Wikimedia Quarto/2/En-6



In the Media



Here is a look at what the media (in all its forms) has to say about Wikipedia, be it good, bad or indifferent. Up until now, Wikipedia has hogged the media spotlight; here we find some excerpts about its sister projects as well.

From the insightful and/or flattering:
 * Sep 1: "Personne ne sait tout, mais tout le monde sait quelque chose." --SVM
 * Sep 20: "We happen to like it because it saves us time and it mentions us" --The Inquirer
 * Sep 23: "Won't you be a saint and kick them over a few bucks during their pledge drive?" --The Village Voice
 * Sep 25: "Das Überraschende aber: Die Ordnung siegt über das Chaos." --Leipziger Volkszeitung
 * Sep 30: "The Font of All Knowledge" --Tim Berners-Lee at an MIT technology conference
 * Oct 7: "one of the wonders of the digital age" --The Guardian
 * Nov 1: "Even though there is no control structure...it rivals commercial encyclopedias in scope and quality of coverage." --Legal Affairs
 * Nov 5: "It's the ultimate expression of teamwork, and the result is spectacular." --USA Today
 * Nov 8: "a global project that illustrates the brainpower of the Internet" --St. Petersburg Times
 * Jan 5: "On a l'impression d'être aidée par une armée de bénévoles : un sentiment de puissance, sans fouet ni carotte" --CaptainDoc

To the critical:
 * Sep 15: "its Klingon belief in "neutral point of view" – rather than context – is where it starts to fall down" --The Register
 * Nov 15: "Contrary to the faith, the article has, in fact, been edited into mediocrity." --Tech Central Station
 * Nov : Après le "fast food", le "fast science" --Charlie Hebdo.

To the strangely amusing:
 * Nov 10: "How can you justify a "Weird Al" biography of only a paltry 850 words?" --The Onion

Special coverage : Coverage has included the million article milestone, comparison tests against other encyclopedias, and the hot and heavy editing that preceded the US elections.
 * Sep 23: "ha conseguido reunir 1.000.000 de artículos y se ha convertido en uno de los principales lugares de referencia de la Internet toda" --El Mundo
 * Oct 14: "Nur im naturwissenschaftlichen Bereich muss die Wikipedia ihre Spitzenposition teilen" --Die Zeit
 * Oct 14: "Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry have created even more debate than entries for sex and religion." --Red Herring

Other projects besides Wikipedia are getting mentioned too:
 * Oct 25: "Personally, I still rely on the OED most of the time, but I also look forward to a day when Wiktionary beats it hands down." --The Statesman
 * Dec 4: "Wikinews, the latest attempt to rethink traditional media and publishing" --eSchool News

As evidence that the press also struggles to get its facts right, Wikipedia was founded by:
 * Howard Rheingold, according to the International Herald Tribune, Sep 11.
 * Lyndon LaRouche(?!?!), according to the (Ohio State University) Lantern, Oct 4.

Meanwhile, Wired seems to like finding creative new ways to use the word Wikipedia
 * as a verb, taking the place once occupied by Google:
 * Nov 25: "You can Wikipedia them on the Web, open source-style." --Wired Magazine
 * as a metaphor for life on the internet:
 * Dec 2: "one of a growing number of technophiles whose lives are one big Wikipedia" --Wired News