[WikiEN-l] Tabloid sources (was Wikipedia leadership})

[Fred Bauder]

> I think we also need to take into account what the subject is and type
> of information.
>
> I wouldn't trust one of our fleet street tabloids for a "WWII bomber
> found on the moon" story, and I was somewhat cynical about the
> following week's "WWII bomber mysteriously disappears from the Moon"
> headline,  or anything published on April 1st. But my understanding is
> that they are somewhat more scrupulous on sports and obits coverage,
> so xxxx has signed for yyy FC or zzzz died is probably usable. As for
> the gossip and trivia, do we really want that anyway?

Yes, I use Chinese controlled media and government sites all the time as
references for information that is not politically sensitive. The problem
is that it takes real expertise to know what is, and in that gray area, a
bogus assertion by the government may pass as reliable.

Fred.