on 1/17/12 11:31 AM, Alec Meta at alecmeta(a)gmail.com wrote:
Wikimedia is a movement. We're not a game,
we're not a website, we're not
even just an encyclopedia-- we're a nonviolent revolution in information
sharing.
For-profit media is harder to trust-- we've seen that "For-profit" media
often means "For sale".
In a time where it's hard to trust a congress or mainstream media, one
thing we can agree to trust is each other-- in the form of the Wikimedia
community and its leaders.
Today, I'm so proud to be a part of this community. It's _extra-clear_
today that we do stand for something-- indeed, we stand for something quite
revolutionary.
MSNBC and CNN can never afford to go back-- they have advertisers. We are
one of the few truly-non-profit information sources-- and that gives us a
unique value unlike for-profit information sources. In a sea of alphabet
soup, three letters we CAN trust are WMF.
I hope in 2012, the WMF will take its governance model and continue to
apply it outside the limited scope of encyclopedias. Genealogy is the
goto example--
Ancestry.com can't afford to blackout for good causes-- WE
can.
We're not just another information source-- we're an information source
with a conscience. That makes all the difference.
Good work, WMF. Thank you for what you've done, thank you for what you're
doing.
Very nicely said, Alec. I would like to add something I posted on the
English WP Mailing List:
Why Wikipedia is important:
Without knowledge, myths are born. With myths, fear is born. With fear,
intolerance is born. With intolerance, ignorance is born. With ignorance,
nothing is born.
Marc Riddell