[WikiEN-l] Current events and breaking news

[Daniel R. Tobias]

Regarding all the discussion lately about whether Wikipedia ought to 
have coverage of breaking events right as they happen, this sort of 
thing is what brings out both the best and the worst of Wikipedia.

At its best, Wikipedia has up-to-date information on things of 
current interest, placed in historical context, something that no 
other medium can do in quite the same way: news media have info on 
what just happened now without much context, while printed 
encyclopedias have out-of-date information on what happened a long 
time ago without recent updates.  The easy updatability of Wikipedia, 
combined with its ability to hyperlink things together, give it the 
ability to have simultaneous depth, breadth, currency, and history.

You also see it at its worst during times of rapidly-changing events, 
though; there's a dizzying succession of edits to any related 
articles which include the posting of rumors, hearsay, and 
speculation as if it were fact; lots of jumping to conclusions about 
what has happened, what effect it will have, and what it all means; 
and plenty of cases of outright vandalism.  The high edit volume 
makes it an exercise in frustration to make any sort of update, due 
to edit conflicts.  Thus, one can see why some would desire that 
current events be left out until they have a chance to settle down a 
bit.

On the other hand, such breaking events *also* show the best and the 
worst of the mainstream media.  Look at tapes of the live TV or radio 
coverage of a major past event (the Kennedy assassination, the Reagan 
attempted assassination, the 2000 U.S. presidential election, the 
9/11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina) and you'll see the same sorts of 
missteps and pratfalls you see on Wikipedia (though generally minus 
the outright vandalism).  Announcers report rumors and then retract 
them.  Things are reported as fact that turn out to be false.  James 
Brady is dead... no he isn't!  Bush is projected as the winner... no, 
Gore is projected as the winner... no, Bush... no, it's too close to 
call.  The Pope is dead... no he isn't... OK, *now* he is.  
Announcers sometimes interrupt one another to bring in new bulletins.

So, everybody has some problems dealing with events that flood in too 
rapidly to keep track of.  But at least Wikipedia's coverage 
eventually settles down to a reasonable article.

-- 
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