[WikiEN-l] Correction to New Yorker Article

[William Pietri]

The New Yorker recently added an editor's note to an article they
published in July:

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060731fa_fact


This has been noted by Nicholas Carr and Stephen Dubner (of
Freakonomics), and I imagine it will be picked up by others:

http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2007/02/never_trust_an.php
http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/2007/02/28/wikipedia-oops/


This is the editor's note:

    The July 31, 2006, piece on Wikipedia, “Know It All,” by Stacy
    Schiff, contained an interview with a Wikipedia site administrator
    and contributor called Essjay, whose responsibilities included
    handling disagreements about the accuracy of the site’s articles and
    taking action against users who violate site policy. He was
    described in the piece as “a tenured professor of religion at a
    private university” with “a Ph.D. in theology and a degree in canon
    law.”

    Essjay was recommended to Ms. Schiff as a source by a member of
    Wikipedia’s management team because of his respected position within
    the Wikipedia community. He was willing to describe his work as a
    Wikipedia administrator but would not identify himself other than by
    confirming the biographical details that appeared on his user page.
    At the time of publication, neither we nor Wikipedia knew Essjay’s
    real name. Essjay’s entire Wikipedia life was conducted with only a
    user name; anonymity is common for Wikipedia admin-istrators and
    contributors, and he says that he feared personal retribution from
    those he had ruled against online. Essjay now says that his real
    name is Ryan Jordan, that he is twenty-four and holds no advanced
    degrees, and that he has never taught. He was recently hired by
    Wikia—a for-profit company affiliated with Wikipedia—as a “community
    manager”; he continues to hold his Wikipedia positions. He did not
    answer a message we sent to him; Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of
    Wikia and of Wikipedia, said of Essjay’s invented persona, “I regard
    it as a pseudonym and I don’t really have a problem with it.”



William


-- 
William Pietri <william at scissor.com>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:William_Pietri