...as mentioned in this blog, which also covers the SlimVirgin scandal.

Good for Germany. I think that probably other EU countries will follow suit. It's clear that a lot of governments have figured out what a POV problem WP is.

Good find, ITBF!

Wait...so I'm supposed to believe that the German government--which has no problem banning the expression of certain ideas just because some people find them distasteful--hiring people to put its own spin on articles is a good thing?

Remember that grant that the German government gave to improve WP? They were vague about who exactly would get the money. Could this be the same thing?

It does appear to be the same thing, but the announcement on the wikien-l list seems to be misleading. As far as I can tell from reading this, Wikipedia receives no money. The money goes to train qualified persons who will then become Wikipedia editors and and attempt to maintain high standards of quality in articles related to their respective fields of expertise. Of course, judging from the English language Wikipedia, that is easier said than done, but I understand that the German version has a slightly better reputation.

What if the German Community disagrees with these experts as they do on the English WP? It's deja vu all over again!

Umm...wouldn't that make them "paid editors"? I guess that ban is going to be lifted?

EDIT: Ah, it's the German Wikipedia. The ban on "paid editors" is presumably only applicable to the Jimbo-controlled English Wikipedia.