"Internet character assassination" on Wikipedia


             Message: Never -- never -- do academic research on Wikipedia

(Part One of my piece on Wikipedia)

Students should never -- emphasize, never -- use Wikipedia in academic writing. That is my message to them in any of my classes.

That does not mean that Wikipedia is worthless. When I wanted to know how old Barbra Streisand is, I scurried to Wiki. It is usually reliable, and her age is no big deal -- except to make those of us who are aging Baby Boomers feel a little more depressed. 

However, the story about John Seigenthaler is one that everyone should read. I mention this case any time that I teach research writing. 

I have the URL for Mr. Seigenthaler's essay below. Essentially, he was the victim of "Internet character assassination." You need to read his opinion piece from USA Today in 2005: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x.htm.

Seigenthaler, now 86-years-old (according to Wiki), was a distinguished journalist who was also a friend of the Kennedy family. He worked for Attorney General Bobby Kennedy for two years and remained a friend of his until Bobby's assassination in 1968. In this case, someone smeared his name in a pirated bio that went undetected for 162 days until someone noticed it.  

 In fact, Seigenthaler served as a pall-bearer in Bobby Kennedy's funeral in June 1968.

Here is the portion of that fictitious account that aroused Seigenthaler's ire: "John Seigenthaler Sr. was the assistant to Attorney General Robert Kennedy in the early 1960's. For a brief time, he was thought to have been directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both John, and his brother, Bobby. Nothing was ever proven."
— Wikipedia
Bobby Kennedy's assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, was wrestled to the floor by former Penn State and LA Rams football star, Rosey Grier, seconds after the shooting. 

While people today continue to question whether or not Lee Harvey Oswald was JFK's assassin, the truth is that John Seigenthaler has never been accused on that shooting either since he was not in Dallas at the time.

Siegenthaler was a friend of the Kennedy family, serving as Bobby Kennedy's administrative assistant for two years. You can read the corrected version of Seigenthaler's bio here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Seigenthaler

It is quite impressive. 

My message from this is that Wiki does have a positive value in the world, but not for those who are doing any kind of research. I enjoyed reading the Wiki bio of Siegenthaler, but I did so for recreational reading, not for research.






Comments

  1. MarthaNovember 13, 2013 at 8:03 PM

    I couldn't agree more. The example that I heard from one of my students and that I have since used to convince others is that so me thing really well-known--the specific title escapes me, but let's just say that it was "Hamlet"--was written by Saddam Hussein! 'Nuff said.

    ReplyDelete

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