Author Apologizes for Fake Wikipedia Biography
Susan Page
USA Today
________
The mystery of who posted false and scandalous entries about a prominent journalist in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia — including suggestions that he was involved in assassinations — has been solved.
Brian Chase, 38, a manager at a small delivery service in Nashville, presented a letter of apology Friday explaining his role to the journalist, John Seigenthaler, a former editor of Nashville's Tennessean and a founder of the First Amendment Center there. Seigenthaler is a former editorial-page editor of USA Today.
Chase said the additions he made to Seigenthaler's biography were intended to be "a joke" on a co-worker on what he thought was "some sort of 'gag' encyclopedia." They had been discussing the Seigenthalers, a well-known local family."I didn't think twice about just leaving it there because I didn't think anyone would ever take it seriously for more than a few seconds," he wrote.
But the case has reverberated beyond the offices of Chase's employer, Rush Delivery. It has raised questions about the credibility of Wikipedia — a reference site used by 16.3 million people in October — and fueled a debate about freedom and accountability on the Internet.Wikipedia, which brags it is "the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit," changed its rules last week so only registered users can post or revise an article.
On Wikipedia now: a biographical entry for Brian Chase, described as "an American businessman who posted a hoax on Wikipedia."
Dec 12, 2005
Susan PageUSA Today
________
The mystery of who posted false and scandalous entries about a prominent journalist in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia — including suggestions that he was involved in assassinations — has been solved.
Brian Chase, 38, a manager at a small delivery service in Nashville, presented a letter of apology Friday explaining his role to the journalist, John Seigenthaler, a former editor of Nashville's Tennessean and a founder of the First Amendment Center there. Seigenthaler is a former editorial-page editor of USA Today.
Chase said the additions he made to Seigenthaler's biography were intended to be "a joke" on a co-worker on what he thought was "some sort of 'gag' encyclopedia." They had been discussing the Seigenthalers, a well-known local family."I didn't think twice about just leaving it there because I didn't think anyone would ever take it seriously for more than a few seconds," he wrote.
But the case has reverberated beyond the offices of Chase's employer, Rush Delivery. It has raised questions about the credibility of Wikipedia — a reference site used by 16.3 million people in October — and fueled a debate about freedom and accountability on the Internet.Wikipedia, which brags it is "the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit," changed its rules last week so only registered users can post or revise an article.
On Wikipedia now: a biographical entry for Brian Chase, described as "an American businessman who posted a hoax on Wikipedia."
Dec 12, 2005
