zero-
If viewed as a whole, Wikipedia is one of the truly
great web projects and its success cannot be questioned.
However, the model by which Wikipedia operates has its
limits and for some things it doesn't work. One of the
things it cannot do is to make high quality articles on
controversial topics.
We definitely have problems in this area. My current thinking, briefly
summarized:
1) Be very inclusive. NPOV can only work if everyone gets a fair chance to
have their point of view included in an article (even if not the main
article).
2) Center discussions around issues rather than people. Conduct systematic
peer review in different categories for every article. Highlight
unsourced/unattributed claims in the article.
3) Facilitate forking. It should be easy to create and maintain forks of
controversial articles written from a specific group's point of views -
not necessarily within the Wikimedia framework, but outside of it. Others
can then take Wikipedia, Wikinews or Wikibooks entries and develop them
according to their respective belief systems.
4) Eliminate edit wars. The most obvious solution seems to be a "Ban to
talk page" feature that does not protect the whole page, but only forces
the users involved in an edit war to discuss the issue.
5) Faster response when people violate the rules, by randomly selected
trusted user committees or something similar. Milder, but quicker
punishments. Less talk, more action.
2)-5) require changes to the software. Have patience, they will come. Some
related proposals and documents are on Meta, particularly LiquidThreads
and Wikiflow.
In the meantime, my advice is to either keep stirring, or to bookmark the
last revision of the page which you find acceptable and wait for things to
improve.
Regards,
Erik