New Readers/Media reports

New Readers
Research and findings
  Outcome #1: Access
  Outcome #2: Awareness
  Outcome #3: Discovery
  Outcome #4: Retention
  Outcome #5: Syndication
Updates
FAQ and all pages

Every week, the Communications team collects press mentions of "Wikipedia" or "Wikimedia" from news outlets in the 6 priority countries. These press clippings provide a view into media perceptions of the Wikimedia movement and Wikimedia sites.

2016: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

March

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March 5–11

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  India — New Indian Express: A Bot That Gets Wiki Content to Your Phone

New WhatsApp bot allows users to get Wikipedia articles pasted into chats by texting “wiki” and then adding a query term

  •   Positive: Consumer perception: “...left some users in delight” and positive perception of tech innovation


  India — Kashmir Monitor: Op-Ed: Easy Access to Info Can Actually Make People Dumber

The number of internet users in Jammu and Kashmir has gone beyond 3,500,000. Author fears that citizens are becoming too dependent on search engines as method to get answers fast without putting in any effort to learn

  •   Positive: Advocates more contributors: “out of the millions who use ‘Wikipedia’, only 0.01-0.02 percent are contributors, rest everyone is like a leech thriving on whatever information is available.”


  India — The Hindu: Qwikipedia

In recurring section, game editor introduces game called “Qwikipedia” where the objective is to get to a particular Wiki page, starting from a specific article, using minimal clicks. Urges readers to send in their paths for the above to their email address with the subject: Qwikipedia

  •   Positive: Engaging readers, Wikipedia as a site of fun - “Qwikipedia is a game that tries to quench this curiosity in us.”


  India — The Hindu: Democratise Information

Eminent ecologist, Madhav Gadgil calls for the democratization of information to help people make informed and scientifically sound decisions

  •   Positive: Dr. Gadgil suggested that scientists and social activists use tools like Wikipedia to document and spread scientific insight


  India — Business Insider: Someone is Editing Wikipedia to Make the Founder of Collapsed Tech Unicorn Powa Look Better

A Wikipedia user who has only edited the page of Dan Wagner, the founder /CEO of Powa Technologies, made edits last week that play down the recent collapse of his business.

  •   Negative: This editor is “deliberately attempting to compromise Wikipedia’s integrity" and distribute inaccurate information


  India — Deccan Chronicle: MP says Wikipedia Showed Her as 'dead'; Govt Promises Action

A member of parliament was marked as dead in her WP entry and wanted to lodge a police report in response

  •   Negative: Information was inaccurate and Wikipedia is shown to be a tool subject to government scrutiny, distrust, and political manipulation.


  Mexico — Excelsior: ¿Es Wikipedia una enciclopedia misógina? (Is Wikipedia a Misogynistic Encyclopedia?]

Analysts argue that out of all the biographies present in Wikipedia in 2015, only 15% of them were about women. Sue Gardner, former executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, says there are several reasons why women stay out of contributions to Wikipedia, as its non-friendly interface, lack of confidence in themselves and aversion type of culture Site. Reprinted in informador, Vanguardia, PubliMetro

  •   Negative: “Many women do not participate in Wikipedia because the information that they contribute is likely to be modified or deleted by the "prevailing misogyny" atmosphere.


  Mexico — Vanguardia: Arte, Información y Feminismo

From March 5th to 8th, Editatón of Women Artists 2016 joined the global effort to draw attention to the role of women in art history

  •   Positive: Article shows public work on culture change with 100 Mexican women artists entries added


  Brazil — UOL.com.br: Advogado impede que lobista fale de pagamentos a filho de Lula (Lawyer prevents lobbyist from speaking about payments to Lula's son]

Charges of corruption against former Brazilian President Lula now contend his son presented “professional” advice that he took from Wikipedia.

  •   Negative: Wikipedia conflated with general, or rudimentary internet information


  Brazil — UOL.com.br: Mapa reúne informações sobre séculos de guerra ao redor do mundo (Map gathers information on war centuries around the world]

Coverage of art project showing “geography of violence” created by Wikipedia articles on battles from more than 4,000 years

  •   Positive: using Wikidata to create historical visual representation
  •   Negative: information not necessarily reputable, “... not 100 percent reliable”



March 12–18

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  India — Times of India: Wikipedia Developing Speech Engine for Users

Summary of Wikimedia Sweden has partnered with KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden to develop speech synthesis platform that enables to communicate content to those who cannot read the text.

  •   Positive: Highlights efforts of Wikipedia to increase accessibility
Other coverage: India Today


  India — Times of India: 13 Ways to Make Your Wikipedia Experience Better

Highlights 13 different subsites to help Wikipedia users find information more easily

  •   Positive: Wikipedia is described as “go to” place for information, and lots of Wikimedia projects shown as positive utilities (e.g. WikiNews, Simple English, Wiktionary)
  •   Negative: Foregrounds flaws of existing Wikipedia user experiences. Associates Wikipedia with a lot of organizations outside of WMF such as WikiHow, WikiWant, Wikimapia, etc.
Other coverage: The Hans India


  India — The Hans India: Absurd Facts About Technology You Ought to Know

Emphasizes the need for anti-vandal bots to actively monitor changes being made to Wikipedia content

  •   Mixed: Highlights the value of bots for strong Wikipedia experience, but argues that more of Wikipedia should be automated and that more powerful bots would serve against vandalism


  India — The Wire: Eight Challenges That Indian-Language Wikipedias Need to Overcome

Staffer, Subashish Panigrahi highlights lack of content in Indian-Language Wikipedia and obstacles hindering accessibility such as lack of native content available on the internet and issues with open access

  •   Positive: Brand Perception
  •   Negative: Project needs to overcome challenges through a larger editor community and taking advantage of useful resources such as language input software


  Mexico — Milenio: Wikipedia hará que un programa te lea sus artículos (Wikipedia Has Made a Program That Can Read Your Articles]

Wikimedia Sweden has partnered with KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden to program that enables to communicate content to those who cannot read the text

  •   Positive: Highlights efforts of Wikipedia to increase accessibility with plans to expand program to 285 languages


  Brazil — Investimento se Noticias: Skol, Bohemia e Guaraná estão entre as 10 marcas brasileiras mais ágeis (Skol, Bohemia, and Guaraná are Among the 10 Most Agile Brazilian Brands]

Reports on a study by Landor, global branding agency,listing 10 most agile brands based in Brazil

  •   Positive: Refers back to first study by Landor in November 2015 for brands, where Wikipedia was in the top 10 agile brands along with Android, Google, Dyson, Apple, YouTube, Microsoft, Ikea and Disney


  Indonesia — Tribun News: Dibantah Dejan Antonic, Tapi Wikipedia Sudah Menyebut Belencoso Main Untuk Persib (Denied Dejan Antonic, but Wikipedia Already Mentioned Belencoso Main To Persib]

Report of unverified edit on Wikipedia article (WP:EN) for professional soccer player Juan Belencoso claiming that he is now playing for Indonesian club team

  •   Positive: Importance of Wikipedia content shown to be very high, possibly prescient
  •   Negative: Reliability of Wikipedia information shown to be suspicious


  Indonesia — CNN Indonesia: Menikmati Java Jazz Festival, Merayakan Musim Semi (Enjoyed the Java Jazz Festival, Celebration of the Spring)

Reports that music entrepreneur Peter J Gontha, gets musicians excited to visit Indonesia by sharing the Wikipedia article on Indonesia

  •   Positive: Wikipedia as best summary of Indonesian culture. “I often promote our country by sending a link to Wikipedia about Indonesia to them.”


  Egypt — Egypt1: أحد مؤسسي Wikipedia يُهاجم الشركات التي تسعى إلى تعديل بياناتها من أجل التسويق (One of the Founders of Wikipedia Attacking Companies that Seek to Adjust their Data for Marketing)]

Summarizes SXSW interview with Jimmy Wales, where he addresses the issue with companies editing their own Wikipedia pages as a marketing tactic

  •   Positive: Associates Jimmy with Wikipedia very strongly, shows site as major world experience
  •   Negative: Suggests his role is akin to tech CEO, minimizes community and open movement values



March 19–25

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  India — FirstPost: #BharatMataKiJay: How the deification of Mother India has turned Indian Muslims away from chanting the rallying cry

The RSS, right-wing, Hindu nationalist party of India, insistence on everyone chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' (Victory to Mother India) has led many young Indian muslims to consider add Mother India as a Hindu deity

  •   Positive: Wikipedia is seen as influential source of information for millennial generation. When founder of nonprofit “Jai Ho” was asked if there was any other basis for their view of the deification of Mother India, his response was, "Wikipedia"


  India — The Hindu Business Line: Securing the Internet's Future

Former general counsel member of Wikimedia Foundation, Mike Godwin about net neutrality in a series of talks that took place in India's Center for Internet and Society in February.

  •   Positive: Strong brand awareness alludes to Wikipedia and Wikipedia Zero in his perspective on net neutrality.
  •   Negative: Stance on Wikipedia Zero's mission is not purely positive - "with Wikipedia, I realised it doesn’t matter if you have neutrality if nobody can afford it. Neutrality hasn’t served the people who can’t afford to pay to have the wires built up to their provinces.”


  India — The Hindu: The King of Shennai

Article honoring late Ustad Bismillah Khan, renowned Indian musician

  •   Negative: confusion on his actual date of birth: "while Wikipedia insists he was born in 1916, some other sites say the year was 1913..."


  Mexico — Milenio: Teotihuacan Estrena Luz y Sonido (Tetoihuacan Opens Light and Sound Show)]

The Night Show of Teotihuacan premiered this past Friday with the presence of the chief executive, governor of the state of Mexico, and culture secretary

  •   Negative: Information from Wikipedia is seen as unreputable. Representatives prided themselves on the script guiding the show to have information validated by well-reputed historians and specialists. “what I want to say is that they are not merely facts taken from Wikipedia”


  Mexico — Vanguardia: Sophia, la estrella robotica del SXSW (Sophia, the Star Robot from SXSW]

Sophia, humanoid robot presented at SXSW gained a lot of attention as Journalists around the world have had the opportunity to interview Sophia to test its ability to provide verbal and facial responses.

  •   Negative: Tone of Wikipedia is seen as depersonalized and robotic. “Sophia answered correctly most of the times to questions from reporters, but sometimes sounded, in the words of those attending the event, 'as a Wikipedia entry'"


  Mexico — Vanguardia: ¿Por qué demonios quieren ser periodistas? (Why the hell would we want to be journalists?)]

Explores the juxtaposition of the so to speak, dying field of journalism yet how there is a rise in those who want to be journalists

  •   Positive: Wikipedia is seen as "all-knowing" resource, coupled alongside with the accessibility and popularity of Google


  Mexico — PubliMetro: #ParaElCafé: las noticias que debemos conocer (The News that We Know]

Recurring feature in Publimetro that outlines fast facts from across the globe

  •   Positive: Wikipedia is seen as an established organization important enough to cover amongst topics like Obama and the Fed of Mexico. Fact: "What motivates hundreds of thousands of people to make edits in Wikipedia every day? Reputation, marketing and even eccentricity, concludes The Atlantic."


  Brazil — UOL.com.br: Rede da Caixa é usada para escrever 'Casa da mãe Joana Civil' na Wikipédia (Box network is used to write 'House of Joan Civil mother' in Wikipedia]

Caixa Econômica Federal will investigate the use of a computer of the state bank network to rename the entry "Casa Civil" in Wikipedia to "Mother Joan of the House Civil."

  •   Negative: inaccurate information and vandalism was present enough to


  Indonesia — liputan6: Ini Kata-kata Pertama yang Diunggah di Wikipedia (These Words were First Uploaded in Wikipedia)]

References Business Insider Article about Jimmy Wales and discusses beginnings of Wikipedia and first uploaded words "Hello World"

  •   Positive: Associates Jimmy with Wikipedia very strongly. HHighlights the rapid growth of Wikipedia throughout the years.



March 26–April 2

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  Nigeria — Naij: 7 Strong Nigerians President Buhari Cannot 'Touch'

Article describes seven, powerful figures in Nigerian government that have strong influence on society today.

  •   Positive: Wikipedia seen as source that reaffirms major societal views. Mentioned to highlight General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida's power in Nigerian political sphere since 1993. "Even Wikipedia refers to him as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party"


  Nigeria — Pulse.ng: Why Nigerian Musicians Reduce Their Ages

Discusses the phenomenon of age fabrication with Nigerian Musicians

  •   Positive: Wikipedia is portrayed as a platform with the the right facts: “After people began to poke questions on social media, his Wikipedia page was altered to reflect he was 28 years old.”


  India — FirstPost: Facebook Free Basics and Wikipedia Zero Used to Set Up Clandestine File Sharing Network

Angolan users have found a loophole in Facebook Free Basics and Wikipedia Zero to pirate content onto these websites.

  •   Positive: Wikipedia Zero’s initiatives seen as benevolent in offering more countries information
  •   Negative: Article introduces Wikipedia Zero as something that was “...booted in India”. Ease of piracy through Wikipedia is also seen as concerning


  India — Tribune India: Telling Stories of Our Times

Renowned classical dancer, Sonal Mansingh discusses how society has changed over the past several decades she has been involved in Indian arts.

  •   Negative: Criticizes dependency on the internet in this day and age. "Everyone is so attuned to Wikipedia. Google is the new God. It’s complete nonsense. The state of our youth worries me. "


  Mexico — Vanguardia: Procurador de Sinaloa se Fusilo Frases de Wikipedia a para su Discurso Sobre Benito Juarez (Attorney phrases Wikipedia Sinaloa were shot for his speech on Benito Juarez)

Attorney General of the State of Sinaloa, Marco Antonio Higuera Gómez, under speculation for plagiarizing speech from a Wikipedia article about Benito Juarez.

  •   Positive: Wikipedia is seen as a reliable, reputed source especially since fragments of articles are taken for official speech


  Brazil — Globo: Angolanos Usam Acesso Livre à Wikipédia e Facebook para Pirataria (Angolan Use Free Access to Wikipedia and Facebook for Piracy)

Another article on Angola users taking advantage of Wikipedia Zero and Facebook Free Basics to pirate content

  •   Positive: Wikipedia is taking fast action to remedy the issue
  •   Negative: Wikipedia’s solution of blocking IPs of those responsible is hitting Angolans using it in a conventional matter


  Indonesia — Metro TV News: Wikimedia Indonesia Dapatkan 3 Pemenang Wiki Sabada (Wikimedia Indonesia Gets 3 Winners)

Wikimedia Indonesia and Sundanese Studies Center announced the three winners wrote an article titled Wiki or Wikipedia Mercury Sabanda Basa Sunda

  •   Positive: Celebrating involvement of users in Wikimedia Indonesia: “The ceremony was attended by Siska Doviana prize, the Chairman of Wikimedia Indonesia period 2013 - 2015; Ruhaliah, Secretary of the Centre for the Study of Sunda, and Ilham Nurwansah, Sabanda Wiki Contest Committee.”


  Egypt — Saudi Gazette: Arab World Internet Users to Reach Around 226M by 2018

Article discussing the growth of internet usage in Arabic regions such as Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, etc.

  •   Positive: The presence of Arabic content was also studied, particularly through Wikipedia


April

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April 2–16

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  Nigeria — The Herald Nigeria: Olajumoke Bread Seller Turned Model is Now on Wikipedia

Pop culture about Nigerian bread seller was discovered by a photographer and has become a model

  •   Positive: Getting an entry in Wikipedia is a sign of someone “making it”: “The world’s most popular encyclopedia now has Olajumoke as an entry.”
Other coverage: Pulse.ng


  India — News X: Google marks Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar's 96th Birthday

In honor of late sitar maestro, Pandit Ravi Shankar’s 96th birthday on April 7th, Google created a doodle that redirects to Shankar’s Wikipedia page

  •   Positive: Strong brand recognition by being tied to Google’s front page


  India — Live Mint: Google Joins Health Apps Bandwagon

Google launched its new tool, “health cards,” making disease related searches in India easier

  •   Positive: App’s functionality is associated with Wikipedia, a reinforcing Wikipedia’s status as platform of knowledge
  •   Negative: Wikipedia is portrayed as questionable information without local relevance or expertise: “The tool is different from Wikipedia because it has been adapted to the local needs of the country and has been verified by doctors from institutes like All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, Apollo Hospitals and Columbia Asia Hospital.”


  India — The Hans India: Tiobe Index Visual Basic Losing Language Popularity

Microsoft’s Visual Basic is slipping in Tiobe’s Index of Language Popularity. Tiobe bases its ratings on an examination of how often languages are searched on in search engines such as Google, Bing, and Wikipedia, gauging the number of skilled engineers, courses, and third-party vendors pertinent to a language.

  •   Positive: Wikipedia’s depth and popularity merits to be a qualifier for the rating system


  India — Times of India: Wikimedia art database breaks copyright law: Swedish court

Sweden's highest court found Wikimedia Sweden guilty of violating copyright laws by providing free access to its database of artwork photographs without the artists' consent.

  •   Negative: Wikimedia Sweden seen as foolish and impractical, choosing politics over partnerships: The Visual Copyright Society of Sweden stated that Wikimedia Sweden had refused to sign a licensing agreement that "would have cost several thousand kronor per year" and had instead "chosen to spend hundreds of thousands of kronor on lawyers' fees."


  Mexico — Milenio: El Plagiario

Op-ed criticizes politician for plagiarizing Wikipedia instead of using his own voice, and for assuming that people would not discover this or hold him accountable

  •   Positive: Wikipedia seen as a global resource for good, and honest it having no political intents.


  Brazil — UOL.com.br: Empresas Unem Robos a Aplicativos de Mensagens Para Conquistar Clientes (Apps Invest in Robots that Speak to You and Plan Parties)

Discusses latest trend in applications to be using bots as a form of increasing “deep learning” in systems. Watson, cognitive learning platform by IBM, is trained with Wikipedia information.

  •   Positive: Wikipedia is seen as strong source of information.


  Indonesia — Republika: Panduan Menyunting Wikipedia Indonesia Diterbitkan (Free Editing Wikipedia Published)

Article encourages users to join Wikimedia Indonesia in developing articles for Wikipedia in partnership with German Wikimedians (via Goethe-Institut)

  •   Positive: Not only encourages joining the Wikimedia Indonesia community but also highlights resources available, variety of opportunities to get involved, and why it is so important to be a part of Wikimedia Indonesia


  Indonesia — Tech in Asia: Indonesian Marketplace Tokopedia Raises 147M

Indonesian e-commerce site, Tokopedia raised $147M in its latest financing round, and has outranked Wikipedia, Twitter and Wordpress in website popularity in Indonesia

  •   Positive: Outranking Wikipedia is seen as a feat as it is considered to be one of the most popular websites. Indicates Wikipedia’s presence and popularity in Indonesia


  Indonesia — Detik: Punya Prestasi dan 28 Kursi PDIP di DKI, Akankah Risma Hijrah ke Ibu Kota? (Achievement has 28 seats and the PDIP in Jakarta, Risma Will Migrate to Capital?)

In a summary of candidates of Jakarta Governor Elections, one candidate is considered leading due to her list of accomplishments found on Wikipedia.

  •   Positive: Wikipedia is cited as a source of credibility and qualification
Other coverage: Liputan6.com


  Indonesia — Merdeka: Bocah 12 tahun jadi Perdana Menteri Australia di Wikipedia

12 year old boy, Orley Feneson made himself the Prime Minister of Australia on Wikipedia and garnered a lot of public attention for his actions

  •   Negative: Unreputable source of information due to vandalism: “those who 'idolize' Wikipedia as a primary source of information may have to evaluate that belief.”


  Egypt — Aloma News: Head of Australia is a Child

Another article on Orley Feneson making himself the Prime Minister of Australia on Wikipedia

  •   Negative: Wikipedia cannot be trusted or believed due to frequent vandalism


  Egypt — El Fagr: Program designed to predict the occurrence of terrorist operations in the future

Company founded by CIA is claiming that it was able to design a computer program that can predict future terrorist attacks. Program deals with a range of data from social networking sites like Facebook, Wikipedia and YouTube and compares it with previous patterns of behavior and movement of data on those sites.

  •   Positive: Able to use Wikipedia to assess possible terrorist threats
  •   Negative: Open-source capabilities of Wikipedia provides terrorists and groups the opportunity to abuse the platform


  Egypt — Mex Drama: Population .. Encyclopedia of Arab knowledge focused reliable

Encyclopedia of Arab, a.k.a “Huddle,” launched in 2014, is a Wikipedia modeled site that provides Arab content in articles that are no more than 600 characters or 100 words. One can browse encyclopedia without membership but membership provides special perks such as interacting with platform and getting specific articles. Prides itself for being reliable information with a series of content checks for accuracy

  •   Positive: Wikipedia presented as a global brand for knowledge
  •   Negative: Reliability and local value of Wikipedia for Arabic readers is questioned


  Egypt — Masralekhbaria: Edit War on Wikipedia explodes after Egypt cedes Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia

Article covers edit war between Egypt and Saudi Arabia having agreed to exchange sovereignty of two strategic islands of Tiran and Sanafir with users inaccurately changing the dependency of these islands.

  •   Positive: Inaccurate information taken quickly and no longer available
  •   Negative: Open-source platform amidst controversial political events can offer opportunities for impassioned users to manipulate information making Wikipedia unreliable
Other coverage: Rassd and Gateeg


  Egypt — Global Voices: Learning Initiatives at ArabWiki’s Second Session in Jordan to Increase

Coverage of WikiArabia in Global Voices blog

  •   Positive: Event and movement are hailed for social impact


April 17 – May 1

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  Nigeria — Naij: I am not a fugitive, former governor's daughter tells Bianca

Tabloid covering rift between the Governor of Oyo’s daughter and ex-beauty queen

  •   Positive: Having a Wikipedia entry about oneself is seen as an achievement/ sign of “making it”


  India — Daily Mail India: Open to the public at last: India's cultural history gets a Wikipedia of its own

"Sahapedia", a Wikipedia-like site for Indian cultural heritage, launches.

  •   Mixed: Implies Wikipedia is a good role model for technology, but that its lack of experts is a bad thing. "Anybody can’t write about anything. Unlike Wikipedia, where anyone can contribute, here we can have one overview article by an expert of that domain. Plus there will be other perspectives."


  India — Economic Times: How Technological Developments can cut Millions of Jobs over next 20 years

World Economic Forum at Davos claims that the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” will cut millions of jobs in the next ten years due to increased automation. 8.5% of Wikipedia’s content is written by bots

  •   Positive: categorizes Wikipedia under ‘News Reporters and Sources’ --


  India — Goal.com India: Wikipedia forced to block Jon Moss' page after he's labelled a 'Thunderb*stard

Referee, Jon Moss; Wikipedia page tinkered with as he faced backlash for his calls in Leicester City vs. West Ham match

  •   Negative: Unreputable source of information due to vandalism


  India — The Hindu: Everything That Can and Cannot be Looked Up

Op-ed discussing the depreciating value of standalone reference material and how resources like Wikipedia play a huge role in this change

  •   Positive: highlights the usefulness and popularity of Wikipedia
  •   Negative: attributes Wikipedia as one of the reason why reference books and physical resources are no longer useful


  India — The News Minute: You won’t believe what’s on the Wikipedia page on Gender Discrimination in India

Author criticizes Wikipedia article on gender discrimination in India as it has a section about “Discrimination Against Men”

  •   Negative: information is seen as polarizing and does not account for cultural norms. Wikipedia is seen as a biased, unreliable resource


  India — TechWorm: Wikipedia soon to be available on the Moon

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  India — DNA India: Wikipedia Gap Finder: filling in the language holes

Coverage of the new "gap finder".

  •   Positive: Seen as work towards filling gaps.


  India — Global Voices: Eight Challenges Indian-Language Wikipedias Need to Overcome

Reposting of an earlier post by The Wire. Subha discusses some of the obstacles preventing Indian Wikipedias from thriving.


  India — NDTV: Traffic to Wikipedia Terrorism Pages Dropped After Snowden Revelations: Study

Coverage of the "chilling effect" documented in many other media.

  •   Positive: Sort of. "More immediately, the research could aid a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Wikipedia's nonprofit parent organization and other groups against the NSA and the Justice Department."


  India — The Hindu: Exercise to correct articles in Tulu Wikipedia begins

An edit-a-thon on the Tulu and Kannada Wikipedias aims to improve articles there.

  •   Positive: Influence of Wikipedia is noted. "A live Tulu Wikipedia would help bring pressure on the government include Tulu in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution."


  India — The Hindu: விக்கிப்பீடியா உறுப்பினர் ஆகலாமா? (Are you a Wikipedia member?)

Article aims at newcomers to Wikipedia, talking about its layout and how to participate.

  •   Positive: Implies Wikipedia is popular. "[We are] sure you are familiar with Wikipedia. ...You can get additional benefits through membership in Wikipedia, you know?"


  India — BBC Hindi: इंटरनेट पर व्यवसाय में सफलता के टिप (Tip for success in business on the Internet)

An interview with Jimmy Wales on how to start a career online.

  •   Positive: Calls Wikipedia a "success" for Wales, and features him prominently in the piece.


  Mexico — Swagger: El mensaje de Wikipedia que todos están odiando (The message that everyone is hating [on Wikipedia)]

Article about the fundraising banners on Wikipedia.

  •   Negative: Sees the banners as annoying and "hated".


  Mexico — Vanguardia: El lado más profundo del Internet (The deeper side of the Internet)

Article discussing details about the Deep Web, databases and websites not listed under search engines

  •   Positive: references Hidden Wikis and describes them to be useful like Wikipedia in finding topics of specified interests


  Mexico — Milenio: Elige la Información de Wikipedia que leerán los aliens (Aliens can choose what Wikipedia Articles to Read)

The Wikimedia Germany project is working with a German project on sending specific content into space

  •   Positive: work of Wikimedia Germany is being lauded in Mexico. Innovative, unique initiatives adds to the “wow” factor of the platform


  Brazil — Olhar Digital: Usuários evitam acessar páginas sobre terrorismo na Wikipédia por medo da NSA (Users avoid accessing pages on terrorism Wikipedia for fear of NSA)

Further coverage of the Snowden "chilling effects".

  •   Positive: Follows our message of free access to knowledge. "'With people potentially intimidated to refrain from such basic acts as the group information, these people will be less informed,' said Penney in the study. 'Thus, our access to the democratic debate will be weakened.'"


  Brazil — Tudo Celular: Denúncias de Snowden fizeram cair tráfego de páginas sobre terrorismo na Wikipedia, entenda (Whistleblower Snowden brought down traffic pages on terrorism in Wikipedia understand)

Further coverage of the Snowden "chilling effects".

  •   Positive: "It is possible that the research could help in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of non-profit organization behind Wikipedia, and other groups against the NSA and the Department of Justice."


  Brazil — OUL.com.br: Leitores Comentam Textos de Colunistas da Folha (Readers comment columnists texts Sheet)

Readers of popular column critique its author of copying work from Wikipedia entries

  •   Positive: Wikipedia is seen as a reliable, reputed source especially since fragments of articles are taken for newspaper


  Brazil — UOL.com.br: Livro sobre cubismo é abrangente, mas lembra a Wikipédia (Book on Cubism is Comprehensive, but Remember Wikipedia)

Book on cubism is criticized for being comprehensive, yet short like Wikipedia articles

  •   Negative: Wikipedia entries are associated with “superficial work”


  Brazil — Boa Informacão: Como a Wikipédia se tornou uma comunidade mais fechada, e como resolver isto (As Wikipedia has become a more closed community, and how to solve this)

Coverage of a study suggesting Wikipedia has become a sprawling bureaucracy.

  •   Negative: Reports on work by Aaron Halfaker into reverted edits. "And most worrisome: a jump in the proportion of good edits made by new users, but were removed - it was 6% to over 20%, more or less at the time that Wikipedia editors began to lose."


  Brazil — Olhar Digital: Wikipedia tem hierarquia semelhante à do século passado, diz pesquisa (Wikipedia has hierarchy similar to the last century, says research)

Coverage of a study suggesting Wikipedia has become a sprawling bureaucracy.

  •   Negative: "Segregation may be hindering the growth of the community. "There are already reports that the growth of Wikipedia is decreasing, and our observation indicates that this will continue unless something is done about it," explain the Korean researchers."


  Brazil — Futebol Interior: Paulistão: Torcedor 'invade' Wikipedia de Denis, do SP, e coloca jogador no The Voice (Paulistão: Fan 'invades' Wikipedia Denis, SP, and puts player in The Voice)

Coverage of soccer vandalism.

  •   Negative: Implies this happens often at Wikipedia.


  Indonesia — Liputan6: 7 Kisah Mengerikan dari Wikipedia Ini Masih Misteri (7 Terrible Story of Wikipedia's Still a Mystery)

List of "scary stories" on Wikipedia which has appeared in numerous other media over the years.

  •   Positive: Wikipedia as a learning tool, implied popularity. "So far, we know Wikipedia as a source right in doing the coursework or thesis."


April 30 – May 13

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  Nigeria — Moji Delano: SMH: A Mischievous Hacker Added “Ajala The Traveller And “Baba Go Slow” To President Buhari’s Wikipedia Page

Vandalism to the President's page

  •   Negative: Doesn't actually blame Wikipedia, but the "mischievous person" involved. Implicitly pokes at the "anyone can edit" model.
Other coverage: Naij - LOL! Buharis Wikipedia page tampered (photo)

Laila's Blog - Lmao!! See how evil Nigerians tampered with Pres. Buharis Wikipedia page (photo) That 1960 Chick - Pres. Buhari’s Wikipedia Page Tampered With, “Ajala the Traveller” & “Baba Go Slow” Added To His Bio!!!


  Nigeria — Information NG: Choi! Azealia Banks Battered By Teenage Disney Actress

Vandalism to Azealia Banks' page.

  •   Negative: Again, doesn't actually blame Wikipedia, but the person involved… though still pokes at the "anyone can edit" model. "After Skai schooled and ‘murdered’ Azealia on Twitter, people had to edit her wikipedia page. Lol"


  Nigeria — IT Realms: ITREALMS: Telcos to deploy FDD on 38, 42 GHz - NCC

Cites Wikipedia as "experts" on this topic.

  •   Positive: "Experts at Wikipedia said that uplink and downlink sub-bands are usually separated by the frequency offset. Thus, frequency-division duplexing could be efficient in the case of symmetric traffic."


  Nigeria — Punch NG: Nigerian tourist centres yet to embrace digital marketing (1)

Tourism sites in Nigeria depend on Wikipedia's wording on them since they don't have official websites.

  •   Positive: Implies Wikipedia is a popular platform that is relied upon by many for facts on tourism sites. "While other centres of its kind are supported with functional websites, video channels and other social media platforms, Obudu relies on Wikipedia for positioning in the competitive tourism market."


  India — Times of India: Vacancies vanish as tech takes over

Article on the takeover of jobs by tech in recent years. Fairly neutral on Wikipedia itself, though notes that "8.5% of Wikipedia's total content has been written by bots".


  India — Times of India: Spread awareness through Malayalam Wikipedia: Gadgil

Editing workshop on the Malayalam Wikipedia.

  •   Positive: Wikipedia as a tool for knowledge promotion and understanding. Features interviews with a number of volunteer editors.


  India — NDTV: Rabindranth Tagore Project Launched In London

"Wikipedia-style" collaborative project around Tagore, an Indian songsmith.

  •   Positive: Wikipedia as an example of a collaborative project.
Other coverage: NDTV, Economic Times


  India — gadgets.ndtv.com: You Probably Havent Even Noticed Googles Sketchy Quest to Control the Worlds Knowledge

Discusses Google's Knowledge Graph. Features interview with Dario about information curation.

  •   Positive: Talks about how Wikipedia can edit information quickly, and how it can go into much more detail than simple facts can (using Jerusalem as an example).


  India — Firstpost: Rajdeep Sardesai walked out from an uneven battlefield: Time bells tolled for trolls

Discussing the birth of the word "troll".

  •   Negative: Implies Wikipedia has "sentimental" feeling towards trolls.


  India — newindianexpress.com: No hard evidence of UFO crash till now

I actually have no idea what this is getting at. :/

  •   Negative: Implies Wikipedia has a government bias.


  India — deccanchronicle.com: There is hope in democratic devolution: Madhav Gadgil

Talks briefly about a Wikipedia workshop in Goa. Doesn't mention it for all that long, however.


  India — bangaloremirror.com: More to GDP than what just media talks about - Bangalore Mirror

Article about how GDP is more than just money.

  •   Positive: "Or take Wikipedia. Supported by investments of time rather money, it has left the old Encyclopaedia Britannica in the dust - and taken the GDP down a few notches in the process."


  Mexico — stuff.tv: ¿Ya donaste a Wikipedia?

Wikipedia's donation drive is picked up by the Mexican press.

  •   Negative: Banners are considered "annoying", and one publication calls them "the message that everyone hates".
Other coverage: Swagger, Aristegui Noticias, Excelsior, El Imparcial


  Mexico — sinembargo.mx: Homero Simpson cumple 60 años, ¿cierto o falso?

Homer Simpson "turns 60", but Wikipedia suggests he might already be 61.

  •   Positive: Numerous publications refer to Wikipedia as the most popular encyclopedia on the internet.
Other coverage: El Financiero, El Universal, multimedios, puentelibre


  Mexico — elsiglodetorreon.com.mx: Trolean a Belinda en su biografía de Wikipedia

User vandalises singer's article.

  •   Positive: Reports that the vandalism was corrected "within minutes".


  Mexico — eluniversal.com.mx: Humm, app para escuchar música supera las 140 mil descargas

A music-streaming app exceeds 140,000 downloads.

  •   Positive: Founder wants to replicate the Wikipedia model: "Somehow, we want to be a sort of Wikipedia and interact with the user to complete the catalogue."


  Brazil — Inovacao Tecnologica: Cientistas brasileiros colaboram com Wikipédia

"The Center for Research, Innovation and Diffusion in Neuromatemática (NeuroMat), initiated a task force involving journalists and scientists dedicated to the entries of Wikipedia editing and the addition of new information." Features interview with Asaf Bartov.

  •   Positive: Talks about the importance of Wikipedia having accurate information and the efforts of WMF and scientists.


  Brazil — zh.clicrbs.com.br: "A internet brasileira está sob ataque", diz Ronaldo Lemos, um dos criadores do Marco Civil brasileiro

Piece on internet rights in Brazil.

  •   Positive: Highlights Wikipedia's fight against SOPA a few years ago.


  Indonesia — duniaku.net: Cinta Laura Batal Tampil dalam Prekuel Film Harry Potter? Ini Alasannya!

Indonesian actress set to appear in new Harry Potter film.

  •   Negative: Implies Wikipedia is an incorrect source. "What is true there are fraudulent edit the IMDb page, given the page is a database that can be edited by anyone like Wikipedia?"


  Egypt — akhbarak.net: إسلام وجدي يكتب: مراوغات فلسفية في المصادر التدليسية

Hard to tell what this is about; something about source credibility.

  •   Negative: Seems incredulous that Wikipedia is used as a source.


  Egypt — masress.com: مصرس : جوجل تزيد من أمان Blogspot وتحول كل النطاقات إلى HTTPS

Wikipedia now uses HTTPS. A fairly neutral article on this topic.


  Egypt — masress.com: مصرس : خطأ بالانترنت يجعل طالب رئيسا لوزراء أستراليا

Australian kid vandalises an article to make himself PM of Australia.

  •   Negative: Emphasis on Wikipedia as being easily vandalised.


  Egypt — masress.com: مصرس : البيروقراطية تضرب \ويكيبيديا\ وتهدد مستقبلها

Arabic translation of the "bureaucracy" story from a while ago.

  •   Negative: Calls this bureaucracy a "major risk".