Jump to content

Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2023-06-19/In the media: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
+forward, reuters / it's good to link to articles about publications (not everyone knows boingboing)
Line 12: Line 12:
{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Signpost-article-header-v2
{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Signpost-article-header-v2
|{{{1|Global lock for English Wikipedia contributor after BLP controversy on Italian Wikipedia}}}
|{{{1|Global lock for English Wikipedia contributor after BLP controversy on Italian Wikipedia}}}
|By [[User:Smallbones|Smallbones]] and [[User:Jayen466|Andreas Kolbe]]
|By [[User:Smallbones|Smallbones]], [[User:Jayen466|Andreas Kolbe]] and [[User:HaeB|HaeB]]
}}
}}


Line 31: Line 31:


The global lock of Gitz6666's account was [https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth/Gitz6666 made] by a [[WP:Stewards|steward]], [[User:Sakretsu]]. The rationale given was ''"violation of the UCoC, threatening and intimidating behaviour"''. – {{small|[[User:Jayen466|AK]]}}
The global lock of Gitz6666's account was [https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAuth/Gitz6666 made] by a [[WP:Stewards|steward]], [[User:Sakretsu]]. The rationale given was ''"violation of the UCoC, threatening and intimidating behaviour"''. – {{small|[[User:Jayen466|AK]]}}



=== ''World Book Encyclopedia'', 2023 edition ===
=== ''World Book Encyclopedia'', 2023 edition ===
Like many of us, including [[Jimmy Wales]], [[Benj Edwards]] grew up reading the ''[[World Book Encyclopedia]]''. His article in [[Ars Technica]]
Like many of us, including [[Jimmy Wales]], [[Benj Edwards]] grew up reading the ''[[World Book Encyclopedia]]''. His article in [[Ars Technica]]
[https://arstechnica.com/culture/2023/06/rejoice-its-2023-and-you-can-still-buy-a-22-volume-paper-encyclopedia/ ''I just bought the only physical encyclopedia still in print, and I regret nothing''] explains everything that can be said (sure) about ... It even gives a link to the World Book website where you can buy your own copy for $1,199 and says that he can occasionally find a copy on Amazon for $799. – {{small|[[User:Smallbones|S]]}}
[https://arstechnica.com/culture/2023/06/rejoice-its-2023-and-you-can-still-buy-a-22-volume-paper-encyclopedia/ ''I just bought the only physical encyclopedia still in print, and I regret nothing''] explains everything that can be said (sure) about ... It even gives a link to the World Book website where you can buy your own copy for $1,199 and says that he can occasionally find a copy on Amazon for $799. – {{small|[[User:Smallbones|S]]}}


===Holocaust and Polish nationalism: Critic proposes history advisory board===
In [[The Forward]], Shira Klein (chair of the Department of History at [[Chapman University]]) [https://forward.com/opinion/550600/wikipedia-holocaust-disinformation/ accuses] English Wikipedia of "repeatedly allow[ing] rogue editors to rewrite Holocaust history and make Jews out to be the bad guys," reiterating and expanding her criticism of the recent [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2023-05-22/Arbitration report|ArbCom decision in the "World War II and the history of Jews in Poland" case]] (see also [[Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2023-06-05/In the media|last issue's "In the media"]]). The case had been prompted by an academic paper ([[Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2023-03-09/Recent research|''Signpost'' review]]) where Klein and [[Jan Grabowski]] had identified "dozens of examples of Holocaust distortion which, taken together, advanced a Polish nationalist narrative, whitewashed the role of Polish society in the Holocaust and bolstered harmful stereotypes about Jews." Klein also gave a keynote speech about "[https://wikihistories.net/2023/03/10/klein-wikipedias-distortion-of-holocaust-history/ Wikipedia’s Distortion of Holocaust History]" at the [https://wikihistories.net/conference/wikihistories-2023/ Wikihistories conference] on June 9.

In her ''Forward'' article, Klein argues that "The problem is not the individual arbitrators, nor even ArbCom as a whole; the committee’s mandate is to judge conduct, never content. This is a good policy. [...] But this leaves a gaping hole in Wikipedia’s security apparatus. Its safeguards only protect us from fake information when enough editors reach a consensus that the information is indeed fake. When an area is dominated by a group of individuals pushing an erroneous point of view, then wrong information becomes the consensus."

Klein proposes that the Wikimedia Foundation (which "boasts an annual revenue of $155 million", and has previously invervened "to stem disinformation in Chinese Wikipedia, Saudi Wikipedia<!--sic--> and Croatian Wikipedia, with excellent results"), "must harness subject-matter experts to assist volunteer editors":
{{tqb|In cases where Wikipedia’s internal measures fail repeatedly, the foundation should commission scholars — mainstream scholars who are currently publishing in reputable peer-reviewed presses and work in universities unencumbered by state dictates [apparently a reference to [[History policy of the Law and Justice party|the situation in Poland]] ] — to weigh in.

In the case of Wikipedia’s coverage of Holocaust history, there is a need for an advisory board of established historians who would be available to advise editors on a source’s reliability, or help administrators understand whether a source has been misrepresented. [...] This is no radical departure from Wikipedia’s ethos of democratized knowledge that anyone can edit. This is an additional safeguard to ensure Wikipedia’s existing content policies are actually upheld."}}
– {{small|[[User:HaeB|H]]}}


===In brief===
===In brief===
<!-- {{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler image-v2|image=|size=300px|caption=CAPTION}} -->
<!-- {{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler image-v2|image=|size=300px|caption=CAPTION}} -->
*'''Citation needed''': [https://boingboing.net/2023/06/14/this-is-the-best-ever-wikipedia-citation-needed.html BoingBoing] felt certain they had located the best ever use of "[citation needed]" on Wikipedia. It was in the [[I've got your nose]] article. However, as might be expected with an encyclopedia updatable in real time, a reliable source was [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/1160103269 soon found] – meaning that the "[citation needed]" tag is no more.
*'''"Best ever" ''citation needed'' no longer needed''': [[BoingBoing]] [https://boingboing.net/2023/06/14/this-is-the-best-ever-wikipedia-citation-needed.html felt certain] they had located the best ever use of "[citation needed]" on Wikipedia. It was in the [[I've got your nose]] article. However, as might be expected with an encyclopedia updatable in real time, a reliable source was [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/1160103269 soon found] – meaning that the "[citation needed]" tag is no more.
*'''Russian fine''': [[Reuters]] [https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-fines-wikipedia-owner-failing-delete-azov-battalion-content-ifax-2023-06-06/ reports] (citing [[Interfax]]) that on June 6, a Russian court "fined the Wikimedia Foundation, which owns Wikipedia, 3 million roubles ($36,854) for refusing to delete an article on Ukraine's [[Azov battalion]]."


<br><br>
<br><br>

Revision as of 23:19, 18 June 2023

In the media

Global lock for English Wikipedia contributor after BLP controversy on Italian Wikipedia

Italian Wikipedia controversy leads to global lock of English Wikipedia contributor's account

Alessandro Orsini, the academic whose biography was at the centre of the controversy

Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano reports (Google Translation) on what it calls a "bizarre soap opera" surrounding the Italian Wikipedia biography of Alessandro Orsini (it). According to his university website, Orsini is an Associate Professor at LUISS University of Rome, where he teaches General Sociology and Sociology of Terrorism in the Department of Political Science, as well as a long-time (2011–2022) Research Affiliate at the MIT Center for International Studies. He has also written as a journalist for Il Messaggero and Il Fatto Quotidiano.

The dispute on the Italian Wikipedia was focused on whether his biography was unduly negative. It led to the global lock of User:Gitz6666, a user with around 7,500 edits and a clean block log on the English Wikipedia, though some prior blocks on Italian Wikipedia. Gitz6666 had recently been a party in the World War II and the history of Jews in Poland arbitration case; the case decision contained no findings of fact or remedies concerning them.

According to the Il Fatto Quotidiano article, Gitz6666 and another user, now also blocked, had been defending Orsini, arguing that the Italian Wikipedia biography had become an attack page. The press article agrees with their assessment, pointing out that the biography paints an unbalanced picture of the reception of Orsini's book Anatomy of the Red Brigades (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2011). The Italian Wikipedia article, currently protected by an admin, acknowledges that the book won an award but then focuses exclusively on negative reviews, including one published on an ex-terrorist's personal blog, while positive reviews (e.g. [1][2][3][4]) or mixed reviews (e.g. [5][6]) in reliable sources are not represented. The Il Fatto Quotidiano article, written by Lorenzo Giarelli, ties the biography controversy to critical comments Orsini has made about NATO.

The global lock of Gitz6666's account was made by a steward, User:Sakretsu. The rationale given was "violation of the UCoC, threatening and intimidating behaviour". – AK


World Book Encyclopedia, 2023 edition

Like many of us, including Jimmy Wales, Benj Edwards grew up reading the World Book Encyclopedia. His article in Ars Technica I just bought the only physical encyclopedia still in print, and I regret nothing explains everything that can be said (sure) about ... It even gives a link to the World Book website where you can buy your own copy for $1,199 and says that he can occasionally find a copy on Amazon for $799. – S


Holocaust and Polish nationalism: Critic proposes history advisory board

In The Forward, Shira Klein (chair of the Department of History at Chapman University) accuses English Wikipedia of "repeatedly allow[ing] rogue editors to rewrite Holocaust history and make Jews out to be the bad guys," reiterating and expanding her criticism of the recent ArbCom decision in the "World War II and the history of Jews in Poland" case (see also last issue's "In the media"). The case had been prompted by an academic paper (Signpost review) where Klein and Jan Grabowski had identified "dozens of examples of Holocaust distortion which, taken together, advanced a Polish nationalist narrative, whitewashed the role of Polish society in the Holocaust and bolstered harmful stereotypes about Jews." Klein also gave a keynote speech about "Wikipedia’s Distortion of Holocaust History" at the Wikihistories conference on June 9.

In her Forward article, Klein argues that "The problem is not the individual arbitrators, nor even ArbCom as a whole; the committee’s mandate is to judge conduct, never content. This is a good policy. [...] But this leaves a gaping hole in Wikipedia’s security apparatus. Its safeguards only protect us from fake information when enough editors reach a consensus that the information is indeed fake. When an area is dominated by a group of individuals pushing an erroneous point of view, then wrong information becomes the consensus."

Klein proposes that the Wikimedia Foundation (which "boasts an annual revenue of $155 million", and has previously invervened "to stem disinformation in Chinese Wikipedia, Saudi Wikipedia and Croatian Wikipedia, with excellent results"), "must harness subject-matter experts to assist volunteer editors":

In cases where Wikipedia’s internal measures fail repeatedly, the foundation should commission scholars — mainstream scholars who are currently publishing in reputable peer-reviewed presses and work in universities unencumbered by state dictates [apparently a reference to the situation in Poland ] — to weigh in. In the case of Wikipedia’s coverage of Holocaust history, there is a need for an advisory board of established historians who would be available to advise editors on a source’s reliability, or help administrators understand whether a source has been misrepresented. [...] This is no radical departure from Wikipedia’s ethos of democratized knowledge that anyone can edit. This is an additional safeguard to ensure Wikipedia’s existing content policies are actually upheld."

H

In brief

  • "Best ever" citation needed no longer needed: BoingBoing felt certain they had located the best ever use of "[citation needed]" on Wikipedia. It was in the I've got your nose article. However, as might be expected with an encyclopedia updatable in real time, a reliable source was soon found – meaning that the "[citation needed]" tag is no more.
  • Russian fine: Reuters reports (citing Interfax) that on June 6, a Russian court "fined the Wikimedia Foundation, which owns Wikipedia, 3 million roubles ($36,854) for refusing to delete an article on Ukraine's Azov battalion."



Do you want to contribute to "In the media" by writing a story or even just an "in brief" item? Edit next week's edition in the Newsroom or leave a tip on the suggestions page.

This page is a draft for the next issue of the Signpost. Below is some helpful code that will help you write and format a Signpost draft. If it's blank, you can fill out a template by copy-pasting this in and pressing 'publish changes': {{subst:Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Story-preload}}


Images and Galleries
Sidebar images

To put an image in your article, use the following template (link):

[[File:|center|300px|alt=TKTK]]

O frabjous day.
{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler image-v2
 |image     = 
 |size      = 300px
 |alt       = TKTK
 |caption   = 
 |fullwidth = no
}}

This will create the file on the right. Keep the 300px in most cases. If writing a 'full width' article, change |fullwidth=no to |fullwidth=yes.

Inline images

Placing

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Inline image
 |image   =
 |size    = 300px
 |align   = center
 |alt     = Placeholder alt text
 |caption = CAPTION
}}

(link) will instead create an inline image like below

[[File:|300px|center|alt=Placeholder alt text]]
CAPTION
Galleries

To create a gallery, use the following

<gallery mode = packed | heights = 200px>
|Caption for second image
</gallery>

to create

Quotes
Framed quotes

To insert a framed quote like the one on the right, use this template (link):

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler quote-v2
 |1         = 
 |author    = 
 |source    = 
 |fullwidth = 
}}

If writing a 'full width' article, change |fullwidth=no to |fullwidth=yes.

Pull quotes

To insert a pull quote like

use this template (link):

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Quote
 |1         = 
 |source    = 
}}
Long quotes

To insert a long inline quote like

The goose is on the loose! The geese are on the lease!
— User:Oscar Wilde
— Quotations Notes from the Underpoop

use this template (link):

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/block quote
 | text   = 
 | by     = 
 | source = 
 | ts     = 
 | oldid  = 
}}
Side frames

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

A caption

Side frames help put content in sidebar vignettes. For instance, this one (link):

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler frame-v2
 |1         = Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
 |caption   = A caption
 |fullwidth = no
}}

gives the frame on the right. This is useful when you want to insert non-standard images, quotes, graphs, and the like.

Example − Graph/Charts
A caption

For example, to insert the {{Graph:Chart}} generated by

{{Graph:Chart
 |width=250|height=100|type=line
 |x=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8|y=10,12,6,14,2,10,7,9
}}

in a frame, simple put the graph code in |1=

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler frame-v2
 |1=
{{Graph:Chart
 |width=250|height=100|type=line
 |x=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8|y=10,12,6,14,2,10,7,9
}}
 |caption=A caption
 |fullwidth=no
}}

to get the framed Graph:Chart on the right.

If writing a 'full width' article, change |fullwidth=no to |fullwidth=yes.

Two-column vs full width styles

If you keep the 'normal' preloaded draft and work from there, you will be using the two-column style. This is perfectly fine in most cases and you don't need to do anything.

However, every time you have a |fullwidth=no and change it to |fullwidth=yes (or vice-versa), the article will take that style from that point onwards (|fullwidth=yes → full width, |fullwidth=no → two-column). By default, omitting |fullwidth= is the same as putting |fullwidth=no and the article will have two columns after that. Again, this is perfectly fine in most cases, and you don't need to do anything.

However, you can also fine-tune which style is used at which point in an article.

To switch from two-column → full width style midway in an article, insert

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Signpost-block-end-v2}}
{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Signpost-block-start-v2|fullwidth=yes}}

where you want the switch to happen.

To switch from full width → two-column style midway in an article, insert

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Signpost-block-end-v2}}
{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Signpost-block-start-v2|fullwidth=no}}

where you want the switch to happen.

Article series

To add a series of 'related articles' your article, use the following code

Related articles
Visual Editor

Five, ten, and fifteen years ago
1 January 2023

VisualEditor, endowment, science, and news in brief
5 August 2015

HTTPS-only rollout completed, proposal to enable VisualEditor for new accounts
17 June 2015

VisualEditor and MediaWiki updates
29 April 2015

Security issue fixed; VisualEditor changes
4 February 2015


More articles

{{Signpost series
 |type        = sidebar-v2
 |tag         = VisualEditor
 |seriestitle = Visual Editor
 |fullwidth   = no
}}

or

{{Signpost series
 |type        = sidebar-v2
 |tag         = VisualEditor
 |seriestitle = Visual Editor
 |fullwidth   = yes
}}

will create the sidebar on the right. If writing a 'full width' article, change |fullwidth=no to |fullwidth=yes. A partial list of valid |tag= parameters can be found at here and will decide the list of articles presented. |seriestitle= is the title that will appear below 'Related articles' in the box.

Alternatively, you can use

{{Signpost series
 |type        = inline
 |tag         = VisualEditor
 |tag_name    = visual editor
 |tag_pretext = the
}}

at the end of an article to create

For more Signpost coverage on the visual editor see our visual editor series.

If you think a topic would make a good series, but you don't see a tag for it, or that all the articles in a series seem 'old', ask for help at the WT:NEWSROOM. Many more tags exist, but they haven't been documented yet.

Links and such

By the way, the template that you're reading right now is {{Editnotices/Group/Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Next issue}} (edit). A list of the preload templates for Signpost articles can be found here.