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In the media

Biography disputes; Craig Newmark donation; PR editing

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By Andreas Kolbe

Sinitta insists Wikipedia makes her older than she is

Wikipedia not the right tool to repair online reputation: Ragan's PR Daily warns that Wikipedia is not a good tool for repairing a damaged reputation, drawing on a book by Mike Wood, Wikipedia as a Marketing Tool: How to reap the marketing benefits of Wikipedia. (June 14)
Age dispute: The Daily Mirror, Metro and Yahoo! News are among news outlets reporting that Sinitta has accused Simon Cowell of having altered her Wikipedia entry to increase her age, in order "to wind her up". Wikipedia currently says she is 52; Sinitta insists she is 47, and apparently showed the Daily Mirror reporter her passport to back up her claim. The topic has in the past been extensively discussed on the article's talk page. (June 13)
Big Brother viewers are watching Wikipedia: Chef Marco Pierre White's biography has become a target for vandalism as a result of his son's participation in reality TV series Big Brother, according to Metro and The Daily Star. (June 12, 14)
Right to be forgotten: Jimmy Wales has criticised France's recent ruling on the right to be forgotten, as reported by Reuters and many others. As a member of Google's advisory council on this issue, Wales has long argued in the media in favour of Google's view; his present statements come in the wake of an appeal Google lodged in France last month. (June 10)
A place on the national team, thanks to Wikipedia: In the Herald and the Glasgow Evening Times, rugby player Huw Jones attributes his place in the Scottish national rugby team "to an eagle-eyed member of the Glasgow Warriors' backroom staff—and a page on the Wikipedia website." (June 9)

Vermont news site VTDigger analyses recent and historical edits to Wikipedia's article on Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter W. Galbraith

Edit warring in biography of gubernatorial candidate: Vermont news site VTDigger has two articles chronicling recent and historical edits to the biography of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Peter W. Galbraith, voicing the opinion that there have been "dozens of strategic cuts and additions". (June 9, 14)
Craigslist founder donation: Craigslist founder Craig Newmark has donated $1 million to the Wikimedia endowment, as reported by VentureBeat and CBS News. (June 8)
More Afrikaans: eNCA reports on an initiative "to drastically increase the amount of Afrikaans articles" on Wikipedia. (June 5)
InstallAware: The Wikipedian reports on a company's vain efforts (2006 AfD) to get a Wikipedia article. (June 2)

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