Wikipedia.org takes its name from wiki – a website which allows
users to add and edit content collectively. Most wikis are focused
on particular subjects; but Wikipedia covers just about every
subject. It is widely used as a source or reference point, in part
due to its high visibility in search engines. It currently offers,
in its English version, 862,326 articles. But there is no one
person in control of the postings; instead, it is hoped that
contributors, who read and amend the web pages, will eventually
catch any errors.
The controversy arose when John Seigenthaler, founder of USA
Today, discovered that a four-month-old entry on Wikipedia hinted
that he had been a suspect in both Kennedy assassinations and had
lived in the Soviet Union for 13 years.
“Nothing was ever proven,” said the posting.
In fact, Seigenthaler had worked as an administrative assistant
for Robert Kennedy and had been one of his pall bearers.
Mr Seigenthaler lambasted both the reference site and the
anonymous author of the posting in a November article published in
the US newspaper. The offending entry was removed from Wikipedia,
but it was difficult to track down the person behind the
posting.
According to the BBC, that person was Brian Chase, a 38-year-old
business manager with a delivery firm in Tennessee, and he has
since contacted Seigenthaler directly to apologise for the
entry.
He had posted the article in May as a joke, he said, to wind up
a colleague who had connections with Seigenthaler. He claimed that
he had not realised that the website was taken so seriously.
Chase has since resigned from his job although Seigenthaler has
urged his employer, Rush Delivery, not to accept the
resignation.
In the meantime, in the face of criticism over its
accountability and reliability, Wikipedia has tried to tighten its
rules to ensure that only registered contributors can add
articles.
However, according to reports, unregistered users will still be
able to edit the site, and there will be no checks on the
identities of registered contributors, meaning that the site could
still be open to abuse.
