On 10/04/07, David Monniaux David.Monniaux@free.fr wrote:
David Gerard a écrit :
I don't, sadly :-) but it's also interesting for Commons press releases. Here's a somewhat-related question: I have ideas for press releases to drag the general public to Commons at a *fantastic* rate.
Please do tell.
Start with the question and answer:
Q. What do I need to get involved with Commons? A. A camera.
(There's more to it than that. But that's a very good start.)
As a person who answers the media as well as people from various groups in France (politicians, librarians etc.) I can say that very few people have heard of Wikimedia projects outside Wikipedia. Wikisource and Wikimedia Commons are unknown.
Yep. Utterly. But I see Wikimedia Commons as the sort of idea that could catch attention. (If the search didn't suck.)
What's more, journalists are not interested when we tell them about these projects, in general.
I put the idea of Commons across to journalists as: "We're not Getty Images yet, but we aspire to be. Once the search doesn't suck." They get that instantly. Though not in a form that they could write for their readers.
(It's much like journalists generally having good will toward Wikipedia, in my experience, because it's the universal backgrounding resource, and they have the naturally sceptical mindset to get best value out of it.)
But, see, discussion of "free" licenses goes waaaaay beyond what the public is supposed to be able to handle, and probably what most journalists can understand. The French public is used to the (contradictory) ideas that if it's free in practice then it's free (as in, if nobody is going to prosecute me, it's ok), or that ultra-restrictive copyright is the way to go.
http://freedomdefined.org/ is a start on telling that story.
- Neither of these projects is as "scandalous" as Wikipedia is.
Journalists like scandal; they like Seigenthaler, Essjay etc. because it provides fodder for discussion. At least in France, they like to question "intellectuals" who will speak ill of Wikipedia (or will not, to their displeasure, as occurred during a radio debate to which I was invited).
What scandals are Commons likely to have?
* Massive copyright violation. * Questionable content (pornography, etc).
Any other good ones we can leverage when the time suits us? ;-)
- d.