4 March 2007

SORTING WIKIPEDIA

Part of my day-job is teaching a course on history of journalism at City University, and I've just had back a large batch of essays in which students quote from Wikipedia as if it's a reliable source.

I've told them not to do it. I'm penalising those that have. I make it clear that there are legitimate and illegitimate sources for academic work.

But – aargh! – I can't stop them. I really can't. It's not that they still do it: it gets worse year by year. I'm fighting a losing battle.

So I've decided that there is no alternative but to improve the historical entries relating to the history of journalism that appear on Wikipedia. But I can't do that on my own, so I'm appealing for help.

Anyone who knows anything about the history of the press in the UK, please take on one of the Wikipedia pages on a UK national newspaper and turn the rubbish that now appears in the history section into cogent and accurate prose. I've started myself on the Daily Herald and the Sun, but nearly every entry needs rewriting.

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