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encyclopedias have out-of-date information on what happened a long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.
--
== Dan ==
Dan's Mail Format Site:
http://mailformat.dan.info/
Dan's Web Tips:
http://webtips.dan.info/
Dan's Domain Site:
http://domains.dan.info/