--- On Tue, 10/5/11, David Gerard <dger...@gmail.com> wrote: > From: David Gerard <dger...@gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Otto Middleton (a morality tale) > To: "English Wikipedia" <wikien-l@lists.wikimedia.org> > Date: Tuesday, 10 May, 2011, 17:11 > On 10 May 2011 17:04, Scott MacDonald > <doc.wikipe...@ntlworld.com> > wrote: > > > I've written a little essay which I think serves to > illustrate the dangers > > of Wikipedia's tendency to create articles (and > particularly BLPs) from a > > pastiche of newspaper articles. > > See > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Otto_Middleton_%28or_why_newspapers_a > > re_dubious_sources%29 > > It may amuse (or it may not) > > > Yep. Anyone who calls a newspaper a "reliable source" in > terms other > than comparison to even worse sources has clearly never > been written > about by one. > > Suggestion: move the explanatory box to the top.
A while ago there was a discussion at WP:V talk whether we should recast the policy's opening sentence: "The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth— whether readers can check that material in Wikipedia has already been published by a reliable source, not whether editors think it is true." (As usual, the discussion came to nought.) That sentence -- whose provocative formulation has served Wikipedia well in keeping out original research -- is a big part of the problem. A. _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
