« Page Six May Go Blog | Main | Wikipedia Statistics »

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Wikipedia's Impact on PR (Part I)

So far this year, the mainstream media has cited Wikipedia as an authoritative body of knowledge nearly 100 times. Obviously, this underscores the need for every PR professional to be monitoring the human-powered encyclopedia for client/brand references. However, it also raises a number of interesting ethical questions. Let's start with the obvious: what should someone in PR do if he/she finds inaccurate information?

Using BusinessWeek's 2004 Global Brand Scorecard (PDF) as a starting point, I searched Wikipedia for articles on the 10 top brands on the list. It is not my intention to embarrass the companies listed below. Rather, I am merely using these three corporate examples to initiate a broader dialogue about what they could/should do to counter facts that I bet they wish did not appear in Wikipedia at all…

  • Wikipedia on Coca-Cola (#1 on the BW list): “Coca-Cola has recently been denounced in the UK for weaning young children onto junk food. In India, the corporation has provoked a number of boycotts and protests as a result of its perceived low standards of hygiene and adverse impact on the environment. In Colombia, the company is alleged to be responsible for 179 major human rights violations, including nine murders.”
  • Wikipedia on McDonald’s (#7 on the BW list): “As the world's largest fast-food company, McDonald's has been the target of criticism for allegations of exploitation of entry-level workers, ecological damage caused by agricultural production and industrial processing of its products, selling unhealthy food, production of packaging waste, exploitative advertising (especially targeted at children), and contributing to suffering and exploitation of livestock. McDonald's historic tendency towards promoting high calorie foods such as French fries has earned it the nickname 'the starchy arches'.”

As Wikipedia is relied upon as a credible source by the press, will these and other companies begin to edit articles? What guidelines should we follow? I don't have the answers to these questions. It's something I'd like to put out there and see how others react. My initial feeling is, if you can prove the article false, challenge it. If it's true, leave it. You’ll only make matters worse. Besides, inaccurate information on Wikipedia doesn't stay that way for long. What's your take? Trackback this post or leave a comment.

(Coming next week in Part II: what should you do if your client/brand is not listed in Wikipedia? Is it ethical or proper to create an article?)

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c5e1c53ef00d83422d5af53ef

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Wikipedia's Impact on PR (Part I):

» Wikipedia from achievable ends
As I've stated in other posts, I'm a fan of Wikipedia and access information from it regularly. Do I believe what is written to be objective truth? Not really. But the self correcting nature of Wikipedia leads me to believe [Read More]

» Wikipedia: the night before the flack attack from PR meets the WWW
Steve Rubel is asking some important questions: So far this year, the mainstream media has cited Wikipedia as an authoritative body of knowledge nearly 100 times. [...] What should someone in PR do if he/she finds inaccurate information? As Wikip... [Read More]

» Wikipedia and PR from life\ on\ silicon\
I think most people browsing Wikipedia would be able to discern the difference in tone and be able to filter out the marketing copy.... [Read More]

» Wikipedia articles: background information for journalists? from collegewebeditor.com
In my post "Search Engine Optimization: Why and how to optimize your college’s article in Wikipedia," I explain why Wikipedia articles are about to become more and more important for search engine optimization before adding: Now is probably a g... [Read More]

» Filtered: Links for April 28, 2005 from One Degree
Click through for today's online marketing links. [Read More]

» Filtered: Links for April 28, 2005 from One Degree
Click through for today's online marketing links. [Read More]

» Filtered: Links for 05-05-05 from One Degree
Click through for today's online marketing links. [Read More]

» Running afoul of Wikipedia from Mostly Muppet Dot Com
A copule of months ago, Steve Rubel broached the subject of PR professionals or members of an organization creating and editing articles on Wikipedia. His post mainly served as a platform to ask questions concerning accuracy, accountability and trans... [Read More]

Comments

Search


My Photo

Follow Me on Twitter

Subscribe

Contact Me


  • Email Me

  • My Employer

Read My Favorite Feeds

Miscellany

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin