[Foundation-l] [Wikinews-l] The systematic and codified bias against non-Western articles on Wikinews

[Bod Notbod]

On Wed, Sep 7, 2011 at 1:41 PM, Thomas Morton

>> Does anyone want to argue for a policy that says "Wikipedia does not
>> record events until they are x days/months old"?
>
> Yes, this would solve a large number of problems (not least resolving the
> "historical significance" issue).

I think we'd lose something valuable. As I say, we often get positive
news coverage for our articles on recent events. Osama was one, the
death of Michael Jackson was one, I think we got good reviews for the
New Orleans hurricane too.

> Even then; during this period they are not good "news", they are a quickly
> changing record - often inaccurate and usually poorly written. WN is better
> set up to cope with this process.

Well, I haven't done any type of survey of our articles that fall into
the area we're discussing, so I'll defer to you on your points.

It wouldn't surprise me if it were the case that the articles are
poor, that seems quite likely to me.

Nevertheless I think it's like Samuel Johnson's comment, to misquote:

"Sir, an encyclopedia reporting on news events is like a dog’s walking
on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find
it done at all."

I find news events covered in Wikipedia exciting. And it marks us out
from the competition.

Just out of interest, and I assure you I don't ask this as a way of
trying to trip you up - I genuinely ask out of curiosity: let's say a
celebrity dies of old age (and that there's not a great deal of
interesting things to say about the death), would you apply the "no
news for x days/months" rule to an edit to their dates? I'm presuming
not.

The question raises a thought for me, though. I think if we decide
that we are not going to capture things because they are not far
enough in the past, we may not capture them at all. People are
invigorated by things that have just happened. If we say "no, you must
wait three months" I'm sure that person isn't going to place a red
cross on their calendar and come back to record it. It will simply not
get written, I would suggest.

Perhaps it will take a decade before the ultimate article on the Iraq
War is written. But I'm glad we have *something* there now.

Bodnotbod