Did you know there is an editor at WIRED Magazine who is responsible for making sure reporters do not use Wikipedia as a source?
It’s true. I read it on Gizmodo.com.
It seems to me this is something WIRED (and other publications that have this policy in place) should tout. I’m not saying it should place itself in the masthead — WIRED Magazine: Wiki-what? — but, at the very least, maybe a letter from that editor?
As the public’s trust in the media plummets, what with the recent phone hacking scandal and a tendency to post incorrect scoops to stay in lockstep with the news cycle, media should strive to reassure the public that they are professionals, not the equivalent of a college student using Wikipedia to round out their list of sources for a paper on Scotland Yard.
Letting us know that they don’t use a free encyclopedia on the Web that anyone can edit is a good start.
