User:TJive
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A recent minor and uncontroversial incident reveals Wikipedia's capacity to amplify misinformation to ostensibly respectable sources. On a whim, I recently rewrote Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a bizarre Russian politician and ultra-nationalist whose article was in terrible shape. I largely kept to the given references as well as another few that I found. In doing so, I inadvertently misstated the effect of a passage from a 1993 TIME piece thusly:
- For his own part, Zhirinovsky has done a great deal to foster a reputation as a loud and boisterous populist who speaks on behalf of the Russian nation and people, even when the things he says are precisely what many people, at home or abroad, do not want to hear. Zhirinovsky infamously promised voters in 1991 that if he were elected, free vodka would be distributed to all. Similarly, he once remarked casually to a reporter, while inside a department store, that if he were made president, brassieres would be freely available. He has on several occasions been involved in altercations with other politicians and debate opponents. [1]
As I corrected the article to reflect later, he was in the middle of a rally, not speaking to a reporter, and promised to provide underwear, not brassieres specifically (although he was holding one).
Another editor contributed a passage pertaining to Zhirinovsky's search for his father, which I requested that he source. Once he obliged, I searched for the online edition of the article, from the Israeli Haaretz. Among other similarities with the Wikipedia article, I found this passage:
- Above all, though, he is known for his direct and blunt style of speech, which sometimes slides into coarse language. Zhirinovsky promised that if he were elected president, he would hand out vodka and brassieres. He did not hesitate to become involved in fistfights with his rivals. On one occasion he struck a Duma member. In 1995 he threw a glass of juice into the face of his political rival Boris Nemtsov during a live-television debate. Nemtsov responded in kind. It is not surprising that Zhirinovsky is much in demand as a television guest. [2]
I contacted the author, explaining how it was in error to say that he promised to hand out brassieres, as the source is much more ambiguous on the point. While it wouldn't be prudent to print his response without authorization, he did admit to looking at the page (among other sources) and told me to keep in mind the translation from Hebrew to English. The Hebrew edition of Zhirinovsky's article is much smaller, so this could only mean that "underwear" and "brassiere" have the same word in Hebrew. I don't know; I've only studied Biblical Hebrew. But the structure of the passage is so similar to that of the Wikipedia article that it is hard to conclude anything but that he picked it up from my own language.
This would be a minor point if it did not demonstrate that Wikipedia's errors and misinformation can easily be picked up by other publications as fact. Wikipedia is mostly written by non-experts making indefinite "works in progress". The effect of misinformation isn't merely on crawlers and lazy student researchers. It can also lead to chicken-egg paradoxes where controversial or disputed items can be reflected off the other with no awareness of what assertion begat what. After all, what if I was inserting subtle vandalism and said he promised to hand out jars of pickles? Or cowboy hats? It's Zhirinovsky; would anyone really doubt it, if Haaretz said it as well?
The following are of interest to editors familiar or unfamiliar with User:Ruy Lopez and his behavior:
- User:TJive/Ruy Lopez
- User:TJive/Ruy Lopez links
- User:TJive/Wikipediawatch
- User:TJive/The Ongoing Trolling
- User:TJive/Max Shachtman
- User:TJive/AltWiki
- User:TJive/Stalin
- User:TJive/RuyWikipedia
- User:TJive/Bee Hive
- User:TJive/Lamb Chop
Other links of interest:
