WikiTorial

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see also CitizenJournalism and CoWriting

The dregs: "Where is the Wikitorial?" at LATimes

Concensus runs something like "A lot of us know the basic principles of WikiWork, but LATimes ignored them. The wiki had a purpose, but the wrong one. LATimes wanted to use it to build community, however they chose to use a system of complete anonymity—how did they think they could build community without trust. They also chose the wrong kind of articles to turn into wiki format. Wikis are good for sharing knowledge, not for sharing opinion." [emph. added] NB: this is precisely the problem my "gnodal" approach addresses -bdt


So I called it, "concensus". Dunno. Anyhow, it was Kinsley's new editor who declined to renew a relationship. Now, that perks your ears? "[H]e would give up his editorial-page duties after John Carroll, who hired him, stepped down as the paper's editor." <ref>"Michael Kinsley, L.A. Times Part on 'Unfortunate Note'" By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, September 14, 2005; Page C11</ref>
After helping Salon through its startup he took what had been shown and proven to the LATimes. "Jeffrey Johnson, who became publisher in June, would not commit to continuing his column or to retaining him in an advisory role."
The bad blood shows in the following sentence, from Kinsley: "Jeff isn't merely uninterested in any future contribution I might make, but actively wants me gone" ... so that's what brought Kinsley through to the WashingtonPost and on to the NYTimes and Guardian. ("Michael Kinsley is American editor of Guardian Unlimited (guardian.co.uk), the Web site of The Guardian of London. His column appears in The Washington Post and Slate." NYTimes 5NOV06)
--BenTremblay 22:21, 16 February 2008 (PST)

Contents

[edit] Breaking News?

  • "Battle Lines Are Drawn at The Los Angeles Times" - "A divided newsroom in search of an editor who will give the newspaper its journalistic soul" by John Koblin at NewYork Observer (12FEB08)
  • Second editor turfed This time over what, budget? This time? Again? Right, just so. And what about Carroll's departure? I was looking for what lead up to Kinsley moving from Slate to LATimes before its purchase by WashPost, and how that followed from Carroll's departure. (21JAN08, WashPost; first reported on Wallstreet Journal)

[edit] Select Links

[edit] External links

  • Andres Martinez, LATimes editorial page editor - "Editor's Note: To Our Readers", Los Angeles Times, June 12, 2005. (Only teaser available for free).
  • Thomas Lang, "Wikisphere", CJRDaily, Columbia Journalism Review, June 13, 2005.
  • Rory O'Connor, "Wiki-mania", AlterNet, August 9, 2005. (A passing mention of the LA Times wikitorial experiment).


[edit] Blogs that mention this article

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[edit] Sources

[edit] Flotsam / Jetsum

"Michael Newman, our deputy editorial page editor, is leaving the newspaper to join the Washington Post as its online opinion editor. When he was hired almost two years ago, I described Michael as one of the most talented journalists in the country, and those of you who have worked with him since now know that was no hyperbole. Michael has been a terrific editor and colleague, enriching all our opinion offerings. So there is no sugar-coating this -- April 11, his last day with us, will be a sad day for the Los Angeles Times. In the meantime, please join me in wishing Michael and Nora all the best in DC, and with their other next big adventure -- parenthood!"
Andres Martinez, quoted in "Editor leaves Spring Street for D.C." (LAObserved.com)
"The LA Times “Wikitorial” - The Los Angeles Times tried to use wikis in a free-form editorial experiment in June 2005. The paper wanted its readers to interact with an editorial by changing it in whichever way they saw fit. “Do you see fatuous reasoning, a selective reading of the facts, a lack of poetry?” the paper asked in its introduction of ‘War and consequences,’ an editorial on the Iraq war. “Well, what are you going to do about it? You could send us an e-mail (or even write us a letter, if you can find a stamp). But today you have a new option: Rewrite the editorial yourself.” The Times also said in the introduction that it understood it might be setting itself up for failure. “Plenty of skeptics are predicting embarrassment; like an arthritic old lady who takes to the dance floor, they say, the Los Angeles Times is more likely to break a hip than to be hip.” Over the first day and a half, hundreds of people worked on the editorial. The New York Times reported that there was some use of profanity, but it was promptly removed. Michael Newman, deputy editorial page editor of the Los Angeles paper, told the New York Times that after the experiment was publicized on Slashdot.org, a tech-oriented site, people flocked to the editorial, with some readers repeatedly posting obscene photos. The Times removed the editorial soon after, replacing it with a short explanation and a line thanking the “thousands of people who logged on in the right spirit.”
"Seigenthaler and Wikipedia - A Case Study on the Veracity of the "Wiki" concept; Wiki Experiments"
"John Carroll, a former Baltimore Sun editor, resigned unexpectedly as Times editor in 2005, blaming "financial pressures" from the parent company as one factor in his decision."
"The Los Angeles Times was in turmoil last night after its top editor was fired for resisting budget cuts by the paper's parent company for the second time in 15 months. Jim O'Shea, sent by Chicago's Tribune Co. to take over the Times after the previous editor, Dean Baquet, was dismissed in a similar budget battle, lost his job after refusing to cut the newsroom budget further, sources familiar with the situation said. O'Shea's ouster came after real estate mogul Sam Zell took over the Tribune Co."
"O'Shea is said to have been particularly concerned about further reductions in a year in which the paper has to cover a presidential election and the Beijing Olympics. The sources said Managing Editor John Arthur is likely to be named acting editor to provide at least temporary stability. O'Shea's firing was first reported by the Wall Street Journal's Web site."
"Second L.A. Times Editor Is Ousted for Balking at Budget Cuts" By Howard Kurtz, Washington Post Staff Writer, Monday, 21JAN08;



see also: CitizenJournalism and CoWriting

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