomer with quite a few of its articles even at GA or FA status, there is still much to do. Their FAs () include general relativity, galaxy, redshift, formation and evolution of the Solar System and Cosmic Calendar
.

The subject as a whole is actually pretty narrow, as only around 150 articles are marked with its banner at all. Many of them, though, are still at C, Start and even Stub class, so it goes without saying that there is still a whole lot of article improvement to do.

British Overseas Territories

The smallest of the new projects featured so far, British Overseas Territories was formed back in November 2014 by Jaguar and so far, has acquired only two participants. Flying the Flag of the Falkland Islands with around 260 total articles within its realm, the project certainly seems as viable as any other geographically based project—except this one is spread throughout the world.

As with Cosmology, the articles in its scope were largely already created, and some had been improved to featured or good status, including British Empire (), Falkland Islands () and Hong Kong (). The problem would seem to be that the newly-created project simply hasn't received enough exposure or publicity to gain the awareness of Wikipedians internationally who may have an interest in this area, whether that be historical or current territories. So, while they can look forward to getting their articles up to scratch and expanding their list of Featured pictures, here is a look at their recommended to-do list:

It looks as if they may become as loaded with work as most other projects—and won't ever be

finished
.

If you would like us to feature your underappreciated WikiProject in the Signpost with an interview, or you know of another that could use a bit more of a helping hand, contact us at the WikiProject desk. New ideas can be pitched at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals. You can browse previous reports in the archive.

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2015-02-11

Feel the love

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By Pine

The Gallery will be an occasional Signpost feature highlighting quality images and articles from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons based on a particular theme, as well as articles you could help improve. This week, we feature subjects that are about love of all kinds.

Curator's comment: this gallery was inspired by Fabrice Florin (WMF)'s idea to have a Wikimedia blog post about love. If anyone felt that there was too little love in Wikimedia, I hope that this gallery will change their minds! --Pine✉ 00:54, 9 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]


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