Wiki-drama in the UK House of Commons (and the palace?)

It's been a news-filled month for the UK House of Commons and Wikipedia. On 4 February, the Independent reported (subscription required) that Michael Gove's "leveling-up" plan plagiarised Wikipedia and contained many errors – including spelling mistakes and entire paragraphs that were repeated. Four days later, Debbie Hayton writing in UnHerd said that an editor battle over the biography of British MP Tonia Antoniazzi is "instructive of how a small group of activist editors can manipulate information to service their agenda". On 23 February, the New Statesman wrote that the Wikipedia pages for two MPs were whitewashed: a section about Bob Blackman's connections to Azerbaijan was removed from his article, and a section in the Gillian Keegan article related to the Post Office scandal was removed. Both removals were made from IP addresses tracing back to the Palace of Westminster. Neither Blackman nor Keegan could be reached by New Statesman for comment. – E, S

Wiki Unseen is seen by Hyperallergic and jamaicans.com

The Wikimedia Foundation's new project titled Wiki Unseen was reported on by Hyperallergic and jamaicans.com. The WMF launched the project on February 9 during Black History Month to amplify the voices of "the people who have shaped the world, but were systematically erased from knowledge spaces". The project pays artists for portraits of historical figures where no freely licensed illustrations are available. – E

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  Astrophysicist Mercedes Richards by artist Esther Griffith
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  Activist Asquith Xavier by artist Esther Griffith
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  Poet May Miller by artist Bukhtawar Malik
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  Filmmaker William Greaves by artist Bukhtawar Malik
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  Biochemist Marian Ewurama Addy by artist Enam Bosokah
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  Artificial intelligence scientist Rose Dieng-Kuntz by artist Enam Bosokah

The "Wikipedia Sports Wars", as reported by ESPN

ESPN reported on vandalism in Wikipedia sports articles. Matt Hamilton is given as an in-depth example. His article briefly contained colorful vandalism, among them that "curling is not a sport", that Hamilton had donated to charities supporting irritable bowel syndrome because he suffered from it himself, and that he was a long-lost relative of Nintendo's Super Mario Bros., a viper, and a cougar hunter. The story applauded vandalism fighters, including Earl Andrew. Hamilton's article is currently pending changes protected. The ESPN article is well-written and its analysis is interesting. But sooner or later, we should all recognize that the best journalism about vandalism is no journalism about vandalism. Criticism just encourages the vandals. – E, S

A tall tale about 3 cm (1.18 inches) or less

BolaVIP reports that Danish center-back Mads Fenger lost a chance for playing for Belgian soccer team Zulte Waregem because Wikipedia misstated his height as 186 cm (6 feet 1 inch), rather than the actual 183 cm (6 feet 0 inches). "The transfer failed due to Wikipedia." With such a small difference, it's important to get the details right. Until it was changed on January 24, Wikipedia reported that Fenger stood at 185 cm, not 186 cm. If anybody is to blame for Fenger not getting the job, it's Zulte Waregem, for making the decision based on such a trivial detail. Or perhaps the fault lies with Fenger, who may not have stood up straight during the measurement. More likely, the fault lies with BolaVIP, which preferred to take a cheap shot at Wikipedia without checking the facts. – S

College class on women and gender gets Wikified

The Fall 2021 Introduction to Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies (GWSS) class at the University of Minnesota Morris is another class that joined the over 500 universities that have been creating content for Wikipedia through the Wiki Education program since 2013. The class of 24 students contributed in unique ways, adding 12,000 words and 57 references to articles that had received 37,000 views as of the end of the semester in December. New articles included Lissa Yellow Bird-Chase, the founder of Sahnish Scouts, a citizen-led organization dedicated to finding justice for missing people and their families. – E

Good golly Miss Molly! Tell us what you really think about crypto

The Verge featured an independent interview with Molly White (GorillaWarfare onwiki), known for her Request for Comment on Meta to stop cryptocurrency donations to the Wikimedia Foundation. The interview covered White's Web 3 Is Going Just Great, launched on December 14th, and her views on cryptocurrency, NFTs, DAOs and Wikipedia. – E

Why do we need another story on Wiki rabbit holes?

After countless articles already existing about Wikipedia rabbit holes, Mashable is at it again with another story. This one suggests exploring List of common misconceptions, Military marine mammal, COINTELPRO and more. Have fun descending deeper and deeper into the depths of the wiki. – E

The king and queen of the high 5

On Valentine's Day Input reprinted these 2008 photos from the High five article which go viral every so often. Input tells you everything you'd ever want to know about the photos, including the uploader's real name and profession. Not to worry, though – the uploader has posted his profession, first name and family name on-Wiki. – B, E

In brief

• The Met's Editathon: The Metropolitan Museum of Art is hosting an editathon related to the BHM exhibit Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room. Coverage included an All Arts article as well as the Met's own site.
• Indian ministry's Wikipedia-like portal: The Indian Express reports that India's Union Culture Ministry is planning to create a "portal like Wikipedia on 'unsung heroes'".
• Fiction, like TV – not reality, like Wikipedia: Deadline praises a drama set during the Watergate scandal for not being a "Wikipedia rundown".
• It's nepotism, baby: "[P]eople born into dynasties of wealth, fame, prestige and connections have a greater opportunity to pursue stardom for themselves", evidenced by the fact that famous people like Maude Apatow often have parents with bluelinks on Wikipedia – The Internet continues to erode the myth of meritocracy (MEL Magazine)
• How to make polite conversation in South Africa: An economist writing for The Daily Maverick uses MediaWiki API data to track potential edit wars and thus decide which South Africa-related topics would be best to avoid during the dinner party you might host in Port Elizabeth/Gqeberha—the name of the city depends on which side you support.