The very smart Mr. Lih sayeth: I have been a fan of the times Wikinews did original interviews with notable folks [1] so this is perhaps a sustainable niche. But as a direct news wire competitor to AP, Reuters or AFP, no.
[1] https://en.m.wikinews.org/wiki/Shimon_Peres_discusses_the_future_of_Israel Me too. In fact, I think this is something that Wikinews has always done very well. It also strikes me as an excellent, and quite functional, use for a Wiki. A wikivoices or wiki-interviews type project would be a fine addition to the ecosystem, imho. And it is very reasonable to think that given its success in this area, Wikinews could very easily pivot to fill that spot. But a news competitor to traditional news outlets? Nope, that it isn't. Philippe On Tue, Apr 16, 2019 at 4:05 PM Andrew Lih <andrew....@gmail.com> wrote: > On Tue, Apr 16, 2019 at 4:23 PM Jennifer Pryor-Summers < > jennifer.pryorsumm...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Andrew > > > > It seems to me that you're saying that, on the one hand, the policies > that > > make Wikipedia work well as an encyclopaedia (NOR, RS, V, NORUSH) are a > > poor fit for a news-gathering operation and on the other hand, Wikipedia > is > > a success as a news-gathering operation. These seem inconsistent to me. > > > As Wikimedians we are secondary source news summarizers rather than primary > source news gatherers. That’s where the difference lies primarily. > > I have been a fan of the times Wikinews did original interviews with > notable folks [1] so this is perhaps a sustainable niche. But as a direct > news wire competitor to AP, Reuters or AFP, no. > > [1] > https://en.m.wikinews.org/wiki/Shimon_Peres_discusses_the_future_of_Israel > > > > However, I conclude from what you're saying that the best way forward is > to > > fold the Wikinews operation into Wikipedia. Is that right? > > > Fold Wikinews altogether so it doesn’t confuse the public. Wikipedia > editors are already doing a stellar job. > > Andrew > > > > On Tue, Apr 16, 2019 at 8:15 PM Andrew Lih <andrew....@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > On Tue, Apr 16, 2019 at 2:27 PM Jennifer Pryor-Summers < > > > jennifer.pryorsumm...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > Wikinews may not be doing too well, but (English-language) Wikipedia > > > seems > > > > to have taken up a news-gathering role not entirely consistent with > its > > > > encyclopediac mission: perhaps that's the reason. Maybe the WMF > should > > > > sort out the demarcation issues. > > > > > > > > > > Jennifer, > > > > > > This has been a topic of discussion for more than a decade and the vast > > > majority of the community has converged on the conclusion that Wikinews > > > hasn't and won't ever work at any scale given its fundamental > properties. > > > > > > News is often described as "the best obtainable version of the truth > > given > > > the constraints of a deadline." News depends on memorializing direct > > > observation at a point in time. Therefore, the following policies that > > make > > > Wikipedia work are a bad fit for original, deadline reporting: > > > > > > Wikipedia:NOR - no original research > > > Wikipedia:RS - requirement for reliable sources > > > Wikipedia:V - verifiability > > > Wikipedia:NORUSH - there is no deadline/eventualism > > > > > > Most anyone who tries Wikinews first hand will experience this mismatch > > and > > > realize it is a poor fit. > > > > > > However, rather than lament why Wikinews doesn't work, we should > > celebrate > > > the fact that we have found a better mode: entries that evolve minute > to > > > minute (oftentimes second to second) to best reflect the world as we > know > > > it. Embrace that new, live, constantly updated snapshot of reality – > the > > > Wikipedia article. > > > > > > If you want to see some of the earlier debates about the origins of > > > Wikinews, October 2004 is a good place to look: > > > [1] > > > > > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2004-October/thread.html > > > [2] > > > > > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2004-October/061017.html > > > > > > -Andrew > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > -- > -Andrew Lih > Author of The Wikipedia Revolution > US National Archives Citizen Archivist of the Year (2016) > Knight Foundation grant recipient - Wikipedia Space (2015) > Wikimedia DC - Outreach and GLAM > Previously: professor of journalism and communications, American > University, Columbia University, USC > --- > Email: and...@andrewlih.com > WEB: https://muckrack.com/fuzheado > PROJECT: Wikipedia Space: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:WPSPACE > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
