Do not Edit: Keeping News of Kidnapping Off Wikipedia
From the NYTimes:
“Mr. Rohde was kidnapped in Afghanistan on Nov. 10, along with his interpreter and their driver. Two days after the kidnapping, a Wikipedia user altered the entry on Mr. Rohde to emphasize his work that could be seen as sympathetic to Muslims…
The Wikipedia editor in that case was Michael Moss, an investigative reporter at The Times and friend of Mr. Rohde who has written extensively about groups like Al Qaedaand the Taliban. Like many Wikipedia editors, he adopted a user name that hid his true identity.
‘I knew from my jihad reporting that the captors would be very quick to get online and assess who he was and what he’d done, what his value to them might be,’ he said. ‘I’d never edited a Wikipedia page before.’”
Incredible little article, and - venting moment - painful to see how dense one Wikipedia user could be, as he repeatedly tried to edit the article to report on the kidnapping. Jimmy Wales had to become involved:
“We had no idea who it was,” said Mr. Wales, who said there was no indication the person had ill intent. “There was no way to reach out quietly and say ‘Dude, stop and think about this.’ ”
h/t JueW via email
