A History of Newswork on Wikipedia"

Brian Keegan, Ph.D. !@bkeegan!!WikiSym 2013!Hong Kong, China!August 6, 2013!

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Outline!•  Boundary work"•  September 11th attacks!•  News on the homepage!•  Policies for news content!•  Failure of WikiNews!•  Discussion!

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Encyclopedic ideal versus practice!

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Material limitations of revising knowledge!

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Material limitations of revising knowledge!

“Encyclopedias that served you well… are now

practically obsolete”"

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Material limitations of revising knowledge!

“The man or woman who

progresses is keeping abreast

of the times”"

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Material limitations of revising knowledge!

“Loose-leaf encyclopedia is made new every

six months”"

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Boundary work!

•  Strategic action to differentiate work (Gieryn 1983)!

•  Expansion!•  Acquire intellectual authority

over new domain!•  Expulsion!

•  Deny resources to non-conforming agents!

•  Exemption!•  Protect domain from incursion

by other agendas!

Outline!•  Boundary work!•  September 11th attacks"•  News on the homepage!•  Policies for news content!•  Failure of WikiNews!•  Discussion!

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9/11 on Wikipedia!

•  Wikipedia founded January 2001!

•  Grew to ~13,000 articles in October 2001!

•  ~100 articles related to 9/11 topics!•  ~1% of Wikipedia!

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9/11 Memorial Wiki!

Example!

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Example!

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9/11 Memorial Wiki closure!

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9/11 activity on English Wikipedia!

Implications!•  Venue for users with disparate motivations attempting to

document an event of profound historical importance!

•  Fickleness of collective interest leads to first shutdown of Wikimedia Foundation-backed project!

•  Cooperation proceeded without agreement about the boundaries of this new type of practice!•  Replicate “encyclopedic genre” emphasizing neutrality and

objectivity to exclude memorial content?!•  Replicate “journalistic genre” emphasizing memorialization and

sense-making without paper limitations?!18

Outline!•  Boundary work!•  September 11th attacks!•  News on the homepage"•  Policies for news content!•  Failure of WikiNews!•  Discussion!

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Wikipedia homepage, November 2001!

“Develop articles about important events as they

happen!”"

“Encyclopedia articles about

topics behind the news.”"

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News on the Homepage, 2002!

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News on the Homepage, 2012!

Boundary work!•  Expansion of encyclopedic genre to prominently

exhibit coverage of breaking news events"

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Outline!•  Boundary work!•  September 11th attacks!•  News on the homepage!•  Policies for news content"•  Failure of WikiNews!•  Discussion!!

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WP:NOT#NEWS!

“Wikipedia should not offer news reports on breaking stories. However, creating "encyclopedia" articles on topics currently in the news is an excellent idea…However, the Wiki process lends itself to collaborative, up-to-the minute construction of current events of historical significance, as long as these are written as encyclopedia articles.”

Toby Bartels, 2002

“As Wikipedia is not a paper source, editors are encouraged to include current and up-to-date in- formation within its coverage, and the development of stand-alone articles on significant current events. However, not all verifiable events are suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia. Ensure that Wikipedia articles are not: 1. Journalism. Wikipedia should not offer first-hand news reports on breaking stories. ...Wikipedia does have many encyclopedia articles on topics of historical significance that are currently in the news, and can be updated with recently verified information. Wikipedia is also not written in news style. 2. News reports. Wikipedia considers the enduring notability of persons and events. While news coverage can be useful source material for encyclopedic topics, most newsworthy events do not qualify for inclusion. ...While including information on recent developments is sometimes appropriate, breaking news should not be emphasized or otherwise treated differently from other information."

2013

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WP:EVENT!“It is wise to delay writing an article about a breaking news event until the significance of the event is clearer as early coverage may lack perspective and be subject to factual errors. ...However, articles about widely reported major unexpected or unprecedented events such as the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, the Assassination of Benazir Bhutto or the Death of Michael Jackson will almost certainly gain consensus to be kept even when created on the same day as the event occurred. ...Editors are encouraged to write about breaking news events in Wikinews instead of in Wikipedia”

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WP:EVENT!

1. Lasting effects. An event that is a precedent or catalyst for something else of lasting significance is likely to be notable. 2. Geographical scope. Notable events usually have significant impact over a wide region, domain, or widespread societal group. 3. Depth of coverage. An event must receive significant or in-depth coverage to be notable. 4. Duration of coverage. Notable events usually receive coverage beyond a relatively short news cycle. 5. Diversity of sources. Significant national or international coverage is usually expected for an event to be notable. Wide-ranging re- porting tends to show significance, but sources that simply mirror or tend to follow other sources, or are under common control with other sources, are usually discounted.

Boundary work!•  Expansion of encyclopedic genre to prominently

exhibit coverage of breaking news events""•  Exclusion of some types of news content through

emulation of broader journalistic news values"

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Outline!•  Boundary work!•  September 11th attacks!•  News on the homepage!•  Policies for news content!•  Failure of WikiNews"•  Discussion!

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WikiNews!•  Use “news” rather than

“encyclopedia” style!

•  Original reporting rather than “verifiability” and “no original research”!

•  Staged publication process "•  Development"•  Reviewer evaluation"•  Promotion to front page"•  Archival"

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Emulation of faltering norms!

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Comparison of models!Wikipedia"•  Optional vetting!•  No deadline!•  Single authoritative page!•  Links to contextual info!•  Differentiate from printed

encyclopedia norms!

WikiNews"•  Formal review!•  Publication & archival!•  Multiple parallel pages!•  Off-project contextual links!•  Differentiate from

Wikipedia norms!

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Failure of WikiNews!

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0  

200  

400  

600  

800  

1000  

1200  Normalized

 cou

nt    

(Novem

ber  2

004  =  100)  

New  Wikipedians   New  Wikireporters   Wikipedians,  edits  >5   Wikireporters,  edits  >5  

“…a new pattern of [news] consumption was validated in the confusing minutes that followed the first reports of [Michael Jackson’s death]: users shared; they searched and they clicked on Wikipedia. …The new routine of Twitter-to-Google-to-Wikipedia contrasts sharply with the behavior of users [after Princess Diana’s death]. …the key to Wikipedia’s success is that its pages are designed to catch traffic, provide key information and then send users on their way to deeper engagement on the subjects they’re interested in. …for large portions of the Internet audience, [Wikipedia was] an authoritative source working to verify an important news development.” !

- Associated Press internal memo, 2009!

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“…how [might] the authoritativeness of news articles grow if an evolving story were published under a permanent, single URL as a living, changing, updating entity?”

- Marissa Meyer

Boundary work!•  Expansion of encyclopedic genre to prominently

exhibit coverage of breaking news events""•  Exclusion of some types of news content through

emulation of journalistic news values"

•  Exemption of Wikipedia’s news approach from failures of traditional journalism model"

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Outline!•  Boundary work!•  September 11th attacks!•  News on the homepage!•  Policies for news content!•  Failure of WikiNews!•  Discussion"

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Discussion!•  Re-appraisal of

encyclopedic identity in light of new technologies!

•  Expansion introduced anomalies and residual categories!

•  Exclusion of alternative interpretations by institutionalization!

•  Exemption from prevailing journalistic norms !

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“...all information systems are necessarily suffused with ethical and political values, modulated by local administrative procedures. These systems are active creators of categories in the world as well as simulators of existing categories.”

- Bowker & Star, 2000

Implications!•  Ephemerality of collection attention and durability of peer

production systems – Loss of 9/11 Memorial Wiki!•  Documenting new events of profound historical importance

advances interests of some parties and perspectives over others’ – Adoption of news policies!

•  Socially constructed project identities enable and constrain opportunities for contribution – Failure of WikiNews!

•  Major shift in expectations around timeliness of knowledge as well as structures for producing content disrupting traditional professional identities!

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THANK YOU!"

Brian Keegan"b.keegan@neu.edu!www.brianckeegan.com!@bkeegan!

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Special thanks to Benjamin Mako Hill, Dariusz Jemielniak, Jeff Loveland, Joe Reagle, Justin

Reich, Aaron Shaw, Denis Tenen for their feedback on earlier drafts of this paper.