[Wikipedia-l] Years in review and the need for editorial judgement

[Jimmy Wales]

Lars Aronsson wrote:

> On Fri, 28 Jun 2002, Jimmy Wales wrote:
> > One of our "discoveries" is that people of very diverse opinions can
> > write encyclopedia articles together, using NPOV as a guideline to
> > mediate conflict.  It works remarkably well.  It would not work for
> > poetry, for political commentary, for fiction, etc.
> 
> Is this a discovery that is unique to Wikipedia?
> 
> Couldn't the same discovery be expressed: "it is possible (no matter who
> does it) to write articles (in an encyclopedia or newspaper), using NPOV
> as a guideline, so that no reader would care to protest against the
> wording of the text".
> 
> I think that this is the same approach that has been used by every
> encyclopedia and newspaper editor, ever.  Only they might have called it
> "factualism and objectivity" rather than NPOV.
> 
> Or is this wrong?

Sounds about right to me.

I make no claim that we've discovered anything very original.  I do
think it is astounding that the wikipedia community works at all, much
less as well as it does.  I mean, traditionally, with encyclopedias
and newspaper editors, there is "control from above".  Here, there
really isn't.  This doesn't mean that there is *no* control, in the
sense of wild chaos.  And that's a surprise.

Even Ward Cunningham, inventor of the wiki concept, once said
something to the effect that wikipedia wouldn't really be an
encyclopedia, but that it would be a wiki.  I am not 100% sure that I
know what he meant, so I'm not 100% sure if he's been proven wrong.
But, I think so, if I understand him.


--Jimbo