Thanks for your comment Tom. I think it's a bit of both of those things. 

Wikipedia doesn't want PR professionals making edits without considering NPOV or COI. PRs don't want to end up in the press for "scurrilous editing of Wikipedia." Clients of PRs don't want erroneous or hostile information on their Wikipedia page. The approach taken in the guidelines, if followed, should negate all of those potential negatives. I think the big weakness that exists is the one discussed yesterday, the relative lack of OTRS volunteers.

Hope this is useful, but I'm happy to discuss further. The guidelines will certainly be revised at some point, and any useful changes we can make to them will be universally welcomed, I'm sure.

Thanks,

Stevie

On 15 November 2012 11:44, Thomas Morton <morton.thomas@googlemail.com> wrote:
I think it's an outcome of PR-types being dragged through the press for editing articles. So, yes, from that angle (a defensive mechanism) it's bad.

The guideline always struck me as coming from the direction of "this is how to avoid making the news" rather than "this is how to engage with Wikipedia".

Tom


On 15 November 2012 11:40, Stevie Benton <stevie.benton@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
Do you think that's a bad thing Andy? 


On 15 November 2012 11:36, Andy Mabbett <andy@pigsonthewing.org.uk> wrote:
Thanks for the additional info; I'm familiar with the history. My
point is that - for whatever reason - the CIPR guidelines are stricter
than Wikipedia's own, and we need to be mindful of that.

On 15 November 2012 10:58, Stevie Benton <stevie.benton@wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
> Thanks for your email Andy. I've already requested they correct that error.
>
> With regards to your point about COI editing - the guidelines the CIPR refer
> to were developed with WMUK, some Wikipedians and some people from CIPR and
> PRCA. The development took place on the WMUK Wiki and was widely shared and
> people were encouraged to participate.
>
> Regardless of whether there is a total prohibition on editing article spaces
> directly in EN:WP policy, we have seen (many, many times) that when PR
> professionals directly edit article space bad things happen. Even if edits
> are benign and factual, if it comes to light that they were made directly by
> PRs acting on behalf of a client, nobody wins and a COI is automatically
> assumed by many. It's not good for trust in Wikipedia, it's not good for the
> PR industry and it's not good for their clients.
>
> If you'd like some more background on the development of the guidance, a
> good place to start is at
> http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Draft_best_practice_guidelines_for_PR
>
> Thanks,
>
> Stevie
>
>
>
> On 15 November 2012 10:51, Andy Mabbett <andy@pigsonthewing.org.uk> wrote:
>>
>> On 15 November 2012 10:09, Stevie Benton <stevie.benton@wikimedia.org.uk>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > PR Week have published another story on this -
>> > http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/1159715/wikipedia-defends-editing-processes-following-finsbury-clean-up/
>>
>> They have you as "Wikipedia [with a "p"] UK comms organiser". is
>> suspect we may never win that battle.
>>
>> I note that it is claimed (and I don't doubt) that the "CIPR [...]
>> guidance for PROs [is that] they should not directly edit Wikipedia
>> pages relating to their organisation or a client". I should like
>> people to be mindful that that's not what en.Wikipedia's CoI guidance
>> says; there has never been consensus for a total prohibition (though I
>> acknowledge that some feel strongly that there should be).
>>
>> --
>> Andy Mabbett
>> @pigsonthewing
>> http://pigsonthewing.org.uk
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org
>> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
>> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Stevie Benton
> Communications Organiser
> Wikimedia UK
> +44 (0) 20 7065 0993 / +44 (0) 7803 505 173
> @StevieBenton
>
> Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
> Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered
> Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT.
> United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia
> movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who
> operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
>
> Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over
> Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>



--
Andy Mabbett
@pigsonthewing
http://pigsonthewing.org.uk

_______________________________________________
Wikimedia UK mailing list
wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org
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--
Stevie Benton
Communications Organiser
Wikimedia UK
+44 (0) 20 7065 0993 / +44 (0) 7803 505 173
@StevieBenton

Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).

Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.



_______________________________________________
Wikimedia UK mailing list
wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org
http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org



_______________________________________________
Wikimedia UK mailing list
wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org
http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org




--
Stevie Benton
Communications Organiser
Wikimedia UK
+44 (0) 20 7065 0993 / +44 (0) 7803 505 173
@StevieBenton

Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).

Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.