On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 1:58 PM, Durova <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > The Wikimedia Foundation takes this opportunity to reiterate some core > > > principles related to our shared vision, mission, and values. One of > > > these values which is common to all our projects is a commitment to > > > maintaining a neutral point of view. > > > > I find it a bit strange to talk of Wikimedia Commons as having a NPOV > > policy. > > > Should commons allow images which are biased? > > More concretely, in terms of photography, should photographs adhere to the > standards of ethics adopted by photojournalists? > > ++++ > There are few suggestions more destructive than good ideas misapplied. > Let's look at a few featured pictures. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Racistcampaignposter1.jpg > Blatantly racist and disrespectful of basic human dignity. Also historic > and very encyclopedic. It illustrates the en:wiki article 'Racism', also > the article on 'Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era (United States)' > and the individual biographies of two politicians. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:J_accuse.jpg > Certainly not neutral: it accuses the president of France of gross > misconduct. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trumpetcallsa.jpg > Again, not neutral. It's a war recruitment poster. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Napoleon's_exile_to_Elba3.jpg<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Napoleon%27s_exile_to_Elba3.jpg> > Blatant trolling. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Iowa_and_Nebraska_lands10.jpg > Try viewing this from the perspective of the indigenous peoples whose > ancestral lands were being sold. > > Those aren't photographs, you might say? Apply the principle only to > photography? Okay, neutralize this: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Woody_Guthrie_2.jpg > > And although this last one is not hosted on Commons and may never be (due > to > German law), think of the historic value here. > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vote_number_1b.jpg > I'd say they all (at least at a glance) neutrally depict their subjects. Just as it's fine in Wikipedia to, for instance, quote a racist person, presenting a racist poster is perfectly fine in Commons. Creating a racist poster for commons, on the other hand, wouldn't be, in my opinion. _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
