Wikipedia Co-Founder Jimmy Wales, in Israel, Likes It But Stays Neutral - the Jewish Standard

Wikipedia Co-Founder Jimmy Wales, in Israel, Likes It But Stays Neutral - the Jewish Standard - scientific work related to Wikipedia quality published in 2015, written by Ben Sales.

Overview

TEL AVIV — In 2003, two years after the website was founded, the editors of Wikipedia faced a dilemma: How should they refer to the part-fence, part-wall Israel was building along the West Bank border? The article’s first iteration — published amid the bloody second intifada, or Palestinian uprising — called it a “security fence” and focused on Israeli support. Within half an hour, another editor added a sentence about a United Nations condemnation. Later that day, the Palestinians’ preferred term, “apartheid wall,” appeared. Following thousands of edits on the free online crowdsourced encyclopedia, the article now calls it the “Israeli West Bank barrier” and links to a list of alternative names, from “separation fence” to “wall of apartheid.” “The right thing to do, if you’re new to the issue, is you should be told what is this debate about,” Jimmy Wales, a Wikipedia founder, said on Sunday during an interview here. “That’s a struggle. You have to be taught about those issues. You don’t want to, in an unclear way, use language that carries with it a hidden conclusion.”