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: WisBlawg - From the UW Law Library

Student's Wikipedia Hoax Fools Journalists, Bloggers

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From Yahoo Tech:

When Dublin university student Shane Fitzgerald posted a poetic but phony quote on Wikipedia, he said he was testing how our globalized, increasingly Internet-dependent media was upholding accuracy and accountability in an age of instant news.

His report card: Wikipedia passed. Journalism flunked.

The sociology major's made-up quote -- which he added to the Wikipedia page of Maurice Jarre hours after the French composer's death March 28 -- flew straight on to dozens of U.S. blogs and newspaper Web sites in Britain, Australia and India.

There is nothing wrong with using Wikipedia for quick look-ups. I do it myself. BUT - you absolutely need to verify the information against other reputable sources. If the article contains footnotes, you need to follow them. If it doesn't contain footnotes, you should be suspicious.

See my recent post, Case Reversed for Allowing Wikipedia as Evidence.

Source: Twitter - Ross Kodner

Full post as published by WisBlawg - From the UW Law Library on May 12, 2009 (boomark / email).