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<img alt="" height="1" width="1">Wikipedia Article Creates Circular References
Slashdot -44 minutes ago

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Kato

This is when things get really silly..

QUOTE(Slashdot)

"An anonymous user added information about to Wikipedia's entry on Sacha Baron Cohen three days before the now-referenced external article was written. The Independent wrote the referenced article apparently using Wikipedia as the source establishing his 'Goldman Sachs' career. Now Wikipedia uses as a references the article that came after the initial modification to Wikipedia itself."

dogbiscuit

QUOTE(Kato @ Sat 19th April 2008, 5:37pm)

This is when things get really silly..

QUOTE(Slashdot)

"An anonymous user added information about to Wikipedia's entry on Sacha Baron Cohen three days before the now-referenced external article was written. The Independent wrote the referenced article apparently using Wikipedia as the source establishing his 'Goldman Sachs' career. Now Wikipedia uses as a references the article that came after the initial modification to Wikipedia itself."

In discussions on reliable sources, this a point I have made, that we know that the press use Wikipedia, so they have to be treated with care. Again and again, Wikipediots need to recognise that you cannot invent some simple test to see if a source is sound. You need to do research and fact checking - things that are suggested to be evil in WackiWikiWorld.

I move more to a position that the NOR policy creates more problems than it solves. On the surface it seems sane, but it stops people thinking. "It's got a cite? It's a wrap."

jorge

QUOTE(Kato @ Sat 19th April 2008, 5:37pm)

This is when things get really silly..

QUOTE(Slashdot)

"An anonymous user added information about to Wikipedia's entry on Sacha Baron Cohen three days before the now-referenced external article was written. The Independent wrote the referenced article apparently using Wikipedia as the source establishing his 'Goldman Sachs' career. Now Wikipedia uses as a references the article that came after the initial modification to Wikipedia itself."

Something similar happened on the exact same article a couple of years ago I think. Someone added that his grandmother was Persian Jewish, this was copied to a British newspaper article, which Wikipedia then used as a reference. It was used by further news sources. In fact his grandmother was East European as attested by his own relatives who turned up on the talkpage. They were then of course subjected to the normal round of wikiabuse.