Wikipedia:Press coverage 2021

Since its inception in 2001, Wikipedia has garnered substantial media attention. The following is a list of the project's press coverage received in 2021, sorted chronologically.

January edit

  • Israel, David (January 1, 2021). "Project Wiki Exposes How Wikipedia Is Breeding Armies of Anti-Semites". The Jewish Press. Retrieved January 1, 2021. David Collier, a former Chair of the Political Science Department at the University of California, Berkeley, on Thursday published an extensive report accusing Wikipedia of fomenting anti-Semitism.
  • Di Liscia, Valentina (January 1, 2021). "The Unsettling Story of a Public Domain Photo Scam". Hyperallergic. Retrieved January 1, 2021. In 2013, photographer Kyle Cassidy uploaded one of his images to Wikimedia Commons and released it into the public domain. ... Nearly seven years later, the photo was at the center of a bizarre scam involving affiliate links, a fake copyright enforcement company, and a Wikipedia user improbably named 'Aldwin Sturdivant.'
  • Cohen, Noam (January 4, 2021). "Wikipedia's Biggest Challenge Awaits in 2021". Wired. Retrieved January 4, 2021. Changes proposed by the Wikimedia Foundation to diversify its community of editors raise existential questions for the online encyclopedia.
  • Kwong, Emily (January 6, 2021). "One Page At A Time, Jess Wade Is Changing Wikipedia". NPR. Retrieved January 6, 2021. This is Jess Wade, an experimental physicist at Imperial College London. For years, her relationship to Wikipedia was a casual one. ... Until she realized that this website, which is edited by millions of volunteers, sees 300 billion page views every day on average, has the power to influence the direction of scientific research.
  • "Happy Birthday, Wikipedia". The Economist. January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021. But Wikipedia—written by amateurs, freely available to all—stands as the great exception. It is the dream that worked.
  • "Wikipedia is 20, and its reputation has never been higher". The Economist. January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021. On January 15th Wikipedia—'the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit'—will celebrate its 20th anniversary. It will do so as the biggest and most-read reference work ever. Wikipedia hosts more than 55m articles in hundreds of languages, each written by volunteers. Its 6.2m English-language articles alone would fill some 2,800 volumes in print. Alexa Internet, a web-analysis firm, ranks Wikipedia as the 13th-most-popular site on the internet, ahead of Reddit, Netflix and Instagram.
  • "Wikipedia's future lies in poorer countries". The Economist. January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021. The site's volunteer workforce has plateaued in the West, but is surging in Asia and Africa.
  • Hegarty, Shane (January 10, 2021). "Wikipedia at 20: Did you know Will Ferrell was once not killed in a paragliding incident?". The Irish Times. Retrieved January 13, 2021. There is some artificial intelligence involved in keeping Wikipedia going, but it remains an ongoing triumph of human ingenuity. And in more profound ways, 2020 was a very good year for Wikipedia. Quietly so. Based in part on what it didn't do.
  • Ings, Simon (January 10, 2021). "Wikipedia has transformed knowledge – so why is it still looked down on?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved January 13, 2021. Wikipedia's guidelines to its editors include 'Assume Good Faith' and 'Please Do Not Bite the Newcomers.' Perhaps this is more than the naughty world deserves.
  • Saxena, Akanksha (January 11, 2021). "Once a school dropout, Rajasthan carpenter turns into Wikipedia's Hindi content editor and curator". Times Now. Retrieved January 13, 2021. Jangid felt that the purpose behind becoming an editor and content curator is for making it easier for Hindi-speaking people to find what they are looking for in the website.
  • Yeoh, Angelin (January 11, 2021). "Volunteers in Malaysia keep Wikipedia free from trolls". The Star. Retrieved January 11, 2021. A small but active group of volunteers spend their free time updating Wikipedia – the free online encyclopaedia which turns 20 this week – to ensure information it carries about the country and its culture is always up to date.
  • Pappas, Melissa (January 12, 2021). "Hunters and busybodies: Researchers use Wikipedia to measure different types of curiosity". Phys.org. Retrieved January 12, 2021. A new study ... uses Wikipedia browsing as a method for describing curiosity styles. Using a branch of mathematics known as graph theory, their analysis of curiosity opens doors for using it as a tool to improve learning and life satisfaction.
  • Banerjee, Disha (January 12, 2021). "How A Rajasthan Carpenter & School Dropout Went On To Become Wikipedia's Hindi Editor". StoryPick. Retrieved January 12, 2021. 22-year-old Raju Jangid from Rajasthan, a school drop out and a carpenter by profession, ... wrote 1,800 articles and edited 57,000 pages on Wikipedia using a Samsung s5610 and went on to become Wikipedia's Hindi Editor.
  • Bouquet, Cyril; Barsoux, Jean-Louis; Wade, Michael (January 12, 2021). "The Unconventional Innovator Who Created Wikipedia". MIT Sloan Management Review. Retrieved January 13, 2021. With the benefit of hindsight, it may seem inevitable that someone, at some point, would have invented a platform like Wikipedia. But in truth, the creation of this online marvel was not predestined.
  • Sharma, Archana (January 12, 2021). "Carpenter's love for Hindi turns him into Wikipedia editor". The Hitavada. Retrieved January 13, 2021. CALL IT a love for his mother tongue 'Hindi' or his passion to invent something new that a school drop out, a carpenter by profession, turned into a Wikipedia editor and wrote 1,800 articles for its pages using his humble old vanilla plain mobile's keypad.
  • Roper, Chris (January 14, 2021). "Wikipedia's moment of truth". Financial Mail. Retrieved January 14, 2021. Wikipedia has become a bit like the internet itself for people — something you take for granted and use often, but perhaps seldom take the time to think about.
  • Barabanov, Oleg (January 14, 2021). "Wikipedia 20 Years On: Intellectual Snobbery vs the Right to Know". Valdai Discussion Club. Retrieved January 14, 2021. But let's be honest with ourselves: when an intellectual needs to get primary information on a topic unknown to him, over these twenty years it has become habitual to open Wikipedia first, only later referring to professional encyclopaedias, textbooks and articles.
  • Pasternack, Alex (January 14, 2021). "The Capitol attack set off a raging debate on Wikipedia: what to call it?". Fast Company. Retrieved January 15, 2021. 'Storming'? 'Insurrection'? 'Riot'? 'Attempted coup'? On Wikipedia, where neutrality is prized above all, volunteers are still searching for the words.
  • Roston, Tom (January 14, 2021). "An Oral History of Wikipedia, the Web's Encyclopedia". OneZero. Retrieved January 15, 2021. On the 20th anniversary, OneZero asked the individuals who made Wikipedia what it is today how it all started.
  • Harrison, Stephen; Benjakob, Omer (January 14, 2021). "Wikipedia is twenty. It's time to start covering it better". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved January 14, 2021. We need journalism that reveals how the act of collecting knowledge—and even the concept of knowledge itself—is complex.
  • Bushuev, Mikhail; Steinwehr, Uta (January 14, 2021). "Fact check: As Wikipedia turns 20, how credible is it?". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved January 18, 2021. For example, entries about Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in March 2014, differ depending on the language. DW's fact-check team analyzed the German, Russian and Ukrainian entries.
  • Harrison, Stephen (January 15, 2021). "To Celebrate Wikipedia's 20th Birthday, Try Editing It". Slate. Retrieved January 15, 2021. If the choices are between volunteering a few minutes' time to make Wikipedia better or else passively consuming more social media, the active option is superior.
  • Harrison, Stephen (January 15, 2021). "Wikipedia Is Basically a Massive RPG". Wired. Retrieved January 15, 2021. Comparing Wikipedia to a role-playing game is useful, as it helps people understand why Wikipedians are so reluctant to recognize external expertise.
  • Fitzpatrick, Alex (January 15, 2021). "What if the Web Looked More Like Wikipedia?". Time. Retrieved January 15, 2021. If there's a lesson to be learned from Wikipedia's continued success, it's this: build people the tools to effectively call out bullshit, and, like baseball-playing ghosts emerging from an Iowa cornfield, they will come.
  • Kelly, Heather (January 15, 2021). "Wikipedia turns 20: Fighting disinformation on the world's encyclopedia". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 15, 2021. Amid heightened concerns about the spread of disinformation and misinformation, Wikipedia's pages on controversial topics—such as QAnon and the Proud Boys—can be a balm.
  • Gault, Matthew (January 15, 2021). "The English Language Wikipedia Just Had Its Billionth Edit". Vice. Retrieved January 15, 2021. The free, open-source encyclopedia is a monument of human cooperation and collaboration.
  • Lindbergh, Ben (January 15, 2021). "The Fight to Win the Pettiest Edit Wars on Wikipedia". The Ringer. Retrieved January 17, 2021. Disputes over capitalization, André the Giant's height, and myriad other minor matters may not be consequential to most. But for some Wiki editors, it's a big deal.
  • Cellan-Jones, Rory (January 15, 2021). "Wikipedia at 20: The encyclopedia in five articles". BBC. Retrieved January 18, 2021. It is where everyone from students, to politicians to yes, journalists, turn for a quick briefing on any subject, although even Wikipedia says it should not be used as a primary source.
  • Smit, Sarah (January 15, 2021). "Wikipedia wants you to join the good side of the internet". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved January 18, 2021. Scott says that South African Wikipedia needs more content written in South African languages other than English. 'This is where one person could make a huge positive difference. One person who really cares about their language,' he says.
  • Hern, Alex (January 15, 2021). "Wikipedia at 20: last gasp of an internet vision, or a beacon to a better future?". The Guardian. Retrieved January 18, 2021. But 20 years on, it is difficult to deny that Wikipedia has proved the naysayers wrong. Whether it is the last gasp of a vision of the internet that has all but died out, or a shining beacon lighting the way to a better future, remains to be seen.
  • "Wikipedia turns 20, aims to reach the next billion users". Al Jazeera. January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2021. Unlike traditional encyclopedias, contributions by non-experts are welcome, which has driven innumerable debates about its content and have led to restrictions on updating certain entries.
  • Saeril, Nazarali (January 18, 2021). "Jasa ilmu penyunting Wikipedia" [Wikipedia Editing Knowledge Contribution]. Harian Metro (in Malay). Retrieved December 26, 2021. Bermula dengan memasukkan maklumat tulisan Jawi bagi perkataan 'teks', Taufik Rosman, 22, yang juga penyunting Wikipedia Malaysia sudah menterjemah kira-kira 1,000 rencana dalam Bahasa Inggeris kepada Bahasa Melayu.
  • Speed, Barbara (January 22, 2021). "Wikipedia is the last bastion of idealism on the internet". Prospect. Retrieved January 26, 2021. But despite being the seventh most-visited site in the world in 2020, Wikipedia still seems different. It is the only not-for-profit in the top 10, with no adverts, no data collection and no billionaire CEO. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers maintain and create pages for free, correcting one another and upholding an impressive veracity.
  • "'Write for Wikipedia with India focus'". The Hindu. January 24, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2021. The Karavali Wikimedians User Group, having those who write mainly for the Kannada, the Tulu, and the Konkani editions of Wikipedia, on Saturday appealed to doctors to contribute India-specific articles on medical sector.
  • "Senate resolution condemns misleading Google, Wikipedia search results about the 'present Islamic caliph'". Daily Pakistan. January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2021. After extensive communication on the matter, Wikipedia has been finally served with the notice to remove the sacrilegious content to avoid any legal action. In case the platforms remain non-compliant, PTA shall be constrained to initiate further action under Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (#PECA) and Rules 2020.
  • Singer, Jenny (January 26, 2021). "The Women of Wikipedia Are Writing Themselves Into History". Glamour. Retrieved January 26, 2021. A team of fiercely dedicated women Wikipedians is working around the clock and around the globe to write themselves into the pages of history, one edit at a time.
  • Brolik, Tomas (January 26, 2021). "How Czech Wikipedia Occupied Crimea". Respekt. Retrieved January 26, 2021. A stable and functional community creates the Czech Wikipedia entries. That makes it all the more startling when an obvious trap for Czech readers is discovered lying in wait.
  • O'brien, Peter (January 27, 2021). "Tell the Truth, Get Wiki-Whacked". Quadrant. Retrieved February 21, 2021. I had been indefinitely blocked as a Wikipedia editor...As far as Dark Emu is concerned, it seems to me that Wikipedia is just another cog in a vast ideological racket dedicated to making sure that Bruce Pascoe is never held to account for his manifest deceptions. Indeed, despite its claims to honesty and any inclination to bias, Wikipedia has once again demontrated the truth of O'Sullivan's Law, which states 'all organizations that are not actually right-wing will over time become left-wing.'
  • Hollifield, Scott (January 28, 2021). "SCOTT HOLLIFIELD: Wikipedia is older and I am wiser". Star-Herald. Retrieved January 28, 2021. At the time, I thought that was one of the dumbest ideas I had ever heard. 'Anyone' in theory means 'everyone' and while I don't know everyone, I know quite a few people who should not be editing an encyclopedia.
  • Bolt, Andrew (January 29, 2021). "HOW WIKIPEDIA PROTECTS BRUCE PASCOE'S UNTRUTHS". Herald Sun. Retrieved February 21, 2021. Want an example of how Wikipedia is another social media giant now busy censoring conservatives - and the truth? Bruce Pascoe's error-riddled book Dark Emu gets rave coverage in an entry in Wikipedia...But here are just some of the responses from Wikipedia editors to requests from to Dark Emu Exposed, O'Brien and other readers to balance their Dark Emu entry by at least mentioning the criticisms of it and the controversy it has caused.
  • "Boston Public Library Makes Historical Images Available For Use In Wikipedia". Patch. January 29, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021. These images include some of the library's most important photographic collections, and contribute to the single largest batch of uploads ever contributed to Wikimedia Commons.
  • O'brien, Peter (January 30, 2021). "Wikipedia's Officious Corporals". Quadrant. Retrieved February 21, 2021. 'At the risk of becoming tedious, I wonder if I might again take readers to the People's Republic of Wikipedia, where, with apologies to Martin Luther king, my book Bitter Harvest was judged not on the character of its content but by the colour of its author'.

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November edit

  • Cunneen, Rachel; O'Neil, Mathieu (November 4, 2021). "Students are told not to use Wikipedia for research. But it's a trustworthy source". The Conversation. Retrieved November 4, 2021. In the future, we hope first-year university students enter our classrooms already understanding the value of Wikipedia. This will mean a widespread cultural shift has taken place in Australian primary and secondary schools. In a time of climate change and pandemics, everyone needs to be able to separate fact from fiction. Wikipedia can be part of the remedy.
  • Leonard, Brendan (November 7, 2021). "Why You Should Scrap Your Instagram for Wikipedia". Outside. Retrieved November 8, 2021. I'm not saying replacing Twitter and/or Instagram with Wikipedia is going to transform your life. But I can definitely vouch for spending some time following your curiosity, instead of an algorithm.
  • Stephen, Brook; Samantha, Hutchinson (November 11, 2021). "A literary mystery on Caroline Overington's Wikipedia page". The Age. Retrieved November 20, 2021. Award-winning journalist and author Caroline Overington shared a Walkley award for exposing a literary hoax involving author Norma Khouri while US correspondent for this masthead. That much we know from Overington's Wikipedia page, which faithfully lists The Australian literary editor's 13 books and numerous awards. Of more interest is what the page doesn't reveal. Specifically, several paragraphs from the entry have mysteriously gone walkabout amid signs that the website has been "rinsed" of some unflattering content. It has to be said that CBD has no evidence Overington herself has anything to do with the deletions.

December edit

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See also edit