On 11 November 2011 17:11, Achal Prabhala <[email protected]> wrote: > Honestly, news reporters in India are confused about *everything* > related to Wikipedia and Wikimedia :) Even a cursory analysis of news > coverage will confirm that they routinely mix up what the movement is, > what the difference between Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation is, > what the difference between a chapter member and a staff member is, etc. > And as someone who has been following this from the outset, I can say > with some confidence that this has nothing to do with the chapter and > the Foundation in India, rather, just our own complicated terminology > and insider-language, and a general laziness on the part of Indian news > media to learn the details. Basically, we'd still get completely whacky > press coverage even if there was no chapter and no Foundation entity.
FWIW, this is definitely not confined to India :-) From a brand perspective, the Wikimedia movement is extremely confusing to reporters: we have Wikimedia, Wikipedia, the sister projects, MediaWiki, the Wikimedia Foundation, chapter organizations, school clubs, and projects and activities of all types. And, media are continually befuddled about how we work: they are used to professional spokespeople, so they don't understand why X person in the Wikimedia movement isn't speaking on behalf of the whole movement. When I joined the Wikimedia Foundation in 2007, I thought this was a problem that needed to be fixed. Over time though, I've begun to realize that it's pretty fundamental to our movement's values. We want to have a movement in which it's easy to participate; in which there are few barriers to entry; there is minimal rule-making and rule-enforcement, where people can flexibly wear different hats and take on different roles, etc. So yes: I think we are confusing to journalists, and they often get the story wrong. That's too bad. But on the whole, I think it's a small price to pay in exchange for a vibrant, creative, productive movement, and the cure for it (real clarity, lots of rules) would be worse than the disease. Thanks, Sue -- Sue Gardner Executive Director Wikimedia Foundation 415 839 6885 office 415 816 9967 cell Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
