[Foundation-l] breaking English Wikipedia apart

[Fred Bauder]

> First of all, I am not talking just about BLP. This is part of the
> problem. I am also concerned about new editors who were treated badly
> (that happens more often than you think), about unreasonable decisions
> of admins etc. Secondly, such ombudsman should keep a certain distance
> from Wikipedia's "corridors", namely, s/he must not be an administrator
> nor bureaucrat, and while s/he should be well acquainted with Wikipedia,
> perhaps it would be better if s/he won't edit. Furthermore, it is
> crucial that this person be identified by her/his real name and be
> reachable in various ways, not only through an e-mail address. It is
> also important that this person give a public account on the problems
> s/he handled and measures s/he took to solve them. The very existence
> of  such a report is the guarantee that all complaints be addressed
> properly, and in addition it would increase transparency and let us have
> a clear picture of the Wikipedian scene.
>
> Dror K

Having a layer of decision makers deciding content or making editorial or
administrative decisions that have no experience editing or
administrating is pretty much a non-starter. Exposing them to social,
economic, and legal pressure from aggrieved parties is not a good idea
either. Publishing their decisions and interventions, all ordinary edits
and edits are already published, breaks down precisely in the case of
material that is deleted or suppressed now, publishing it is
inappropriate, or even actionable.

Fred