El Periodismo por Wikipedia

En junio pasado la muerte del luchador Christ Benoit en EE.UU. provocó un fenómeno comunicacional que salió de toda lógica. Al menos de la periodística. En Wikipedia apareció que Benoit no había asistido a un evento por el fallecimiento de su mujer, pero la información apareció 14 horas antes de que ella fuera encontrada muerta. Esto obviamente fue noticia en todo el mundo, a pesar que sólo era un rumor, escrito por un anónimo. Un estudio de Nielsen da cuenta de que la principal fuente de información es precisamente Wikipedia, que es visitada a diario por casi 47 millones de personas. Lo más preocupante es que muchos de esos curiosos cibernautas son editores y periodistas que buscan datos, hechos e información que luego será publicada. Es decir, la influencia de esta enciclopedia en línea es cada vez mayor. Para bien o para mal, si se considera que muchos de sus textos no alcanzan a ser editados por expertos y no pasan de ser una mentira disfrazada. Los riesgos de la profesión son muchos, pero el cuidado y respeto de la credibilidad es, sin duda, el más relevante.

reuters.com/wikipedia

Online encyclopediaWikipedia has added about 20 million unique monthlyvisitors in the past year, making it the top onlinenews and information destination, according toNielsen//NetRatings.In May, Wikipedia had 46.8 million unique visitors, up72 percent from June 2006, NetRatings said. Wikipediaalso has finished on top of the news and informationcategory every month this year -- ranking ahead of Landmark Communications' Weather Channel site by anincreasing margin -- topping out with a disparity ofabout 10 million visitors in May.The site, operated by the nonprofit group WikimediaFoundation Inc., is user-run with thousands of editorsand administrators constantly making edits, startingnew pages and correcting mistakes.

Although thisopen-access format often is mentioned as a negativebecause pages are subject to misinformation and onlinevandalism, it also is its greatest strength,especially when a major news story breaks and thepages can be updated almost in real-time."It's the seminal collaborative online resource," saidNielsen BuzzMetrics vice president marketing MaxKalehoff, who has researched the site. "It's like aliving amoeba. It's constantly growing.

"Recently, though, the collaborative nature of the siteplaced it at the center of a controversy surroundingthe Chris Benoit murder-suicide. The World WrestlingEntertainment star's page was updated with information-- originating from a user with an IP addressregistered in Stamford, Conn., the corporate home ofthe WWE -- regarding his wife Nancy's death 14 hoursbefore authorities discovered the bodies in theBenoit's Georgia home June 25.An anonymous poster, who said he was from Stamford butnot affiliated with the WWE, later wrote a Wikinewsitem where he revealed that he posted the informationafter "reading rumors and speculation about thismatter online." It turned out to be an "incrediblecoincidence," he wrote.