Wikipedia Bad Press ?

[Mark]

Did anyone happen to see a news report on Wikipedia last night or recently ?

A "editor" claiming to be a Professor was found to be a college Drop out :o

I seen it on TV - But this is the same story :

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,257340,00.html

NEW YORK — Wikipedia, the controversial online encyclopedia, is planning to ask its army of faceless Internet editors — known as Wikipedians — to verify their credentials after one of the most prolific of their number was exposed as a fraud.

The online reference work was dealt a serious blow last week as it emerged that EssJay, a Wikipedia editor understood by the site and its users to be a tenured professor of religion at a private university with expertise in canon law, was in fact a 24-year-old from Kentucky called Ryan Jordan with no higher educational qualifications to speak of.

 

[JBebbington]

IMO, that is where Wikipedia fails. There is no certainty that the information, or indeed the editorial staff, is as informative and truthful as they are claimed to be.

 

[blue^ray]

whats wrong? he must have known what he was talking about in order to qualify right?

 

[Mark]

No -

He didnt - that was the problem Even if he would have been qualified in one area .... He was editing Everything.

They weren't checking credentials at all.