User:Purodha/Is writing Wikipedia journalism?

by Purodha Blissenbach

Abstract: Is writing Wikipedia journalism? Imho yes, it is a special case of, usually non-professional, journalism. So all standard rules of journalism should be used wrinting Wikipedia articles, and writers should be seen, and treated, as hobbyist or spare-time journalists.

Comments and Suggestions to this text or to the author should go to the talk page, pointers to pages using, or referring to, this text are welcome, likewise pointers to related content.

Details: We have two ways to assess the question: Is writing Wikipedia journalism?

1. we can look at the content of Wikipedia: Can this kind of content be the outcome of journalistic work? and
2. see how it is produced: Is wikipedia made the way journalists work?

1. Content: Wikipedia does not accept original research. It is explixitly exluded from becoming part of Wikipedia, independent of language. This also precludes calling Wikipedia as a whole original research, Wikipedia is not a scientific publication even though it presents many scientific findings to general public. But by far not all of Wikipedia is covering popular scientific subject matters, though.

Obviously Wikipedia is also not a newspaper or a news journal. While issues of the day may be covered, their uptake is far too scarce and too unimportant, compared to the whole. Nevertheless Wikipedia is informative, and as such more news items make it into Wikipedia really quickly, than any other type of encyclopedic or similar publication has it.

to be continued.

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