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Suggestion by Piotrus (2021-04-08)
The Signpost should write about the book 'How I wrote a million Wikipedia articles'. www.amazon.com/dp/B08XZTYLHN Or was it already covered? Google didn't help. Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 12:11, 8 April 2021 (UTC)
- @Piotrus: It looks interesting, bit I haven't figured it out yet. Whar's the deal? Smallbones(smalltalk) 01:18, 12 April 2021 (UTC)
- Smallbones, I think an Egyptian Wikipedian published (self-published) a book about his history on Wikipedia. Not sure if it will be picked up by other media, given it is self-published, but it is of some interest to us. I think they use the same username as they book's author, so I hope pinging User:Maher Asaad Baker ([https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%AF%D9%85:Maher_Asaad_Baker Arabic Wikipedia user page) - I presume, the author - is ok. Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 06:05, 12 April 2021 (UTC)
Suggestion by Piotrus (2021-04-10)
The Signpost should write about this COI incident Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest/Noticeboard#Anti_Defamation_League_citation_advocacy which got news coverage here. (Forward). Here's a fun news bite: "the organization hired an experienced Wikipedia editor last May to train eight of its staff to contribute". Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 07:19, 10 April 2021 (UTC)
- We'll have something. Still lookong for the right angle. Smallbones(smalltalk) 01:20, 12 April 2021 (UTC)
Global mechanics
Hi. Could we look to cover some global mechanistics? Remind people about m:global user pages as numbers are still creating wiki by wiki. A little note about m:global blocks and the mechanisms for resolving (either WP:UTRS for local exclusion, or requesting steward's to exempt at m:SRGP. Differentiation between local and global blacklists. There may be more that you can think of, this what I am seeing some confusion and noise. Thanks for the consideration. — billinghurst sDrewth 02:08, 12 April 2021 (UTC)
Essay on image biases
This essay might be interesting to mention in the next issue - "Military-Photographic Complex". It discusses the editorial biases that can result from the fact that the US military produces so much high-quality public-domain imagery. It's scoped towards journalists and academics, but we run into very much the same issues on occasion - I have a feeling there was a Signpost piece discussing this in the past, but I've not been able to find it. Andrew Gray (talk) 17:35, 13 April 2021 (UTC)
Suggestion by Cabayi (2021-04-15)
The Signpost should write about...
Jimbo is the subject of an hour-long interview on Show 213 of Matt Forde's The Political Party podcast talking about Wikipedia & WT Social. Cabayi (talk) 06:15, 15 April 2021 (UTC)
Suggestion by Praveenp (2021-04-25)
A Wikimedian who was arrested by Uttar Pradesh, India Police in October 2020 is in critical condition. His name is Siddique Kappan (His wikimedia username is User:Sidheeq). He is from Kerala, India, and he was active in Wikimedia projects (mainly in Malayalam, English Wikipedias) until his arrest.
He is a journalist by profession and he was arrested from the home of Hathras rape and murder victim while reporting the victim Dalit girl's family members. UP Police has slapped Sedition, Terrorism as well as UAPA charges against him. Wiki page includes that information too.
Kappen is diabetic and now COVID positive. He was admitted to hospital only after he collapsed in the jail cell. With his deteriorating health, it was accused that Kappan was chained to hospital bed like an animal. Today's news reports say that he is in critical condition.
India holds Rank 142/180 in press freedom Index.
I hope this is signpost worthy. In this photo, he can be seen alongside WMF CEO and Executive Director User:Katherine (WMF): File:Katherine_Maher_in_WCI2016.jpg
--Praveen:talk 08:17, 25 April 2021 (UTC)
- Oh no... This might be worthy to be added. DXLB Muzikant (talk) 16:52, 27 April 2021 (UTC)
- Today, Supreme Court of India directed Uttar Pradesh government to move Kappan to a Hospital under Delhi govt. [1]--Praveen:talk 15:49, 28 April 2021 (UTC)
Shiraj Media advertising paid editing
I came across what appears to be a press release or puff piece about Shiraj Media: [2] It is advertising paid editing.--3family6 (Talk to me | See what I have done) 00:48, 14 May 2021 (UTC)
Too beautiful not to mention
"When Courtney Elizabeth Thurston and Matthew Paul Del Buono first met in person, they didn’t know each other as Courtney Thurston and Matthew Del Buono; they knew each other as user:IShadowed and user:Shirik. Those were the aliases that Ms. Thurston and Mr. Del Buono used as contributors to Wikipedia...." - full love story at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/style/they-met-online-through-wikipedia-that-is.html?searchResultPosition=1 - kosboot (talk) 14:03, 16 May 2021 (UTC)
- Got it, thanks. It will be in In the media. Smallbones(smalltalk) 02:35, 27 May 2021 (UTC)
New annual WMF fundraising record after just nine months
The Wikimedia Foundation has taken $142 million in the first three quarters of this financial year – more than it took over the entire twelve months of the year prior. That's according to a quarterly review for the third quarter (January to March 2021) of the WMF financial year (which started 1 July 2020 and will end on 30 June 2021). The original year goal was $108 million (matching planned expenses in the annual plan); in the second quarter, this was raised to $125 million. By 31 March, the WMF had exceeded this revised target too, by $17 million. (Note also that last year the WMF underspent considerably, because so many events were cancelled. This is what led it to stash $9 million in a new Tides Advocacy fund, as people didn't know what else to do with the money. Given that the global pandemic actually accelerated over the past 10.5 months, one would expect that the same cancellations happened again.)
In addition to the $142 million, the first three quarters of the year have also seen $18.6 million added to the Wikimedia Endowment. Established in 2016, the Endowment was at $90 million at the start of the year; it will reach its ten-year-goal – $100 million – five years early.
As we speak, there are fundraising banners runnning in South America: 1 2 3 4. According to a Washington Post article published last week, "South America leads the world in new cases and deaths per capita." Readers there are asked to "defend Wikipedia's independence", saying a donation is required today so the WMF can continue to protect said independence. The banners add that it's the 2% of readers who donate that ensure that Wikipedia remains accessible to all. They also add that by donating money to the WMF, people can tell the volunteers that their work matters.
Now given that the WMF had already exceeded its original fundraising goal by $34 million six weeks ago, the Signpost could discuss whether or not this is ethically okay ... (Also posted for discussion at Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)#New_annual_WMF_fundraising_record_after_just_nine_months.) Cheers, --Andreas JN466 10:55, 17 May 2021 (UTC)
Daily Dot article
- Wikipedia is swimming in money—why is it begging people to donate? --Andreas JN466 12:51, 24 May 2021 (UTC)
- You think the BBC is biased? Check out Wokepedia - The Daily Telegraph, by Andrew Orlowski. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 08:29, 27 May 2021 (UTC)
Suggestion by Another Believer (2021-05-26)
---Another Believer (Talk) 18:59, 26 May 2021 (UTC)
- Yeah, I just saw this at Jimbo's TP and thinking hard about it. I know James a bit and feell for him. I also know that there are interpersonal disagreements in most organizations, where some people just can't see eye-to-eye. If that's all it is, I wouldn't want to drag an un-named person's name thru the mud (I don't have a real clue on who it is). I guess I need more info (just email me please) and I should contact James as well. Still thinking. Smallbones(smalltalk) 02:50, 27 May 2021 (UTC)
Suggestion by Ahecht (2021-06-01)
It might be good to cover the implosion of Freenode, which hosts Wikipedia's IRC channels, as well as the migration of said channels to Libera.chat. See meta:Wikimedia_Forum#Freenode_(IRC) and Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard#IRC security, Oversight notice. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 06:47, 1 June 2021 (UTC)
New Authority control template look (2021-06-08)
The Signpost should write about the new {{Authority control}} look.