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on second thought... (wikis are hard) 
06.21.2005, 10:24 AM
posted by ben vershbow
The LA Times has temporarily shelved its plans for running "wikatorials" - editorials that any reader can edit - due to a flood of "inappropriate material." The whole experiement with wikis was a risky move for a well-established newspaper to take, and it's not surprising that they immediately panicked once the riff raff showed up. It's hard to establish an open, collaborative environment from the top-down. Whereas, if you start from a point of low stakes, with little prestige on the line (as Wikipedia did), then the enterprise can evolve slowly, embarrassing missteps, spam and all.
Someone should start an experiment: dump the LA Times content in a non-affiliated wiki and try the wikatorials there. Give it time, let the community build, work out the hiccups, and then give the LA Times a call.
Posted by ben vershbow on June 21, 2005 10:24 AM
tags: Publishing, Broadcast, and the Press, the_networked_book
comments (1):
Brian on June 22, 2005 1:05 AM:I wish they would have letten it work itself out...maybe they will take another go at it.
