Exercise #1: Fun with Wikiality
Look at the Colbert Report clip, “Wikiality.”
Read Wikipedia’s own description of its editing model, “The Wikipedia Editing Model.”
Look at the Washington Post fact checker chart showing some Wikipedia edits, along with the source(s) of those edits, “Suspicious Wikipedia Edits.”
Consider the following questions:
Where does Wikipedia get its information?
Who is in charge of deciding what goes into an article and what gets removed from an article?
If there is some debate about whether a particular bit of information should or should not be included in an article, what is the process for deciding?
Is Colbert’s assessment that Wikipedia is “bringing democracy to knowledge” an accurate one?
If so, is this a good thing or a bad thing?
What does the Colbert clip lead you to think about the reliability of Wikipedia?
Exercise #2: Spotting Errors
In October 2005, John Seigenthaler Sr., a journalist and one-time aide to Robert Kennedy, discovered that his Wikipedia biography contained false and potentially libelous information. That information had been posted as a prank and had remained undetected and unaltered since May 2005. Eventually Seigenthaler had the entry corrected, and Wikipedia editors took the unusual step of hiding the faulty information. The prankster eventually came forward and apologized, and Seigenthaler graciously accepted the apology.
Read Sigenthaler’s complaint, “A False Wikipedia ‘Biography’”
Read Wikipiedia.org, “Siegenthaler Controversy”
Consider the following questions:
How reliable do you think Wikipedia actually is?
How would you know whether a particular article really is accurate?
How would you go about discovering whether an article contains inaccurate information?
After you’ve developed a method (hopefully based on the readings!) for discovering inaccuracies in Wikipedia, go find an inaccuracy in Wikipedia!
This doesn’t have to be a current inaccuracy. It can be in the history page.
I recommend you start by looking up articles related to your interests and looking at the history page.
If you are still having trouble finding an inaccuracy, try looking at the history page of a controversial subject: evolution, global warming, and stem cells are good places to start. There was also some controversy in the Christopher Columbus article.
Find at least one error in Wikipedia, report the error you found and how you found it and discuss the plus and minuses of Wikipedia.
