I see your point, but we need some kind of headline that a journalist would
find somehow newsworthy: it has to be "someone does something". In that
context, I think Bobby's suggested opening makes sense.
I see there have also been some improvements to the draft text that I
proposed online: I agree completely with your and Douglas's changes; I've
done a little copy-editing as well.
On 17 December 2017 at 08:23, Peter Southwood <peter.southwood(a)telkomsa.net>
wrote:
We condemn all vandalism don’t we? There is nothing
special about the
recent stuff. All caps is maybe a bit overdoing it too.
-----Original Message-----
From: WikimediaZA [mailto:wikimediaza-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On
Behalf Of Bobby Shabangu
Sent: 17 December 2017 06:34
To: WikimediaZA List
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia ZA] Wikipedia vandalism in the news
Hi guys,
Apologies for the delayed response, I don't have full access to internet
these festives, and hey David thanks for putting the draft response
together it covers all the points brought up by Ian.
I was thinking we can use the standard Wikimedia press release template
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_press_release_agencies?wprov=sfla1
But it definitely doesn't fit in this case.
I'm however adding the following lines on top of what David has already
written just to be clear where we stand as a chapter and that we exist. And
if anyone doesn't object to my addition before 10pm today then I'll send
this to the editors of news24, politics web and perhaps the Daily Maverick
for Monday publishing.
===
Press release:
WIKIMEDIA SOUTH AFRICA CONDEMNS THE RECENT VANDALISM THAT HAS BEEN TAKING
PLACE ON THE ONLINE ENCYCLOPAEDIA WIKIPEDIA.
17 December 2017
Johannesburg - WikimediaZA, the South African chapter affiliated to the
Wikimedia Foundation has noted media reports about the vandalism of some
Wikipedia articles about South African politicians and business people that
has been taking place on the online encyclopeadia recently.
Wikimedia South Africa would like to condemn these acts of vandalism, and
point out that Wikipedia....David's draft.
*End.*
*Boiler plate*
On 15 Dec 2017 15:13, "Douglas Scott" <douglas.i.scott(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Hello everyone,
I also saw the same articles about Jooste and Niehause and also
thought about drafting a letter to the press mentioning the exact
three things Ian mentioned. Namely: "explain how Wikipedia works,
Wikimedia ZA, Wikipedia exists in languages besides English" as well
as the need for more South Africans to edit Wikipedia to ensure that
vandalism like this is detected and corrected sooner.
Thank you David for starting a draft response. I am looking at it now.
I am very busy these past few days and for the next few days so I will
not be able to send through the finished response to the media. Ian
could you or one of the other directors please send through the media
response today or tomorrow? I think it would be good to act on this
ASAP as the news cycle changes quickly.
Regards,
Douglas.
On 14 December 2017 at 20:49, Helen Riding <helenriding(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
You might want to include the recent Markus
Jooste vandalism.
https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/business/2017-12-
08-what-wikipedia-is-saying-about-markus-jooste-its-not-pretty/
On 14 Dec 2017 8:46 PM, "David Richfield" <davidrichfield(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
> Thanks for this alert!
>
> I've started a draft response at
>
http://wikimedia.org.za/wiki/Response_to_Niehaus_vandalism .
> Everyone, please do the wiki thing and improve it as you see fit.
> Anyone who needs a login on the Wikimedia ZA wiki, let me know.
>
> Bobby, in which forum do you think we should respond?
>
> On 14 December 2017 at 16:44, Ian Gilfillan <
wikimediaza(a)greenman.co.za>
wrote:
> Hi
> This article is one of the many locally that misunderstands how
Wikipedia
> > works:
> >
http://www.politicsweb.co.za/news-and-analysis/carl-niehaus- called-an-
> embarrassment-to-the-human-
> >
> > It would be good as WikimediaZA to respond to these kind of things.
> >
> > Unfortunately I'm off very shortly and will have no internet
> > access
for
>
about a week, but perhaps we can work on a template and rapid
response/press
> release for these kind of situations in future. Ideally it
> should
> - explain how Wikipedia works
> - mention Wikimedia ZA
> - mention that Wikipedia exists in languages besides English
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
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wikimedia.org
--
David Richfield
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+49 176 72663368
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司道格
Skype: douglas0scott
South African mobile number: +27 (0)79 515 8727
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