Chad-
The initial goal of this effort as a whole was
distributing encyclopedic
knowledge to the world at large. If a new Wikinews project might
interfere with the ability to get a Wikipedia into the hands of people
worldwide, I tend to think that the proposed Wikinews project's goals
must take a back seat to those of the already existing Wikipedia
project.
I find it very dubious that an NPOV Wikipedia can exist in the long term
in an environment where an NPOV Wikinews cannot. Either it will be
modified to suit the interests of the censors, or it will be censored.
I am deliberately writing "an NPOV Wikipedia" and not "an NPOV
encyclopedia." There is an important distinction. Unlike traditional
paper encyclopedias, Wikipedia is, in fact, very good at dealing with
current events -- so good that, in cases of major global events, it
often provides much better background information than Wikinews itself.
The Chinese Wikipedia has an "In the news" section on the frontpage just
like the English one, and articles about current political issues are
created as they happen.
I do not disagree that Wikinews faces an increased risk, since it will
cover everyday politics in much greater detail than Wikipedia does. I
do, however, also believe that the integrity of our information is of
paramount importance, and that the Chinese Wikipedia will face serious
issues of integrity, if it does not already do so.
In an environment dominated by fear, NPOV will be difficult to maintain.
The peer dynamics may ensure conformity with the government's version of
reality: "Don't write this -- you don't want all of Wikipedia to be
censored!" Are we, as a community, sending the Chinese Wikipedians the
signal that this is the *wrong* thing to do? That, if an NPOV
presentation will be censored, then we must face that censorship? That
it is important to stand up for this principle?
By launching the Chinese Wikinews when there are enough interested
participants, we could send this clear signal. We could let everyone
know that the Wikimedia community is not driven by fear, but by a thirst
for knowledge and a desire to share it. If the Chinese government wants
to censor a community-driven project whose stated goal is a neutral
presentation of the facts on any subject, then let it do so. And then
let the Chinese people find out about it.
Be bold.
Erik