On Wed, Apr 29, 2009 at 3:17 PM, Anthony <[email protected]> wrote: > 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. >
For a more questionable image, I'd point to this one: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palestinian_boy_with_toy_guy_in_Nazareth_by_David_Shankbone.jpg Was this staged? What was the context? I'm not sure I could say without a doubt it is biased (and maybe that's a practical problem with a policy against bias), but it does raise questions of bias in my opinion. _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
