[Foundation-l] Wikipedia articles based on Wikileaks material

[David Gerard]

On 12 December 2010 16:20, Fred Bauder <fredbaud at fairpoint.net> wrote:

> We might suppress a leak made directly into Wikipedia, for example
> information about a troop movement, but once something has been published
> on a thousand mirrors there is little point. I don't think links on
> Wikipedia to documents which remain classified is a good idea. The
> disclosed primary documents will come under intense analysis in reliable
> sources; those analyses are notable and properly included in Wikipedia
> despite their source in classified primary documents. Copying a list of
> potential military targets from a classified document would seem out of
> bounds unless a source generally considered reliable has widely
> distributed the list.


Yes, raw data is a primary source and therefore likely unsuitable for en:wp.

The raw data is, however, US government public domain and therefore
suitable for Wikisource as an important historical text (which it is).
Possibly when the whole collection has been released and there is
context to give. Particularly notable cables might be worth curating
for their importance.

(Note that although impact in the US of the actual information is
minimal, it's proving interesting in countries outside the US as
people discover what their elected leaders have actually been up to.
So there will in fact be individual documents that will be noteworthy
in themselves.)


- d.