Slow Down WikiNews

In a response to my latest post WikiNews Good or Bad, Erik Moeller writes:

»There are many examples of stories containing original reporting on the [WikiNews] site«

I would have to disagree with you on that Erik. As of April 28th this year WikiNews had only 10 stories containing original reporting (which is the latest tally I've been able to find). While most of those stories are examples of really good citizen reporting and indeed note worthy I still think that WikiNews is copying too much from other sites. It is as if the site is set on producing headlines as fast as much bigger news organizations. I would argue that this is a wrong turn.

»Even a story that is a synthesis of news content published elsewhere is not without value, though,« writes Erik Moeller.

Maybe, but I just don't see what the added value is then.

In a related comment Dan100 points to the fact that the many established media sources that WikiNews rely on is the strength of the news service. He writes:

»Read any one news article on an event and it could be biased, could be missing important information, or could be plain wrong.

On WN, we can draw on _all_ the available sources of information, meaning our articles are free from bias, contain more info than other individual articles, and are more accurate because of all the fact-checking we do.«

First of all there is no such thing as "free from bias" - it is just not humanly possible to grasp and present an event totally without subjectivity i.e. bias. In stead I think fairness, accuracy and openness should be standards that separate credible reporting from untrustworthy reporting.

Secondly I respect the fact that WikiNews writers unpaid and on their own time sift through news from other sites. But this does not mean that the stories they use aren't the work of well intentioned fact checking journalists. Most professional reporters on sites like BBC, CNN etc. do in fact check other sources and news sites before releasing their story. It's part of their job. The only difference is that they often don't document it by stating their second hand sources. It is one of the strong traits of WikiNews that the sources are always presented with the story.

My critique of WikiNews is not a critique of the idea of an alternative news site. But the way WikiNews is evolving I just don't see why I shouldn't go to any other openly available news outlet to get my news. In order for the site to be a real alternative to established media I think it has to gear down its pace and go for more original reporting.

Technorati tag: Media |Journalism

Comments

[CGorman]

10! That was in April and if you read the sentence fully it says that those ten were the best of the 45 in existance. At the moment we in fact have 123 original articles http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Category:Original_reporting

[Henrik Harsbo]

I'm sorry I got the figure wrong. You're right the number was 45 in april and today there are indeed 128 articles in that category. Good for WikiNews. Things are going in the right direction. But is it good enough? Only the future will tell.

I still think that the news site has to make a radical editorial change towards almost solely plublishing original reporting. CNN, Reuters and other main stream media outlets are doing a good enough job on their own.

[CGorman]

Did you know that between 70% and 80% of newspaper articles are rewrites of wire reports and shared content? I agree we need to aim high - I personally have always said that someday Wikinews will be the biggest source of news on the planet. At present we do as much Original reporting (OR) as we can with our limited number of regular writers - we would love to have people in Brussels, in New York, in Washington etc. who could do plenty of OR, but we have'nt yet attracted enough people. So how do you attract people? Sell a crazy ambitious plan to take over the news media world! Or to gradually build up readership with as much content as we can produce and over time shift our focus to more original reporting? Thats my idea of how we will grow.

As time goes by we will try new ideas, policys, and systems. Some will fail, some will be made redundent, and a small minority will succeed. I invite you to join us, because in the end we will succeed. The concept of Wiki News is just too attractive to fail.

[CGorman]

Oh, I ment to say above - thanks for you comments. Good or bad, the commentary of bloggers is what is driving our growth and the flow of new users. So thanks.

[Henrik Harsbo]

I'm not suggesting that WikiNews should aim to "take over the media world" as you write. In my view WikiNews has the potential to add a valuable dimension to the news world via its collaborative citizen journalism. I simply fear that the potential will drown in mimicing the headline news of mainstream media.

I do hope that wikiNews will succeed. An alternative to main stream reporting is much needed.

[Dan100]

It's Wikinews, not WikiNews!! That drives me mad :-)

Check me blog - link below - for my latest Wikinews thinking.