Wikipedians do citizen journalism

I searched for a list of distinguished alumni on the KU Alumni Association's Web site and made a couple calls, but to no avail. Then I remembered Wikipedia.

Wikipedia = happiness for citizen journalists.
Courtesy: Null Skateboards

I was trying to find the list for a KUJH story about KU alumnus Alan Mulally, Ford Motor Company's new CEO. Professor Musser strolled by, and because I know how professors feel about citing the online encyclopedia, I asked his permission to link to the entry. He refused, reasoning that Wikipedia contains fact errors and that anyone can edit an entry. I grumbled a bit, but I saw his point.

That night, I picked up a copy of The Atlantic at the grocery store and it fell open to a picture of bees working in a hive, also the title of the article. After reading it, I concluded that Wikipedia exemplified citizen journalism.

Marshall Poe, a historian, writes, "Can we all argree on what an apple is exactly, or the shades of the color green. Not easily. The wiki offered a way for people to actually decide in common. On Wikipedia, an apple is what the contributors say it is right now."

This mirrors the philosophy of citizen journalists. These people are sick of the mainstream media telling them what an apple looks like. They want to pick their own apples.

Poe argues that individuals own Web pages, but the community owns Wikipedia. In an online newspaper, the individual controls the truth, but in Wikipedia, the community attempts to reach a consensus on the truth.

This consensus may be reliable. The journal Nature compared Britannica and Wikipedia science articles last year. The study found little difference in accuracy: "The average science entry in Wikipedia contained around four inaccuracies; Britannica, about three."

So why not link to Wikipedia? Let our audience determine its credibility.