Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:00:06 +0100 From: Debora Weber-Wulff D.Weber-Wulff@fhtw-berlin.de Subject: Re: Wikipedia prankster dupes German media (RISKS-25.57)
Actually, the prank goes deeper.
An anonymous IP (shorthand for non-registered editors on the Wikipedia), 78.34.237.194, a broadband user from Cologne, added the additional given name "Wilhelm" on 8 Feb 2009 at 9.40 pm for the newly designated German Minister of Commerce [1]. As a true blue-blood, he has more than the average number of them.
On 9 Feb at 12.23 pm the administrator Arudaki complained that there was no source for this name, and removed all of the additional given names [2]. But by then the damage had been done, and the newspapers who had done a quick Wikipedia "fact"-check were already online and included the name "Wilhelm".
A rage ensued, as people "fixed" the Wilhelm back in, quoting the now online sources that had used the faked Wikipedia entry. As is usual in a vandalism war, the page was removed from editing mode until people could cool down and get out a copy of the German peerage book [3] and discover that there was no "Wilhelm" listed there. The page is back being editable (and of course the pranksters keep putting in new names such as "Marcus", but they get quickly reverted (and the prankster given an hour in the corner, unable to edit).
Anonymous then bragged about his or her heroic feat in [4], and it became clear that the German media relies heavily on the Wikipedia, without citation, of course. And this is not just the more yellow press, many newspapers printed the name.
The risks? Don't rely on Wikipedia information for current events. And find a second, preferably offline, source for your information if you are doing serious journalism. Especially if you are doing print.
[1] http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Karl-Theodor_zu_Guttenberg&old... [2] http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Karl-Theodor_zu_Guttenberg&old... [3] Genealogischen Handbuch des in Bayern immatrikulierten Adels, Band 17. Neustadt, Aisch, 1988 [4] http://www.bildblog.de/5695/wie-ich-freiherr-von-guttenberg-zu-wilhelm-macht... with picture document of the Bild front page
Prof. Dr. Debora Weber-Wulff,FHTW Berlin, FB 4, Internationale Medieninformatik (from 1.4.2009 HTW Berlin), Treskowallee 8, 10313 Berlin +49-30-5019-2320 weberwu@(f)htw-berlin.de http://www.f4.(f)htw-berlin.de/people/weberwu/