On Wikipedia.com we searched for biographical information on Lindsay Tarpley, a United States Women’s National Team soccer player. Wikipedia states Tarpley was born on Sept 22, 1983 in Kalamazoo, Michigan when in actuality she was born in Madison, Wisconsin according CSB Sports and the University of North Carolina websites.
Bethany Asbell
Grace Goodman
Ariel Tilson
Alex Talley, Jessica Mcmillan, Bethany Black
Our group found an article on Wikipedia stating that Wichita, KS was the fiftieth largest city in the United States in 2005. We found this fact to be inaccurate according to the infoplease almanac, which does not even include Wichita on their list of the fifty largest cities in the United States in 2005.
We found outdated information posted on www.wikipedia.com about the daily drink specials at The Wagon Wheel bar in Lawrence, KS. On The Wagon Wheel wikipedia page last year's drink specials were posted. We spoke with Tommy Beeler, manager at The Wheel, and found out the current drink specials. Current drink specials are:
Monday: $1.50 pints and $4.50 pitchers
Tuesday: $2 domestic cans
Wednesday: $2 pints and $4.50 pitchers
Thursday: $2.50 big beers and $4.00 redbull vodkas
Friday: $2.50 16oz cans
Saturday: specials vary weekly
(Krista Fisher & Kaleigh Hudson)
source: Tommy Beeler 785-841-0488
According the current wikipedia page for Jimmy Johns, there are only 18 different subs available. Technically this is not correct. Only 7 of the sandwiches are actually called "sub" sandwiches, but even if you wanted to count every sandwich made, there are actually 24 sandwiches, plus "Unwiches" which means instead of bread, the ingredients are in a lettuce wrap. Not to mention that Jimmy Johns can add, remove, or replace anything in the sandwiches, so essentially customers could order all kinds of different sandwiches.
Jimmy Johns Wikipedia Page
Jimmy Johns Menu
Katy Dahlmann
David Ugarte
Lexy Kohake
If you search for Lodrick Stewart on Wikipedia it shows that Stewart is currently a freshman attending the University of Southern California. In addition it states that his career started in 2006 to the present. In reality Stewart was a senior last year, according to USATODAY. Therefore Lodrick Stewart is most definitely not a freshman.
Also, on this same page Wikipedia states that Lodrick has a twin brother named Roderick Stewart when it is common knowledge to any KU basketball enthusiast that his name is Rodrick not Roderick.
Adam Fry
Case Gilbreath
When we searched for an entry about Lawrence, KS on Wikipedia.org, the article stated that the distance between Lawrence and Kansas City is 41 miles. On the other hand, when we typed in Lawrence, KS to Kansas City, MO, Mapquest.com and Googlemaps.com both say that it is 39 miles. Although there are no specific starting and stopping points, both the map sites show that even without specific places, it is still less than what Wikipedia claims. This is an example of ambiguity and inaccuracies that could be found on Wikipedia.
Ashley Conrad
Rachel Stelmach
Katie Raupp
When looking at the Wikipedia page for The Big O and Dukes Show, one thing that that stood out
was that the radio station is 106.7 WJFK Free FM. The call letters are correct but the name of the
station is not. In early August the radio station changed from Free FM to Washington's Talk Superstation. I, Doug Tetreault, was an intern at the station over the summer and was present the day we switched from Free FM to Washington's Talk Superstation. This shows that Wikipedia is not current or accurate in some cases. Although this important information has yet to be changed, some of the other content has been updated since the change of the station name.
Doug Tetreault
Marcelino Sumaya
Adi Govindarajan
While looking at the Dallas, Texas wikipedia page we came across several minor errors. Although there was nothing drastically wrong with the information, most of it was cited and factual, there was an error in the number of public library branches and the total acres of parkland located in Dallas. The Dallas wikipedia page said that there were 22 public library branches while the official Dallas website said there were a total of 24. The Dallas wikipedia page also said that there were 21,000 acres of parkland located in Dallas while the official Dallas website claims that there is only 17,196 acres. Again, these are minor mistakes but they still prove that, while mostly factual, wikipedia is not the best place to find information.
Jonathan Hermes
Megan Edwards
Amber Allen
During a search on Wikipedia.org, our group found an error in the entry "University Daily Kansan." It lists "Michelle Kwan" as the current editor of the paper. Howevever, on the University Daily Kansan's website, "Erick R. Schmidt" is listed as the current editor, for the fall session. Furthermore, an internet search on www.ku.edu, www.ljworld.com, and www.google.com did not provide any proof that a "Michelle Kwan" ever served on the University Daily Kansan staff, meaning Wikipedia's information could be completely false.
Katy Blair
Michael Smith
Patrick Quaife
After searching Facebook, the popular social networking website, Wikipedia has falsely identified some of the website's current statistics. Wikipedia states that Facebook is the 7th most visited site in the United States, with more than 34 million active members worldwide, and uploads over 8.5 million photos daily. However, when the information was checked on facebook.com , all three of these statistics were incorrect. The correct statistics on the website stated that Facebook was the 6th most trafficked site in the United States, with more than 43 million active users, and uploaded more than 14 million photos daily.
Sarah Waldschmidt
Bethany Masters
While searching on the popular website Wikipedia, I found a few numerical errors on Kappa Sigma http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappa_Sigma. Local fraternity Kappa Sigma was quoted with having 234 chapters. While on the official Kappa Sigma Fraternity's website http://www.kappasigma.org/aboutFacts.php?ref=join the fraternity is quoted with having 295 chapters internationally. So following Wikipedia's numbers the fraternity is missing 61 of their houses somewhere. Another blunder that I came across is on Wikipedia was saying, since 1919 the Endowment Fund has awarded 3.5 million dollars in scholarships. While on the Kappa Sigma website it says, "Since 1948, the Endowment Fund has awarded more the $3.5 million to thousands of deserving Kappa Sigma brothers. That is nearly 30 years of what “wiki” states is true compared to the reliable fraternity website. The third mistake I came across was that on Wikipedia is, that there are 182,000 members still living today. While on the Kappa Sigma Website they say they only have 158,000 people still living today. My group thinks whom might I add are all men of Kappa Sigma feel that Wikipedia is a very unreliable source, and will think twice before using the site as a means to study for on our next test.
Max Zimmerman
Paul Desandro
Chandler Sidwell
In a search to find a mistake on the ever popular Wikipedia website, my partner and I discovered an interesting "fact". Wikipedia states that the current editor of the University Daily Kansan is Michelle Kwan. Recognizing this name to be a well-known figure skater, we believed it incorrect. Therefore, we researched the UDK's website, and discovered the editor currently to be Erick R. Schmidt. This discovery proves that Wikipedia has published and incorrect "fact".
Caroline Goehausen
Anne Slaughter
While searching through Wikipedia for errors, I came across information about a gym I used to go to. The information said something interesting that I had never heard of before. This was because the information was not true.
On the 24 Hour Fitness website, there are five types of clubs that are posted other than the sponsored clubs. Wikipedia somehow invented another "level" of club called the "Express" club. I searched the entire 24 Hour Fitness website, but found no mention of an Express club.
The first sentence on each print-out says how many club types there are to choose from, and undisputably the numbers differ. Personally, I would trust the 24 Hour Fitness website to be the supreme source of information for the club. This leaves the question, where did Wikipedia get its club information, up in the air.
Upon browsing our way through the Wikipedia website, we came across a couple of inconsistencies. On the Arby's Wikipedia page, a current menu is listed for all Arby's locations, but there are a few mistakes. When comparing the Wikipedia current menu listings to the Arby's corporation menu page, there were a few items missing. The first discrepancy is that on the Wkikpedia page they do not mention the Southwest Mini Egg Rolls, which are found on the Arby's corporation website. Secondly, the Pepper Jack Melt is listed on the Wikipedia page, but not to be found on the Arby's website. Third, the Kid's Meal Fruit Cup is available according to the Arby's Website, but not listed as an option on the Arby's Wikipedia page. This shows how Wikipedia is not always up-to-date, and at times information on Wikipedia is not current.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arby%27s
http://www.arbys.com/menu/
While looking at Wikipedia we found a few mistakes that dealt with the state of Kansas. The first mistake was with the University of Kansas. According to Wikipedia 27,875 students are enrolled at the university. According to KU's website 29,272 are enrolled. The other mistake involves famous people from the state of Kansas. According to Wikipedia's Kansas page it has Geroge Brett as a famous person from the state. But if you look at George Brett's name it says he is from West Virgina.
Jason Baker
Evan Miller
Amruta Bhadkamkar
According to its entry on Wikipedia, Cessna Aircraft Company of Wichita employs just 9,500 people. One of our team members, Adam McGonigle, saw this and thought the number seemed low, so he called his father, the Director of Human Resources and Development at Cessna. Adam’s intuition was correct – Wikipedia was wrong, as Cessna actually employs 12,000 according to both Adam’s father Eric McGonigle and www.careerbuilder.com. It may seem like a minute detail to some, but counting 2,500 people out of Cessna’s workforce is no small problem and one that should be fixed by Wikipedia if their goal is to be as accurate as possible.
- Rachel Burchfield, Ben Cohen, and Adam McGonigle
The Wikipedia website states that Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major Leauge Basball Players Association, was born in the year 1946. Something seemed fishy about it, mostly because Donald Fehr is my uncle and I noticed that information was not right. If blood relation wasn't enough to cite, we found another source! In fact a website Infoplease.com has the right information on my uncle with his correct birthdate of July 18th, 1948.
-Dani Fehr, Meghan MacFadden
On George Orwell's Wikipedia page, it was listed that he attended a "small Anglican parish school in Henley-on-Thames" at the age of sixty.
It is doubtful that George Orwell attended any school at the age of sixty, because he died before the age of fifty according to the BBC and numberous other sources.
This wiki vandalism was probably done thinking that a minor change (the entry has since been reverted back to him attending the school at the age of six, not sixty) would go unnoticed.
Screenshot Link: http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/9738/capture1zb5.jpg
Aric Toler
Kayla Regan
Zane White
We all know that for young stars in Hollywood, breaking into the business can be very difficult. Often times though, it is breaking out of a stereotype or character that proves to be even more difficult. Unfortunately for Yvonne Perry, her Wikipedia article will not be helping her do that anytime soon. The main issue lies in the clearly outdated article that leaves out several of her more recent projects including what she has become known for, stage acting. There are 2 additional TV/Movie projects listed on her Internet Movie Database page as well as confirmation that she was indeed in the movie "Ten 'Til Noon". The most unfortunate thing for Yvonne is that they leave out what appears to be her best work yet. On stage Yvonne has portrayed at least 11 roles while also remaining active in educating new and upcoming actors in the New York area. While her article on Wikipedia hints at this, it is clear that this article is outdated.
Group Members:
Cara DeCoito
Leonard Byrd
Sean Levine
Jujutsu is spelled wrong on Wikipedia, but I'm sure this will get corrected soon enough. Jujutsu is actually spelled "Jujitsu" since it's on the common English language speaking site.
After searching the Wikipedia website, our group found a page on Wilmette, a northern suburb of Chicago that has numerous inaccuracies.
To begin with, Wikipedia cites Wilmette as being located 14 miles north of the city, when it is actually 16. Wikipedia also reports that Antoine Ouilmette, the founder of Wilmette, was given 1,280 acres. According to Wilmette Online, it was only 2 square miles.
Kathryn McStowe
Gina Ford
Brandon Bernard
The popular bar/restaurant in Lawrence, KS, The Wagon Wheel has it's very own Wikipedia page,
Kelly Mesi, Kelly Potter, and Sarah Weston
While searching Wikipedia.com, I found an error about the religion of Scientology. Wikipedia stated that L. Ron Hubbard founded Scientology in the year of 1952. According to the official site of Scientology Hubbard found the basis for his new religion in the year of 1950.
I found an article on Wikipedia regarding former Bears starting quarterback, Kyle Orton. The article credited Orton with only 9 wins in 2005 when, according to The Chicago Bears Official Website, he went 10-5 that season.
This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Current Issues in Journalism in the Wikipedia category. They are listed from oldest to newest.
Strat Comm Blog is the previous category.
Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.