In any debate on the web, it's often that someone will reinforce their point with a link to Wikipedia. Opponents of the defended perspective will then scoff. "You can't trust Wikipedia," they claim, "It's editable by everyone. Some nut-job could get on there and say the moon is pink with purple polka-dots, or George W. Bush's head is actually not up his ass, or something equally false."
The accusation is entirely true, but the implication is totally false. Wikipedia is editable by users and therefore some whacko can attack it. However, being editable is also its strength. As quickly as some jerk can sabotage an article, an honest user can repair it.
Those who spew the reflexive anti-Wikipedia critique display a profound lack of ignorance about what type of media a democracy should bring forth. Apparently, these anti-Wikipedia folks believe that if a medium is editable it is more likely to be wrong. Reworded: If it's more democratic, it's not to be trusted. Notch that as yet another anti-American sentiment coming from those who claim to be true Americans.
Let's compare media on the other end of editable spectrum: for example, The Fox "News" Channel. I could have compared Wikipedia to any of the major TV networks because the TV shows are completely controlled by the rich clique that owns them and no one else, but let's pick on Fox since they're the worst of the worst.
Wikipedia ends up being far more reliable than Fox News because Wikipedia is the medium of a free society, while Fox News is the medium of a dictatorship. With Wikipedia, anyone can change errors and remove bias, there are even mechanisms and processes in place to moderate hotly disputed topics. Those pages are like a free tutorial on productive debate tactics!
Contrast that environment with Fox News, where you can't change what they say, even when it's screamingly, demonstrably, conveniently biased and/or wrong. The only way you can alter Fox News content is to hope their gate-keepers let you on as a caller or writer, and that's only going to happen if you agree with them, they disagree and are ready to shout you down, or they don't get the joke. On Wikipedia, you sign up and you're on.
Wikipedia's writing guidelines encourage people to verify their sources as well, a basic professionalism Fox News rarely if ever offers.
So, for those who scoff at Wikipedia, and gasp "It's unreliable because it can be edited by anyone." I return your scoff sevenfold, as I mock Fox News, gasping, "It's unreliable because it cannot be edited at all."
I've picked on Fox News, because they're the ones out to sabotage any reliable public discourse. So let me take a moment to quasi-defend the other uneditable media who seem to want to do a good job. There is something to be said for journalistic standards which the more professional networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.) more or less adhere to. Yes, there is something to be said for that, but is an elite driven media that's totally biased (Fox) any better than an elite-driven media that's only subtlely biased (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.)?
Or is journalism really just using the basic skills we all learned in grade school while writing book reports? All journalism takes is access to information, which the internet provides. Then anyone can analyze, comment and deduce.
The anti-Wikipedia reflex is a perversion of healthy consider-the-source skepticism. You should always consider the source, but you shouldn't reflexively write off the source. Even the world's biggest liar can say the sky is blue. Even Fox News can claim the truth: that George W. Bush's head is in fact, up his ass. They simply choose not to.
Wikipedia is the media you should expect to find in a working democracy. Fox News is the media you should expect to find in a working dictatorship. Gandhi said we should try to be the change we want to be in the world, so I know which media I'm going to trust and which I'm going to avoid.
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Larry Nocella is the award-winning author of the novel Where Did This Come From? available at Amazon and Xlibris and other fine online book stores. Where Did This Come From? is also available as an eBook. For more info, visit Larry Nocella's website at http://www.larrynocella.com/.
