[WikiEN-l] RE: Re: Press badges

[Brown, Darin]

> Message: 4
> Date: Mon, 7 Nov 2005 08:39:31 -0500
> From: "Chip Berlet" <c.berlet at publiceye.org>
> Subject: RE: [WikiEN-l] Re: Press badges
> To: "English Wikipedia" <wikien-l at Wikipedia.org>
> Message-ID:
> 	<477C2A7D4CCE994B8CF296DA69A31D3D39BDE1 at server.publiceye.local>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> Wikinews, however, is a form of alternative media, and should fee free to
> issue press credentials to members of the Wikinews community who have a
> track record of regular and substantive contributions, and a willingness
> to recognize that they are carrying the reputation of Wikinews with them;
> and thus should behave in appropriate ways given local country/city media
> standards--even if they disagree with those standards.

I can't agree. If wikinews really is a form of "alternative media", then how
is wikinews any different than various alternative media with a clear
leftist, rightist, libertarian, conservative, populist, etc., etc., slant?
Just because we say we don't have a bias? Fox News says they don't have a
bias, either. And look at them.

And then we are taking money from people for Wikimedia, under the guise that
we are using to present a neutral relaying of information. If this is okay
for us, again, Fox News or the New York Post could just as well do the exact
same thing. But people who pay money to watch Fox News or the New York Post
*know* it's biased.

darin