Fact Checking? Newspapers Duped By Wikipedia Edit Again

from the nobody-fact-checks-any-more dept

Earlier this year, we noted how the press got caught relying on Wikipedia when they reprinted an error (amusingly, those press clippings were then used to "verify" the info in Wikipedia). It appears to have happened again. Clay Shirky points us to the news that a student in Ireland added a fake quote to the Wikipedia page of Maurice Jarre, a French musician who died in March. The student added the fake (but potentially real-sounding) quote soon after Jarre died, and many reporters apparently included the quote in their obituaries/writeups about Jarre. Of course, Wikipedia-haters may use this to point out the horrible questionable nature of Wikipedia content, but that's missing the point. Everyone knows that Wikipedia content should be considered suspect since anyone can edit it. It's a known quantity. For the most part, then, if you're a reporter, it should never be used as a sole source on something, but for background info that can also be checked elsewhere. The real issue was that the press didn't do this -- and didn't do their jobs in actually confirming the info.
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Filed Under: duped, journalists, maurice jarre, wikipedia


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  • icon
    ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 7 May 2009 @ 3:56pm

    Journalism

    But that's why we need *real* journalists, and we need to prop up the debt-saddled institutions that support them. So that this kind of thing doesn't happen on *blogs,* but in self-authoritative periodicals where it belongs.

    Right?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      another mike, 7 May 2009 @ 4:44pm

      Re: Journalism

      Exactly. So tell me again why we need newspapers?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 7 May 2009 @ 4:51pm

        Re: Re: Journalism

        What will we line our birdcages with unless there are newspapers? A Kindle DX?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          twowords, 7 May 2009 @ 5:36pm

          Re: Re: Re: Journalism

          forget the birdcage how will i make my windows shine and sparkle. paper towels pale in this area.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            TriZz, 7 May 2009 @ 8:22pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re: Journalism

            Pour a can of coca-cola on your windshield, spray it off with water, wait until dry, use windex with a newspaper and you'll never have a cleaner windshield.

            ...but that's besides the point. As a college student, Wikipedia is great. I use it as starting point for the rest of my research, or I'll look up the references mentioned in the article. But yeah, most universities now won't let you use Wikipedia as a cited source.

            I mean, if it's not good enough for universities, then why would a journalist think it's good for news?

            link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 7 May 2009 @ 6:31pm

          Re: Re: Re: Journalism

          OLEDs, man.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Killer_Tofu (profile), 8 May 2009 @ 5:53am

    Haha

    This is just really funny with all of those old media types so recently saying how we need "real journalists" in the newspapers because that is the only way we have fact based news. They don't even follow the facts half the time or check sources or any of that. What a bunch of fools.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mike2, 8 May 2009 @ 12:56pm

    Critical thinking

    Information is always suspect until independently confirmed by multiple different sources, not just info on Wikipedia.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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