[url="http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEMZa0EIyZD91AFnrxYUIAkrC69AA&url=http://www.c-span.org/Events/Wikipedia-Editor-William-Beutler/10737426693/"][img]http://nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/dO1m-FtkPcl0OM/6.jpg[/img]
C-SPAN[/url]
<img alt="" height="1" width="1" />[b]Wikipedia Editor William Beutler[/b]
C-SPAN
This week on Q&A, William Beutler, the creator and editor of TheWikipedian.net, a blog designed to explain Wikipedia to the non user. Beutler describes his role as an editor, commentator and consultant for the Wikipedia website. ...



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That suggests "paid" consultant. Has Beutler collected income from the WMF? I think they rather should have said, "editor, commentator, and consultant to clients about the Wikipedia website".

As a reminder, Beutler helped construct this litany of truths about Wikipedia that he framed up as "myths".

Also, Beutler works for New Media Strategies, which is the PR firm that helps out Koch Industries on the Internet, and which contributes 80% of the edits to Wikipedia's article about New Media Strategies.

Anyhow, he'll be on C-SPAN at 8:00 PM tonight.

Did anyone else catch this? I thought that Beutler did a rather nice job, in all. Of course, still a bit too much in awe of Wikipedia's accomplishments, but at least guided C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb through the dangers of misinformation on Wikipedia.

One thing that did come out -- Lamb noted that the only reason he knew Beutler previously was that Beutler had been invited a few years ago to consult C-SPAN on the subject of Wikipedia. I wonder if that was a paid gig. It sounded like it.

Anyway, I applaud C-SPAN for addressing Wikipedia in a way that is not the usual PBS-style sucking up to Jimbo and Sue, accepting every laudatory claim at face value.

Beutler now has Orange Mike among his enemies. It seems to be that only the clinically insane would think that Beutler's version of Cracker Barrel is worse than the earlier Wikipedia version of it. But then, this is Wikipedia, where the clinically insane tend to rule the roost. This won't turn out well.