[Wikipedia-l] non-English Wikipedias

[Erik Moeller]

Delirium-
> to what extent can the non-English Wikipedias be
> expected to reach the same levels of NPOV as the English one?

Two conditions:

1) The project must draw from a reasonably large pool of contributors - no  
country is homogenous, so you will inevitably find people who hold views  
different from the mainstream, especially in countries with Internet  
access (a requirement for working on Wikipedia in the first place).

2) NPOV and Wikiquette must be enforced. If it's possible to push a point  
of view through simply through persistence and repeated reverting, as is  
currently the case on the English Wikipedia, then on average, the majority  
view will prevail.

2) means that every Wikipedia will need mediation and arbitration  
procedures that are easy to understand, unbiased and effective. NPOV is  
truly the greatest challenge of all for Wikipedia, no matter in which  
language.

Regards,

Erik