[WikiEN-l] Times article, and BBC and Press Association followups

[Jussi-Ville Heiskanen]

Well, I did find that the Times was taking the phrase 'While Wikipedia
is still quite useful and an amazing phenomenon, I have come to the
view that it is also broken beyond repair.' - which is a direct
quotation from LMS, and coming to the following stronger conclusion:

'But Larry Sanger, who helped to found Wikipedia in 2001, said that
the site was "broken beyond repair" and no longer reliable.' - in
which only "broken beyond repair" was from LMS, the 'no longer
reliable' bit being an interpolation from the words "still quite
useful" and "I have come to the view".

However, the phrase 'no longer reliable' used by the Times itself, is
given first, and the full context only later, making it possible for
the casual reader to presume that LMS had intimated that there was
some some mythical past when wikipedia *was* reliable, but has lately
fallen from that grace, which is not a conclusion supportable from the
context.

So, quite separate from whatever animus LMS might or might not have
towards WP, The Times definitely was trying to milk the controversy.


On 4/11/07, Erik Moeller <erik at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> On 4/11/07, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 11/04/07, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > >
> http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article1637535.ece
> >
> >
> > Larry Sanger says on his blog that this was the media going "let's you
> > and him fight" with an out of context quote:
>
> No, you are the person using the words "let's you and him fight".
> Larry's comments ("have come to the view that it is also broken beyond
> repair") reflect a destructive and hostile attitude that have
> characterized his project from the very beginning.
>
> --
> Peace & Love,
> Erik
>
> DISCLAIMER: This message does not represent an official position of
> the Wikimedia Foundation or its Board of Trustees.
>
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-- 
--
Jussi-Ville Heiskanen, ~ [[User:Cimon Avaro]]