Jimmy Wales wrote:
In my opinion, there was no need to *protect* that particular article in that particular case. Assume Good Faith as we work out the kinks in the process. :)
I guess I'm unsure what the process *is*. I've only ever encountered the process in the form of unilateral decrees: "This article is protected by order of the Wikimedia Foundation; don't touch!"
If it's supposed to be a softer process, why is it even a "process" at all? There are numerous ways in which incorrect or biased information can be brought to the attention of editors to be fixed. The preferred method is to post a message on the talk page, or just be bold and edit the article yourself. For people not that adventurous who want to call up the Foundation and complain by phone instead, whoever answers the phone can pass along those complaints by posting a message on the talk page of the article: "Harry Reid's office called us up and has issues with the following sections/information: [x], [y], [z]; it would be great if someone could fix this ASAP".
-Mark