Wikipedia 25/Celebration toolkit/Press

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This toolkit provides guidance and resources to Wikimedia volunteers and affiliates to spread the word about Wikipedia’s 25th birthday to local and regional media. The goal is to get media coverage about Wikipedia in every country on 15 Jan. 2026. Please use this toolkit to help get media coverage from your local journalists. If you have questions or need additional support, contact the Wikimedia Foundation Media Relations team on this talk page or at presswikimediaorg.

How to develop a media plan

This is a guide on how to develop a plan to help spread the word about your specific 25th birthday, event, project, or initiative with the media.

1. Identify your goals and audience

It is important to know what you are trying to achieve with media attention. For example: Are you hoping to drive attendance at a birthday event? Grow your affiliate base? Encourage people to try editing? Who are you trying to reach and why?

Identify 2-3 goals that you want to achieve from media attention and the audience you’re trying to reach.

2. Explore storytelling angles

Once you have your goals, explore what possible story angles and "hooks" you have to get press attention. Some elements that could be interesting to press include:

An event: Events offer an easy media hook for journalists to connect with your work. Example: Here is how Wikimania 2025 was covered in the press: 2025 edition of Wikimania kicks off in Nairobi
A volunteer(s) profile: Volunteer profiles are very popular with the media. Example: The Wikimedian of the Year 2025 winner got coverage in Singapore press: Singaporean Robert Sim receives one of Wikipedia’s highest honours for his work on online platform
An initiative: Initiatives make great media stories. Example: WikiPortraits was covered by the BBC for improving photos of celebrities on Wikipedia
Successful campaigns: Campaigns are a great way to get media coverage of your work. Example: Wiki Loves Monuments Greece: Wikipedia’s 2020 Photography Competition Starts in Greece
The impact of Wikipedia in the country: Stories of impact and results are an easy way to get media interested in your work. Example: How do you save a language from extinction? With creative thinking—and some help from Wikipedia

3. Collect your key messages and resources

Based on your goals, what are the 2-3 most important messages you want to get across to the public? These are the messages you will want to also share with journalists.

Check out our messaging and template resources below with more guidance on messaging Wikipedia and the 25th birthday specifically.

Also, start compiling data points and statistics, images, and story examples that reporters can use in their stories.

4. Identify your spokespeople

Who can speak to the media and be quoted to deliver your key messages? These can be 1-2 people depending on the specific initiative, event, or milestone you are speaking about.

You can include spokespeople from your affiliate as well as other volunteers who have great stories to tell or have reached important milestones in the movement. Get headshots for spokespeople in advance.

5. Make your media contact list

Think about your audience; what do you know about them and the news they consume? Do they often read newsletters, technology publications, or general news sites? Brainstorm some ideal publications where media coverage would help further your goals and reach your audience.

Once you have some ideal publications in mind, research specific reporters that you think might be interested in learning more about Wikipedia and the 25th birthday. Many reporters list their bios on news sites or LinkedIn. Add these reporters and their contact information to a list.

6. Choose your tactics

There are many ways to engage the media around the 25th birthday. You have to decide the best approach for you. Some of the most common ways include:

Press Releases: Press releases are about 500 words and include key information about a specific event or initiative to make it easy for a reporter to understand what it’s about and why they should care about it. See below for other guidance on using press releases.
Media invitations: If you are hosting an event, inviting reporters to attend is a great way to get them interested and talking to people. See an example of a media invite.
Media pitches: You may decide to send out pitches to the media asking them for an opportunity to talk more about the 25th birthday. Media pitches are great for more evergreen storytelling opportunities that are not connected to a specific event, project, or initiative. The media pitch template is available below.

Be sure to send follow up emails to reporters if they do not respond to you the first time.

7. Execute your media plan

Now it’s time to execute your plan. Reach out to the media at least a few weeks in advance to let them know about a specific event, project, or initiative so they have time to learn more about it. If you want to get media coverage on 15 Jan., you should start reaching out to reporters at least one week in advance. This will give journalists time to start planning, conducting interviews, and writing their articles. Statistics, images reporters can use in their stories, and headshots/bios of spokespeople are also useful to have on hand.

Take a look at our messaging resources and our 25th birthday visuals that may be of further help when executing your plan.

Key messages

You can use the following key messages to explain Wikimedia topics and share about the birthday with public audiences. Note that messages are subject to change, and we will continue to add to this section in the coming months. Please contact us if you have questions or need additional support with messaging.

Explaining Wikipedia

Wikipedia is one of the world’s largest and most important knowledge and educational resources.
It includes more than 65 million articles in over 300 languages crafted by nearly 250,000 human editors and is viewed more than 15 billion times per month.
Wikipedia is the only major website to be hosted by a non-profit organization, the Wikimedia Foundation.
Wikipedia’s content is written on notable subjects by volunteer editors from around the world. These editors adhere to Wikipedia’s editorial standards, ensuring all information is backed by reliable sources and presented from a neutral point of view.
Studies have shown that when a larger number of volunteer editors contribute to a Wikipedia article from diverse political backgrounds it produces higher quality articles.
Wikipedia does not show advertisements, it doesn’t charge a subscription fee, and it does not sell users’ data. The majority of its funding comes from individual donations ($11 is the average) from people who read Wikipedia.
This open, community-led model is the reason that Wikipedia has become the go-to place for people to learn anything online.

Key Wikipedia facts and figures

Wikipedia is viewed nearly 15 billion times every month.
Wikipedia contains over 65 million articles across over 300 languages.
Wikipedia is edited by nearly 250,000 contributors every month around the world.
Wikipedia is edited 342 times per minute.
Most vandalism is addressed within ten minutes on the top ten most viewed Wikipedias.

Wikipedia @ 25: Knowledge is Human

For context, the 25th birthday celebration will include a global campaign centered on the existing "Knowledge is Human" theme.

Wikipedia was founded on 15 January 2001. In January 2026, the website will celebrate its 25th birthday, marking a quarter century of making trustworthy human-powered knowledge accessible worldwide. As the world has changed over the past 25 years, Wikipedia remains a reliable source of information and trusted knowledge.
Wikipedia is the backbone of human knowledge on the internet: it informs AI models, journalism, fact-checking, digital literacy efforts, and more.
What sets Wikipedia apart is the humans behind the knowledge. The more humans take part, the better the internet’s knowledge becomes.
Wikipedia is written by people who believe in the power of shared knowledge, and who continuously improve it, ensuring it continues to serve billions of people in their daily quest for reliable, trusted information.
Its 65 million articles in 300+ languages crafted by 250,000 editors have proven the immense power of human collaboration.
Now in the age of AI, we need the human-powered knowledge of Wikipedia even more than ever.
With continued help from readers, volunteer editors, and donors across the globe, Wikipedia will remain the crucial hub for human-powered knowledge and collaboration online for the next 25+ years.
Knowledge is human and knowledge needs humans.

Wikipedia and AI

In the age of AI, Wikipedia and its human-powered knowledge is even more important.
Wikipedia is the backbone of human knowledge on the internet: it powers generative AI tools, search engines, voice assistants, and more.
Every single commercially available large language model (LLM) trains on and uses Wikipedia content.
The use of AI and machine learning on Wikipedia is not new. Since 2010, some volunteers have used AI and ML tools to support their work, especially on time-consuming and redundant tasks.
Machine-generated content is exploding across the internet, and it can also make its way to Wikipedia. Wikipedia volunteers have showcased admirable resilience in maintaining the reliability of information on Wikipedia based on existing community-led policies and processes.
All content on Wikipedia is reviewed by human volunteers to ensure it meets Wikipedia’s rigorous editorial standards.

Templates

Media pitch

SUBJECT: Wikipedia reaches 25 year milestone

Hi X,

I am reaching out to you on behalf of the (affiliate name or simply Wikipedia volunteers), the community of volunteers who edit Wikipedia.

On 15 January 2026, Wikipedia will celebrate its 25th birthday. To celebrate this milestone, we will (details about your specific project or initiative). We would like to invite you to learn more about (project/initiative/event), Wikipedia’s trajectory over the last 25 years, its volunteer community, and what the next 25 years may hold. Let me know if you’re interested in talking to (Affiliate Lead Name/ Volunteer) about this major milestone. We’d be happy to share more information with you!

Thank you,

[NAME]

Media Invitation

SUBJECT: Invitation – Wikipedia's 25th birthday celebration, (Name of City and Date)

Hello,

I hope my email finds you well. My name is (your name) and I am a (state your affiliation)) for Wikipedia (region).

Wikipedia will celebrate its 25th birthday on 15 Jan. 2026.(Usergroup / community name / affiliate) invites you to join our (event type), taking place on (date) at (time); where we will be (activity).

Click here (link to details of the event) to learn more about our event.

To RSVP, please (state preferred method).

Press release

The Wikimedia Foundation will publish a press release for the 25th birthday in Arabic, English, French, German, Japanese, Malay, Portuguese, and Spanish. If you would like to write a press release specific to your group, below are some tips. Also, a template press release will be made added to this toolkit in early December for you to use.

Why write a press release?

A press release is one way to raise awareness about an announcement. It can be on your website and/or emailed to journalists.
Wikipedia’s 25th birthday is a global celebration, and local press releases can raise awareness in specific regions while showing the diversity of the movement.
This is a place where you can highlight edit-a-thons, or local events connected to the birthday in your region.

How do I distribute a press release?

There are a number of ways to distribute a press release:

Share it by email with local reporters who might be interested. (Many publications have a contact us form on their website with reporter email addresses).
Publish it on an affiliate/community blog, or in the press section on your website.
Share a link on social media.

When should I distribute a press release?

You should give reporters at least a few weeks (where possible) to digest the information in the press release and plan for a story.

Press release template

Use the template below to write a press release that you can share with journalists in your region to get news attention about Wikipedia's 25th birthday. There are placeholders in the brackets below for you to add relevant details. A global press release will be available on the Wikimedia Foundation's website on 15 January at 8:30 am UTC.

Headline

Example: 25 years of Wikipedia: [Affiliate/community] celebrates knowledge at its best

Subheadline (optional)

Example: [#] of Wikimedians come together to celebrate 25 years of free knowledge through [Event/Initiative].

[Date, City, Country] — Today, Wikipedia, the world's largest online information resource, turns 25, commemorating over two decades of humans sharing free knowledge around the world. [Affiliate group], [describe affiliate group], is celebrating this milestone through [details on local celebrations, initiatives, etc.].

[Quote from affiliate leader or volunteer]

Quotes can reflect on what this milestone means to your affiliate, the role of Wikipedia today, how the presence of Wikipedia has grown in your region, or anything else that you think will be compelling to the media.

[Background information about Wikipedia]

Share information about Wikipedia and its community in your region. Use these key messages. Weave in data points to offer more context where possible.
Example: [Language Wikipedia] has more than [number] articles with a community of [number] active volunteer editors.

[Details on what your community is doing for the 25th birthday]

Highlight any birthday events, initiatives, or other activities you’ll be doing specifically for the 25th birthday and how people can get involved.

Highlight community stories, major milestones achieved in the past 25 years including major events, partnerships, initiatives, etc.
Offer a way for people to stay in touch and learn more, for example by including your social media channels and/or website.
You can also highlight opportunities that the Wikimedia Foundation is leading if useful from the global press release, including ways people can get involved on social media and by visiting a commemorative 25th birthday site. This page will be updated on 15 January at 8:30 am UTC.

[Wikipedia facts and figures]

[Add any specific stats about your local wikis and/or community].
Wikipedia is viewed nearly 15 billion times every month.
Wikipedia contains over 65 million articles across more than 300 languages.
Wikipedia is edited by nearly 250,000 editors every month around the world. Editors are defined by one edit or more every month; only editors with a username are counted.
Wikipedia is accessed by over 1.5 billion unique devices every month.
Wikipedia is edited 324 times per minute.
Wikipedia is the only website in the top-ten most-visited global websites to be run by a nonprofit.

[About affiliate]

Include a general description of your community if applicable

[Contact information]

Include details on phone number/email for reporters to contact you.

Media training recording

This recorded training is meant to equip you to speak with journalists when needed. The training covers topics such as:

Understanding the media landscape
The components of a good story
The things to keep in mind when talking to journalists about WP25
Best practices for speaking to journalists

You can find the training at the links below:

Watch the media training recording
See the presentation slide deck: Media Training: How to prepare for media interviews

Other messaging resources

"A Wiki Minute" video series

This series is a collection of short, reusable video explainers about key Wikimedia elements, concepts, and principles for the public to better understand our projects and our movement. See the YouTube playlist and Meta-Wiki page. You can share these videos at events, in emails, with reporters, and more.

Frequently asked questions

Answers to the most common questions about the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia, and more.

Blogs about lessons from Wikipedia

Keeping information reliable in the digital age: Lessons from Wikipedia (September 18, 2025)
The 3 building blocks of trustworthy information: Lessons from Wikipedia (October 2, 2025)
Transparency builds trust: Lessons from Wikipedia (October 22, 2025)

Blogs about Wikimedia and AI

Our new AI strategy puts Wikipedia’s humans first (30 April 2025)
How crawlers impact the operations of the Wikimedia projects (1 April 2025)
Wikipedia is here to stay (16 January 2024)
Wikipedia’s value in the age of generative AI (12 July 2023)

Visuals/images

Check out 25th birthday logos and other visuals in the Celebration toolkit.