2012 Annual Report/Wiki version/Media stories
Shaping, Sharing, Growing — 2011–2012 by the Numbers — The year in Fundraising — When Wikipedia went dark for a day — Our key Media Stories — Wikimedia gets GLAM — Building a Legacy: Our work in Education — Monmouthpedia: A case study in innovation — Evaluation Summary from Ting Chen, Chair, Wikimedia Foundation
Our key media stories
| “ | Our work with Cancer Research UK is an excellent example of the media promoting the need for experts to contribute. | ” |
Even aside from the Wikipedia blackout, 2011-2012 was a year in which Wikimedia UK and Wikipedia were never far from the headlines. Some of the media highlights are pictured on this page. Prominent topics that we've covered elsewhere include our charitable status and the annual fundraiser but there's been plenty more to talk about.
An area that drew particular attention was the naming on Wikipedia of some people who were the subject of so-called super-injunctions. While the information was removed as it didn't come from reliable sources, it lead to significant debates on the nature of privacy and libel laws. Outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, the Daily Mail and The Independent.
Our work with Cancer Research UK is an excellent example of the media promoting the need for experts to contribute to editing and creating content that has a large appeal. After noting that Wikipedia pages appear higher in search rankings for cancer information than their own website, the charity is encouraging cancer experts to get involved in Wikimedia projects to ensure that people affected by cancer have easy access to the best information. The story was picked up by the BBC, The Times and New Scientist.
Elsewhere, the efforts we've been making to attract new contributors and editors from different backgrounds has been acknowledged, with outlets such as Mac World and The Guardian running the story.
The coverage we've received hasn't always been unequivocally positive. There have been reports of PR companies editing Wikipedia pages to show clients in the best possible light, going against the principle of neutrality of tone. This lead to exchanges of strong opinions in the media, including The Telegraph, the Financial Times, The independent and many more websites and print publications.
Another recurring hot topic was vandalism. Notable instances this year that drew some criticism in the press included mischievous edits to the page of a Rugby World Cup referee, and the falsely reported deaths of actor Rowan Atkinson. It was interesting to see that the journalists did not rejoice on the day that Wikipedia went black, but speculated how they would be able to work without Wikipedia.
Some of the stories that we can predict will be high profile in the coming year include Wiki Loves Monuments, GLAM-Wiki 2012 and MonmouthpediA, more details of which follow later in this report.