As the editor of a national magazine, I have long had a rule for our reporters and writers: Never use Wikipedia ... and by extension, use only credible sources.
The Internet can be deceiving. Do a Google search and much of the time the first result out of the box will be Wikipedia. Yes, Wikipedia is big, popular, maybe the most-used reference site on the Web. But it is not reliable.
Reuters distributed this article today:
Student's Wikipedia Hoax Fools Newspapers
"When I die there will be a final waltz playing in my head," Oscar-winning French composer Maurice Jarre once said, according to several newspapers reporting his death in March.
However, the quotation was invented by an Irish student who posted it on the Wikipedia website in a hoax designed to show the dangers of relying too heavily on the Internet for information.
Shane Fitzgerald made up quotes and entered them on Wikipedia — an encyclopedia edited by users — immediately after Jarre's death was first reported on March 30.
Read the entire article.
Don't accept Internet proclamations without serious evaluation of sources. Never use Wikipedia (or like sources) in writing. Anyone can add or edit content, so how reliable can it be? Make sure your sources are always credible.
(Read my earlier post on Wikipedia.)
