Imagination Wins

The world according to Wikipedia looks like a puzzle with a few pieces missing

In many ways, Wikipedia is a journalist’s best friend. The site provides copious and often entertaining information about many of the most obscure or technical subjects.

Loads of journalists – probably far more than would admit it – use Wikipedia as a major source of information for our stories.

But as one Irish student demonstrated, the wiki model of gathering information from a crowd leaves the site prone to inaccuracies, either intentional or accidental.

(Incidentally, companies should keep these shortcomings in mind as they develop internal wiki sites for knowledge sharing and problem solving purposes.)

In the  Case of the Irish Student (which sounds like a Sherlock Holmes case, but isn’t), Wikipedia actually caught and removed the fake quote the student had submitted to a recently deceased French composer Maurice Jarre’s biographical page, but news outlets around the world integrated the quote into their obituaries of the composer nonetheless.

The moral of the story? Factchecking is key.

Using Wikipedia is fine for getting familiar with the background of a subject, particularly a technical or obscure one. But journalists – whether professional or respectable amateurs – have a responsibility to dig deeper and look for secondary sources with which to check their facts.

Theoretically, Wikipedia can even serve as a guide to factchecking, since many Wikipedia pages have footnotes leading to primary sources. Of course, the authenticity or authority of these sources also needs to be considered carefully by any researcher.

In the 24/7/365 nonstop news cycle, accuracy and precision often get short shrift. Something tells me this won’t be the last time journalists get egg on their faces due to a Wikipedia (mis)quote.