No doubt PR practices are all into this sort of thing. I've been watching it happen in the MOOC article http://www.downes.ca/post/60419
On Tue, May 14, 2013 at 2:44 PM, K. Peachey <[email protected]> wrote: > FWD from another mailing list, > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: --- > Date: Tue, May 14, 2013 at 2:31 PM > Subject: [---] Missing details: the sanitisation of Tom Waterhouse's > Wikipedia page > To: --- > > > > http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/missing-details-the-sanitisation-of-tom-waterhouses-wikipedia-page-20130514-2jjfh.html > > > May 14, 2013 - 1:07PM > > James Robertson and Melissa Davey > > > > He claimed vindication in Monday's Racing NSW inquiry, but staff for Tom > Waterhouse have sometimes preferred to give the truth a nudge, rather than > presume it will prevail on its own steam. > > > > Mr Waterhouse's employees have been sanitising the bookmaker's Wikipedia > page, removing references to parliamentary inquiries into the march of > sports betting into lounge rooms and even his turn on the Dancing With the > Stars program. > > > > While I'm not actually across the page, I know that staff do make > changes if there is something defamatory, illegal or not true on there. > > > > Perhaps the most glaring omission, however, is that the More Joyous > racing inquiry does not rate a mention on the page. > > > > There is also a warning at the top of the entry. > > > > "A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection > with its subject," a disclaimer reads. > > > > "It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, > particularly neutral point of view." > > > > Mr Waterhouse said that he has never directly ordered his staff to > remove or edit any content from the page. > > > > "I've only asked them to make sure [the content] abides by what is > legal," he said. > > > > "While I'm not actually across the page, I know that staff do make > changes if there is something defamatory, illegal or not true on there. > > > > "Of course, in those situations, they have to take that [material] down." > > > > He said there was no specific piece of information on the page that he > had seen and asked staff to edit or remove and that they did this of their > own accord. > > > > Anyone can use Wikipedia and start editing pages of the site. Other > users can discuss, dispute or reverse those edits. And Wikipedians have > long held suspicious about the Waterhouse page. > > > > "Sounds like it was taken straight from an advertising brochure," wrote > user SpencerCollins last September. > > > > He may have been tipped off by the inclusion of such detail as the fact > that Mr Waterhouse was a high school prefect and the following, included > under the heading "branding". > > > > "Waterhouse invested considerably in marketing and advertising, adopting > a distinct style guide comprising of black and white imagery with splashes > of aquamarine." > > > > Those edits were made by the user GChinaP. > > > > "He [Waterhouse] asked me to write up something for Wikipedia," Gilbert > Chinapen, who works on TomWaterhouse.com, confirmed to Fairfax. > > > > Another user, Angustommiepragnell, made dozens of edits to the page, > removing material that was claimed to be defamatory or incorrect, but in > fact had been widely reported. The user removed references to Mr > Waterhouse's refusal to appear before a parliamentary inquiry into gambling > in sport. The phrasing was later changed to "declined an invitation". > > > > Also left out is that Mr Waterhouse was benched by Channel Nine's NRL > commentary team in March, following a public backlash against gambling > being incorporated into live sport. > > > > Angus Pragnell, the marketing campaign manager for TomWaterhouse.com, > declined to comment. > > > > References to Waterhouse's father, who did six months' periodic > detention after being found guilty of false swearing, were also edited by a > user called Suzanne888. > > > > The ongoing omissions and changes prompted one frustrated editor to > write: "Waterhouse staff such as Angus Pragnell and Gilbert Chinapen > shouldn't be editing/'sanitising' this entry!" > > > > Later edits to the page included the removal of references to Mr > Waterhouse's highly enthusiastic but ultimately unsuccessful routines on > Dancing With the Stars. He was eliminated in the second round of the show's > 2006 season. > > > > It's not the first time changes to Wikipedia pages have been linked back > to their subjects. > > > > In February Fairfax reported that Occupy Melbourne's official Wikipedia > page was edited twice by a person using a City of Melbourne computer to > remove contentious words in the lead-up to the re-election of lord mayor > Robert Doyle last year. > > > > In August 2007 when John Howard was prime minister, Fairfax reported > that staff in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet were caught > editing Wikipedia to remove details that might be damaging to the > government. > > > > ABC TV's Media Watch then reported that staff at several media > organisations, including Fairfax Media, were found editing their own and > others' Wikipedia pages, with some edits heaping abuse on rivals. > > > > with Ben Grubb > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimediaau-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l > -- -- Leigh Blackall <http://about.me/leighblackall> +61(0)404561009
_______________________________________________ Wikimediaau-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
