[Wikipedia-l] Wikipedia and anti-Semitism
Poor, Edmund W
Edmund.W.Poor at abc.com
Tue Dec 10 15:55:07 UTC 2002
Can the Wikipedia say that a certain person is anti-Semitic? Or must an article step back and say only that the person is "regarded as anti-Semitic?"
Does it serve our neutrality policy to say rather that such a person is "universally regarded" or "all but universally regarded" as anti-Semitic?
Consider the following:
If someone ever quotes a Wikipedia article in a newspaper or book, should they be able to say, "According to Wikipedia, Joe Blow is anti-Semitic".
My interpretation of our neutrality policy may be a bit shaky, but something smells wrong here. The hypothetical quote above makes it seems like we are endorsing a view.
Is there any difference between stating that a certain person studied at a university and stating that the person "is anti-Semitic"?
Perhaps I am making a fact-value distinction:
* studied at the university (fact)
* is anti-Semitic (value judgement)
I'm not really asking for a chorus of opinions from the list, but an authoritative, once-and-for-all pronouncement from the Founders.
Ed Poor
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