There's an interesting story leading in the British newspaper the
Independent this morning based on an undercover sting of lobbyists Bell
Pottinger:
"Discussing techniques for managing reputations online, Mr Wilson mentioned
a team that could 'sort' Wikipedia.
"'We've got all sorts of dark arts,' added Mr Collins. 'I told him
[David
Wilson] he couldn't put them in the written presentation because it's
embarrassing if it gets out.'"
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/caught-on-camera-top-lobbyist…
There might be some editors who want to start an immediate investigation to
search for the members of this 'team' but I think that would probably be a
waste of time which would put suspicion on a large number of innocent
editors. It's always possible Bell Pottinger were boasting.
What might be better is to stress that any lobbyist seeking to use 'dark
arts' to correct inaccurate or unfair Wikipedia articles, or to add
properly sourced positive information, is best advised to use OTRS and to
provide sources. It seems to me that current policy and guideline pages are
much heavier on telling people what not to do and threatening dire
consequences, than they are on helping people to help us.
--
Sam Blacketer