Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2005-09-12/In the news

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In the news

By Catherine, 12 September 2005

Reuters discusses Wikipedia growth

Reuters featured "News junkies find Wikipedia more than encyclopedia", a September 6 article about how "the rising status of the site as the Web's intellectual demilitarized zone, the favored place people look for background on an issue or to settle a polemical dispute, also poses challenges for the volunteer ethic that gave it rise." It includes quotes from Jimbo Wales. Many other news agencies, including CNN Online and The Register, ran the article verbatim or wrote articles derived from the Reuters piece.

Wales profiled in Florida Trend

"Wiki Mania" is the cover story in the September issue of Florida Trend, "The Magazine of Florida Business". The article includes a profile of Jimbo Wales and an examination of the history and significance of Wikipedia and Wikicities.

Le Monde examines Wikipedia

Three articles about Wikipedia were printed in prominent French newspaper Le Monde in September. "Wikipedia, une encyclopédie libertaire sur le Net (Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia on the Net)" examines the history and philosophy of the project. "Trois questions à Jimmy Wales (Three questions for Jimmy Wales)", asks why Wales founded the project, what the wiki system is, and how the community resolves ideological differences. "Un défi pour les dictionnaires Larousse ou Robert (A challenge for the Larousse or Robert dictionaries)" discusses the competition Wikipedia may present to traditional French reference sources in the future.

FindLaw discusses open source information

FindLaw's Writ ran a commentary by John Dean on September 9 entitled "Doing Legal, Political, and Historical Research on the Internet: Using Blog Forums, Open Source Dictionaries, and More". Dean discussed the utility of "open source information", including Wikipedia, blogs, and the TPM Café. He also mentions an alleged error in his own article, which has since been properly attributed and described by Ummit and an anonymous user.

Blog mentions

JURIST used Wikipedia as a background reference for the Posse Comitatus Act, in their September 9 article "Katrina response has US lawmakers reconsidering Posse Comitatus Act"

During Hurricane Katrina, private homeland security blogger W. David Stephenson said, "there's also a prominent disclaimer: '[...] Do not decide whether to leave your house, shelter, or vehicle based on Wikipedia information.' True enough, but I can also visualize a situation, if things get worse and the conventional media are knocked out, where the Wikipedia posts might be the most accurate." Public wisdom: Hurricane Katrina wikipedia article growing rapidly.

Editorsweblog.org discussed "How Wikipedia's rising recognition may affect newspapers" on September 9.

Alexandre Enkerli writes about "Deep Change in the Media? (Truth and Trust, Information, Knowledge)", mentioning the Wikipedia/Britannica comparison in debates of trust and authority.