[WikiEN-l] Attack Site Wars, Episode VII... The Return of the Essjay

[Gregory Kohs]

White Cat said:
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Its very different, those are biographic articles.
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Guess what?  Three out of four of those articles were created only AFTER the
indiscretion of the subject made them famous enough for Wikipedia to go
after them.  Look at the History tab on each article.  Go to the first
version of the article.  Look at the dates.  Look at what wrongdoing is
mentioned in the first version.  Only Quincy Troupe's article was created
with the good intentions that you seem to seek (and even then, it looks like
the article was created out of content that really appears to have been a
copyright violation, though I can't find the original source).

White Cat, you can't have it both ways.  I've just demonstrated that in 75%
of the sample articles, the sole reason somebody entered them into Wikipedia
was to save someone else's indiscretion for all posterity.  Then, when it
concerns someone within Wikipedia, you want to erase it.

Phil Sandifer said:
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He was a kid when he made his mistakes...
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I thought Essjay was over the age of 21 when he started editing Wikipedia
with a back-story of false credentials.  I don't know which culture calls a
22 or 23 year old a "kid", unless you're just patronizing him.

Seriously, folks.  I'm not trying to make Essjay's life one of misery for
the rest of his days.  I'm just saying there's a boatload of hypocrisy when
all these reasons are trotted out why Wikipedia needs to sweep this
particular one under the rug.  Do you not think that very act might draw
even MORE attention to this event?  Nobody noticed when the eight federal
prosecutors were fired.  What brought the 9 million media hits was the
denial, the cover-up, the whole scene of Gonzales pressuring Ashcroft in a
hospital bed.  The more you work to hide/protect/spare Essjay from the
public eye, the more exposure you actually bring.

-- 
Gregory Kohs
Cell: 302.463.1354