Rewriting the first draft of history

Among the many Internet success stories, Wikipedia is a superstar, says the Nelson Mail in an editorial.

The online encyclopedia is close to cracking the two million entries mark in English (a number of other languages are also available). Free and readily available, it has quickly become one of the most used reference sources in the global village since being established on "Wikipedia day" - January 15, 2001.

Its point of difference from previous encyclopedias, online or otherwise, is that anyone can edit the entries, or contribute new subject material. Motueka, for example, is described as a town of 6000 people amid orchards and hops near an entrance to Abel Tasman National Park; the home of many artists, especially potters and reggae musicians. The page was last edited this month, and contains numerous references to other Nelson-related sites. Even Collingwood has its own page. Eat your heart out, Britannica and co.

Wikipedia's great strength, then, is an immediacy and open access which cannot be matched by more formal, and therefore ponderous, publications. The first draft of history, Wikipedia-style, is growing pretty much in real time as an army of Wikiphiles races to be the first to record new events, products or even words, while others sift through existing sites seeking ways to refine, expand and clarify.

This strength, however, can also be a weakness, as recent revelations about the extent of political, corporate or bureaucratic meddling with entries has revealed. In this country, Air New Zealand was thrust on to the defensive when it was found that a Wikipedia entry about this country's worst air accident - the crash of an Air New Zealand plane on Mt Erebus, Antarctica, with the loss of 257 passengers and crew - had been tweaked from a computer on the national carrier's network.

If proven, the change was "outrageous and entirely erroneous", said third-ranked cabinet minister Jim Anderton. Embarrassing as the revelation must have been, during a tough week, the airline is far from alone in being accused of trying to rewrite history to make itself look better.

America's National Rifle Association apparently swapped an entry about gun fatalities for a reference to the use of rifles in "conservation". The Republican Party is said to have replaced "occupation" with "liberation" in a passage about Iraq, and the CIA has been a frequent Wiki-meddler, too. A computer linked to the Israeli government was used to doctor critical articles about the West Bank wall. Across the Tasman, Australian Defence Department staff have been blocked from editing Wikipedia after claims that they have made more than 5000 changes to various entries. Staff from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet have also been pinged for editing topics such as the "children overboard" affair credited with helping Prime Minister John Howard win the last election. Masters of spin do not only play cricket.

Clearly, the temptation to give history a "tweak" has proved compelling to more than the likes of Chairman Mao. Perhaps some of our own prime minister's spin doctors would be tempted to make a few judicious deletions in the "controversies" section of the Wikipedia site dedicated to Helen Clark, if they have not already done so. However, they have now had ample warning that sneaking into that particular domain leaves big footprints. All history is best edited with the big red pen of objectivity.

- © Fairfax NZ News