I remember as a kid putting together a little pretend "newspaper" by selecting and rewriting stories that came from the real newspaper. That was fun and maybe a little educational. Wikinews ("the free news source (BETA) that you can write!") is reminiscent in spirit and quality. Some key differences: Wikinews writers are not 10 (presumably), and they expect people other than their parents to read their work.
Wired had an interesting article last week about the Wikinews experiment. Excerpt:
Nearly six months into an experiment to apply the collaborative, information-gathering model known as a Wiki to the deadline-driven field of breaking news, operators of Wikinews are finding their mission rife with frustrations and challenges.
The site, an offshoot of Wikipedia, the volunteer-maintained online encyclopedia, is facing pressures its parent organization rarely had to contend with, such as ferreting out fake posts, incorporating original sources and updating coverage to reflect rapidly changing current events.
Recent Comments