I don't have time to read all of that. I will just assume what you say is correct. its got to be true if I saw it on the Internet.
On Thu, May 7, 2009 at 9:33 AM, Michael Dinowitz <[email protected]> wrote: > > As some of you may have heard from me in the past, I'm not a fan of > wikipedia. The wisdom of the crowd is actually the voice that yells the > loudest and such a voice almost always has an agenda. Truth on wikipedia is > what your told is the true, even if (especially if) it's a lie. > > Lazy journalism exposed by online hoax > http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/0507/1224246059241.html > Media use of fake matter I placed on Wikipedia has sweeping implications for > reporters, writes SHANE FITZGERALD . > > HOW EASY is it for a 22-year-old, overly curious sociology student from UCD > to influence the national press around the world? Quite easy is the short > answer. > > Faced with the arduous task of writing yet another essay on social sciences > current fad globalisation I was easily distracted from my task by the > sight of the infamous Sky News breaking news box that was flashing at the > bottom on the TV screen beside my desk. > > The speed with which the story was reported got me thinking about the > potential pitfalls relating to the media rush for up-to-the-minute news > bulletins. In the era of 24-hour news coverage, the internet is no doubt the > lifeline for reporters in their never-ending scramble to report a breaking > news story in time for the on-the-hour news slots, or for journalists racing > to get a story written before the paper is sent to the printers. > > Just how reliant reporters are on the world wide web was the question that > suddenly gave me the idea of carrying out an internet hoax. The global world > is connected through the internet, and news reporters are relying on this > resource more than ever. I wanted to prove that this was indeed the case, > and show the potential dangers that arise. > > Winston Churchill once said that all great things are simple and a great > Guinness ad once said that good things come to those who wait. Armed with > these two nuggets, I waited patiently for a few days until a golden > opportunity arose and I knew it was my time to act. > > My plan was without doubt simple, and maybe it was great as well. The death > of the French composer Maurice Jarre was reported in true Sky News fashion > in the very early hours of March 30th. > > I immediately grabbed my laptop, went to Maurice Jarres Wikipedia page, > clicked the edit button on screen and proceeded to lay the trap for my > unsuspecting prey, the journalists. > > One could say my life itself has been one long soundtrack, I wrote into > the Wikipedia entry. Music was my life, music brought me to life, and music > is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there > will be a final waltz playing in my head and that only I can hear. > > This was a totally fake quote and neither Maurice Jarre, nor anyone else, > has ever been on record as uttering these words. Social science experiments > always have ethical issues, because you are in effect using people as guinea > pigs. I did not wish to taint or distort anyones reputation, so I purposely > made the decision to put in a general, random quote that would not affect > Jarres stature. > > Wikipedia, for the less computer-savvy people reading this, is a free online > encyclopedia and, as the website states, anyone with internet access can > make changes to Wikipedia articles. I knew that as soon as newspaper > reporters around the world heard about Jarres death, the first thing they > would do was go on to his Wikipedia page and gather information to quickly > throw together a fitting obituary for the following days paper. > > While I expected online blogs and maybe some smaller papers to use the > quote, I did not think it would have a major impact. I was wrong. Quality > newspapers in England, India, America and as far away as Australia had my > words in their reports of Jarres death. I was shocked that highly respected > newspapers would use material from Wikipedia without first sourcing and > referencing it properly. > > The issues about the media and quality reporting that this experiment raises > requires a whole new article by itself because the implications are > far-reaching. If I could so easily falsify the news across the globe, even > to this small extent, then it is unnerving to think about what other false > information may be reported in the press. > > I was somewhat nervous about using the Winston Churchill quote near the > beginning of this piece for fear that karma might add a final ironic twist > to this story. However, I, along with many red-faced journalists, have > learnt to take certain precautions before believing everything we read. I > guess we truly are living in a globalised age.Media use of fake matter I > placed on Wikipedia has sweeping implications for reporters, writes SHANE > FITZGERALD . > > HOW EASY is it for a 22-year-old, overly curious sociology student from UCD > to influence the national press around the world? Quite easy is the short > answer. > > Faced with the arduous task of writing yet another essay on social sciences > current fad globalisation I was easily distracted from my task by the > sight of the infamous Sky News breaking news box that was flashing at the > bottom on the TV screen beside my desk. > > The speed with which the story was reported got me thinking about the > potential pitfalls relating to the media rush for up-to-the-minute news > bulletins. In the era of 24-hour news coverage, the internet is no doubt the > lifeline for reporters in their never-ending scramble to report a breaking > news story in time for the on-the-hour news slots, or for journalists racing > to get a story written before the paper is sent to the printers. > > Just how reliant reporters are on the world wide web was the question that > suddenly gave me the idea of carrying out an internet hoax. The global world > is connected through the internet, and news reporters are relying on this > resource more than ever. I wanted to prove that this was indeed the case, > and show the potential dangers that arise. > > Winston Churchill once said that all great things are simple and a great > Guinness ad once said that good things come to those who wait. Armed with > these two nuggets, I waited patiently for a few days until a golden > opportunity arose and I knew it was my time to act. > > My plan was without doubt simple, and maybe it was great as well. The death > of the French composer Maurice Jarre was reported in true Sky News fashion > in the very early hours of March 30th. > > I immediately grabbed my laptop, went to Maurice Jarres Wikipedia page, > clicked the edit button on screen and proceeded to lay the trap for my > unsuspecting prey, the journalists. > > One could say my life itself has been one long soundtrack, I wrote into > the Wikipedia entry. Music was my life, music brought me to life, and music > is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there > will be a final waltz playing in my head and that only I can hear. > > This was a totally fake quote and neither Maurice Jarre, nor anyone else, > has ever been on record as uttering these words. Social science experiments > always have ethical issues, because you are in effect using people as guinea > pigs. I did not wish to taint or distort anyones reputation, so I purposely > made the decision to put in a general, random quote that would not affect > Jarres stature. > > Wikipedia, for the less computer-savvy people reading this, is a free online > encyclopedia and, as the website states, anyone with internet access can > make changes to Wikipedia articles. I knew that as soon as newspaper > reporters around the world heard about Jarres death, the first thing they > would do was go on to his Wikipedia page and gather information to quickly > throw together a fitting obituary for the following days paper. > > While I expected online blogs and maybe some smaller papers to use the > quote, I did not think it would have a major impact. I was wrong. Quality > newspapers in England, India, America and as far away as Australia had my > words in their reports of Jarres death. I was shocked that highly respected > newspapers would use material from Wikipedia without first sourcing and > referencing it properly. > > The issues about the media and quality reporting that this experiment raises > requires a whole new article by itself because the implications are > far-reaching. If I could so easily falsify the news across the globe, even > to this small extent, then it is unnerving to think about what other false > information may be reported in the press. > > I was somewhat nervous about using the Winston Churchill quote near the > beginning of this piece for fear that karma might add a final ironic twist > to this story. However, I, along with many red-faced journalists, have > learnt to take certain precautions before believing everything we read. I > guess we truly a > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:296842 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
