From: wikien-l-bounces@Wikipedia.org [mailto:wikien-l-bounces@Wikipedia.org] On Behalf Of Fastfission Sent: Friday, 4 November 2005 05:19 To: English Wikipedia Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Re: Press badges
Even if it were not automatic, it would be worth absolutely zilch by itself.
Accreditation is by definition a somewhat exclusive and elitist activity. It is not compatible with the ideals that "anyone can be a reporter" or "anyone can be an editor." If "anyone can be accredited" then such accreditation becomes as meaningful as a mail-order PhD.
WikiNews has a policy (http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Accreditation_policy) which seems to work. Not everyone is a Wikipedia (or WikiNews) editor and not every editor gets accreditation - just those who get a consensus on application.
The big benefit would be closer photographer access to events and photo-opportunities, resulting in photographs which aren't subject to the usual restrictions if we source them elsewhere.
Peter (Skyring)