User:Gary Goodman/Draft 3

Essjay episode (proposed article)

The Essjay episode arose in February 2007 after The New Yorker magazine added an editorial note to its article on Wikipedia, stating that it had learned that prominent English Wikipedia editor and administrator Essjay, later self-identified as Ryan Jordan, was found to have made false claims about a veracity of information on his Wikipedia user page and had lied in a phone interview concerning his age, job, activities, background, and academic credentials.

Although Essjay, who was briefly employed at Wikia, had claimed to hold doctoral degrees in theology and canon law as a tenured professor at a private university, he was in fact a 24-year old community college dropout from Kentucky, in the United States. he did not have any teaching experience, and had relied on sources such as Catholicism for Dummies when editing articles. The discrepancy in credentials was brought to public attention in late February 2007 when The New Yorker attached an editorial correction to a July 2006 article about Wikipedia, for which Essjay had been interviewed.

Reaction to the disclosure was broad-based, encompassing commentary and articles in the electronic, print and broadcast media. The Wikipedia community researched Essjay's article edits on the site to verify accuracy, along with creating and debating various proposals to improve the project's handling of identification and credentials.

Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia co-founder who left the project in 2002, and president of Wikia, who also has an ongoing role overseeing the workings of the Wikipedia community, initially showed support for Essjay's use of false credentials in creating a persona by stating, "I regard it as a pseudonym and I don’t really have a problem with it." Later, however, when it became clear that the false credentials were used in "content disputes," Wales withdrew his support and asked for Essjay's resignation from his positions of trust on the Wikipedia project, and from his paid job as Community Manager at Wikia. In the beginning of March 2007, the same day that Wales asked for his resigination, Essjay announced his retirement from Wikipedia.

Timeline

• The Essjay affair has been among the most publicized incident about Wikipedia to date.
• August 16, 2005: Essjay first posts on his Wikipedia user page, that he is a professor of theology, with doctorates in Theology and Canon Law.
• July 31, 2006: The New Yorker publishes story about Wikipedia by Schiff, which features an interview with Essjay.
• January 2007: Essjay was hired as a manager by Wikia, a wiki-hosting service founded by Wales and Angela Beesley.
• January 7, 2007: Essjay posts autobiographical details on his user page at Wikia, giving his name, age, previous employment history from age 19, and positions within various Wikimedia Foundation projects. These details differ sharply from previous assertions on Essjay's Wikipedia user page about his academic and professional credentials.
• January 11, 2007: A member of a messageboard called "Wikipedia Review" posts a message linking to the Wikia user page; the ensuing discussion brings to light the contradictions and prompts Daniel Brandt to contact the New Yorker.
• February 23, 2007: Wales announces his appointment of Essjay to Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee, a group with powers to issue binding rulings in disputes related to Wikipedia.
• In late February of 2007: The New Yorker issues a correction nearly seven months after its initial article about Wikipedia.
• February 28, 2007: Radar Online notes the fact correction appended to the The New Yorker article.
• March 3, 2007:Wales issues a statement on his user talk page for Wikipedians to read. Essjay announces his retirement from Wikipedia on his user talk page at Wikipedia.
• March 5, 2007: Story covered by The New York Times, describing the perils of open collaboration and also portraying the transparency of the Wikipedia process.
• March 6, 2007: Story received extensive media coverage, including a national U.S. television broadcast on World News with Charles Gibson.
• March 7, 2007: Story covered in an Associated Press article picked up by over 100 media outlets listed in Google news cache which has been the most publicized controversy about Wikipedia to date. .
• March 19, 2007: The New Yorker publishes a formal apology by Jimmy Wales who is currently the de facto leader of Wikipedia.

Identity discrepancy

The New Yorker interview

The New Yorker ran a feature about Wikipedia by Stacy Schiff. Experts including the president of Encyclopædia Britannica, Jorge Cauz, and the co-founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, gave their opinions on the future of Wikipedia. Cauz stated that Wikipedia risked a "decline into a hulking, mediocre mass of uneven, unreliable, and, many times, unreadable articles" and that "Wikipedia is to Britannica as American Idol is to the Juilliard School". Wales countered by stating that he would consider Britannica a competitor, “except that I think they will be crushed out of existence within five years.” Stacy Schiff, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist writing for The New Yorker, also interviewed Essjay as a source for the article about Wikipedia ("Know It All" July 31, 2006) after he was recommended to her by a member of the Wikimedia Foundation. According to The New Yorker, Essjay "was willing to describe his work as a Wikipedia administrator but would not identify himself other than by confirming the biographical details that appeared on his user page." Describing his academic credentials as including two doctorates, the article said that Essjay was spending fourteen hours or more a day on Wikipedia but was careful to keep his online life a secret from his colleagues and friends. Essjay was portrayed as often taking his laptop to class, so he could be available to other Wikipedians while giving a quiz. Essjay later commented on his Wikipedia user talk page about having fooled Schiff by "doing a good job playing the part."

The New Yorker correction

In late February 2007 The New Yorker updated its article with a rare correction indicating that "Essjay" had subsequently identified himself as Ryan Jordan and further stated, "he was described in the piece as 'a tenured professor of religion at a private university' with 'a Ph.D. in theology and a degree in canon law.' The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky reported that Jordan had attended but never graduated from Centre College and Bluegrass Community and Technical College (formerly known as Lexington Community College). The paper also stated that despite his claim to have had a three-month special position with a United States bankruptcy trustee, the office had no record that Jordan ever worked there. Essjay now says that his real name is Ryan Jordan, that he is twenty-four and holds no advanced degrees, and that he has never taught." Essjay, who by this time had identified himself as Ryan Jordan, now said these credentials were part of an online persona he had created in part to avoid cyberstalking. Andrew Lih, Assistant Professor and Director of Technology Journalism and of the Media Studies Centre of the University of Hong Kong said that a portion of Essjay's comments on the incident constituted libel against Stacy Shiff, the reporter for The New Yorker. Essjay stated, "She made several offers to compensate me for my time." Lih noted, This is an accusation of the highest degree to make about a journalist. Paying a source for a story is an absolute no-no in the normal practice of print journalism. And it struck me immediately how incredible it was he would accuse Stacy Schiff, a Pulitzer Prize winning author writing for The New Yorker, of this crime. We either have a serious breach of ethics with Ms. Schiff or another dubious statement claim from Essjay. Andrew Lih who is also Blogger and prominent contributor to Wikimedia Foundation projects says he contacted Schiff for comment about whether she had offered to pay Essjay for his time, and quotes her return email. In it Schiff stated that Essjay's assertion was "complete nonsense."

Identity unraveled

Essjay's Wikipedia user page (now removed) made the following claim: I am a tenured professor of theology at a private university in the eastern United States; I teach both undergraduate and graduate theology. I have been asked repeatedly to reveal the name of the institution, however, I decline to do so; I am unsure of the consequences of such an action, and believe it to be in my best interests to remain anonymous. Essjay also claimed on his user page that he held four academic degrees: Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies (B.A.), Master of Arts in Religion (M.A.R.), Doctorate of Philosophy in Theology (Ph.D.), and Doctorate in Canon Law (JCD). Essjay specialized in editing articles about religion on Wikipedia, and on one occasion he was called in to give some "expert testimony" on the status of Mary in the Roman Catholic Church.

Before his identity discrepancy was known to The New Yorker, Essjay claimed to have sent a letter to a real-life college professor using his invented persona and phony credentials, vouching for Wikipedia's accuracy. In the letter he wrote in part, "It is never the case that known incorrect information is allowed to stay in Wiipedia." When Ryan Jordan was hired by Wikia in January 2007, he reportedly made changes to his Wikia profile and "came clean on who he really was." Other Wikipedia editors questioned Essjay/Jordan on his Wikipedia talk page about the apparent discrepancy between his new Wikia profile and his previously claimed credentials. At some point, American activist and Wikipedia critic Daniel Brandt, found out about Essjay's identity and subsequently wrote a letter; then reported the Essjay/Ryan Jordan connnection to The New Yorker. When Ryan Jordan was hired by Wikia in January 2007, he reportedly made changes to his Wikia profile and "came clean on who he really was". On March 3, after his true identity become known and as the controversy was unfolding, Essjay wrote in part on his user page that he was leaving Wikipedia, "I've enjoyed my time here, and done much good work; my time, however, is over, and leaving is the best thing for me and for Wikipedia. I walk away happy to be free to go about other things. I hope others will refocus the energy they have spent the past few days in defending and denouncing me to make something here at Wikipedia better." Essjay also resigned his position with Wikia. A subsequent article in the Louisville Courier-Journal suggested that the new résumé he had posted at his Wikia page was also exaggerated.

Aftermath

Wikipedia community

Discussing the incident, the New York Times noted that the Wikipedia community had responded to the affair with "the fury of the crowd," and observed:

The Essjay episode underlines some of the perils of collaborative efforts like Wikipedia that rely on many contributors acting in good faith, often anonymously and through self-designated user names. But it also shows how the transparency of the Wikipedia process — all editing of entries is marked and saved — allows readers to react to suspected fraud.

Early on, one of the responses by Jimmy Wales, the de-facto leader of Wikipedia, to the news of this administrator's invented persona was:

Speaking personally about Jordan, Wales said, “Mr. Ryan [sic] was a friend, and still is a friend. He is a young man, and he has offered me a heartfelt personal apology, which I have accepted. I hope the world will let him go in peace to build an honorable life and reputation.” Moreover, Wales intially defended Essjay and did not see a problem with the online pseudonym.

Essjay had promptly responded to the controversy with a statement on his Wikipedia user talk page, in part reading:

…I *am* sorry if anyone in the Wikipedia community has been hurt by my decision to use disinformation to protect myself. I'm not sorry that I protected myself; I believed, and continue to believe, that I was right to protect myself, in light of the problems encountered on the internet in these trying times. I have spoken to all of my close friends here about this, and have heard resoundingly that they understand my position, and they support me. Jimbo and many others in Wikipedia's hierarchy have made thier [sic] support known as well…

Larry Sanger, Editor-in-Chief of Citizendium and co-founder of Wikipedia, responded to Wales on his Citizendium blog:

There’s something utterly breathtaking, and ultimately tragic, about Jimmy telling The New Yorker that he doesn’t have a problem with Essjay’s lies, and by essentially honoring Essjay after his lies were exposed.... Doesn’t Jimmy know that this has the potential to be even more damaging to Wikipedia than the Seigenthaler situation, since it reflects directly on the judgment and values of the management of Wikipedia?

However, Jimmy Wales later issued a new statement on his Wikipedia user talk page:

I have been for several days in a remote part of India with little or no Internet access. I only learned this morning that EssJay used his false credentials in content disputes. I understood this to be primarily the matter of a pseudonymous identity (something very mild and completely understandable given the personal dangers possible on the Internet) and not a matter of violation of people's trust. I want to make it perfectly clear that my past support of EssJay in this matter was fully based on a lack of knowledge about what has been going on. Even now, I have not been able to check diffs, etc.

I have asked EssJay to resign his positions of trust within the community. In terms of the full parameters of what happens next, I advise (as usual) that we take a calm, loving, and reasonable approach. From the moment this whole thing became known, EssJay has been contrite and apologetic. People who characterize him as being "proud" of it or "bragging" are badly mistaken.

The next day, Sanger responded:

Jimmy’s statement implies that the only thing that occasions his request for Essjay’s resignation–just ten days after appointing him to the Arbitration Committee–was his newfound knowledge that Essjay “used his false credentials in content disputes.” That apparently is the only thing that would ”violate people’s trust.” Since Jimmy declared he didn’t “have a problem with it” to The New Yorker, it seems Jimmy finds nothing wrong, nothing trust-violating, with the act itself of openly and falsely touting many advanced degrees on Wikipedia. But there most obviously is something wrong with it, and it’s just as disturbing for Wikipedia’s head to fail to see anything wrong with it.

Reaction from within the Wikipedia community was sharp, voluminous, and mixed. While most editors denounced at least some aspects of his behavior, responses ranged from offering complete support to accusing Jordan of "plain and simple fraud."

As a result of the controversy, Wikipedia users began a review of Essjay's previous edits and discovered evidence he had relied upon his fictional professorship to influence editorial consideration of edits he made. For example, in a content dispute Essjay wrote: This is a text I often require for my students, and I would hang my own Ph.D. on it's credibility. "People have gone through his edits and found places where he was basically cashing in on his fake credentials to bolster his arguments," said Michael Snow, a Wikipedia administrator and founder of the Wikipedia community newspaper, The Wikipedia Signpost. "Those will get looked at again."

Wales was "...reported to be considering vetting all persons who adjudicate on factual disputes." "I don't think this incident exposes any inherent weakness in Wikipedia, but it does expose a weakness that we will be working to address," Wales added. He reportedly insisted that Wikipedia editors still would be able to remain anonymous if they wished. "We always prefer to give a positive incentive rather than absolute prohibition, so that people can contribute without a lot of hassle", Wales commented. However, he also warned that “It's always inappropriate to try to win an argument by flashing your credentials, and even more so if those credentials are inaccurate.” Wales reportedly "...expects contributors to the site who claim certain credentials will soon have to prove they really have them." However, Florence Devouard, chair of the Wikimedia Foundation (which is no longer headed by Wales), was not supportive of his credential proposal, saying, "I think what matters is the quality of the content, which we can improve by enforcing policies such as 'cite your source,' not the quality of credentials showed by an editor." Vigorous debate over how to improve Wikipedia continues.

As a followup to his initial comments to The New Yorker, Wales wrote this apology to the magazine, which appeared in its March 19, 2007 issue:

I am writing to apologize to The New Yorker and Stacy Schiff, and to give some follow-up concerning Ryan Jordan (Editors' Note, March 5th). When I last spoke to The New Yorker about the fact that a prominent Wikipedia community member had lied about his credentials, I misjudged the issue. It was not O.K. for Mr. Jordan, or Essjay, to lie to a reporter, even to protect his identity. I later learned more about the deceptions involved and asked Mr. Jordan to resign from his positions of responsibility at Wikipedia. He has since resigned from his position at Wikia as well. Mr. Jordan is a wonderful and thoughtful young man who made a series of very bad judgements. I consider him a friend, and I hope that the world will allow him to move forward in peace and dignity to regain his honor through a life well lived. Wikipedia is built on trust and love. Our trust has been broken, and only love can rebuild it. The community has begun discussing a proposal of mine that we adopt some verification measures for claimed credentials, so that Wikipedia may further improve from this painful experience.

Critics

Wikipedia

Critics of Wikipedia had been heavily weighing in since day one. The blogosphere was particularly replete with critics' words.

Larry Sanger, Editor-in-Chief of online encyclopedia Citizendium, and co-founder of Wikipedia called Essjay's response as "a defiant non-apology" and elsewhere characterized Essjay's actions as "identity fraud." Sanger and longtime Wikipedia critic Andrew Orlowski harshly criticized Jimmy Wales for hiring Essjay at Wikia and appointing him to the Wikipedia arbitration committee after Essjay had apparently admitted his previously claimed academic and professional credentials were false. In another blog post titled "Wikipedia firmly supports your right to identity fraud", which was quoted by both The Register and Dan Blacharsk of ITworld, characterized Essjay's actions as "identity fraud." Orlowski wrote in The Register that Essjay's actions betrayed a dangerous community mindset within Wikipedia, stating:

Wikipedians have plainly become a very insular group: they have their own mores and requirements, which are completely independent of the real world. Indeed, that's what this story is about, after all: real-world identities and credentials are rejected as unnecessary by Wikipedia. How could Wikipedia fail to become insular with that attitude?

Dan Blacharsk of ITworld additionally reviewed and linked to blog comments by Seth Finkelstein. Finkelstein said that Wikipedia "fundamentally runs by an extremely deceptive sort of social promise," in which he says Essjay is a product of. Blacharsk continued by summarizing Finkelstein, "Legitimate writers, scholars and industry experts have very little motivation to contribute to Wikipedia - leaving the project with wannabes and posers like Essjay with too much time on their hands to churn out content."

In an opinion piece for The Guardian's TechnologyGuardian supplement Finkelstein described Wikipedia contributors as being sold the dream of getting academic prestige by working for free, letting Wikia investors reap the rewards, with "Essjay" as "that dream's poster child":

Wikipedia allowed him to revel in playing out a detailed fantasy role. Finkelstein considered it both ironic and a "red flag" about the value system that many considered lying in content disputes more serious than lying to the New Yorker, and described "cult appeal" as a key factor in Wikipedia, with a charismatic leader peddling "a type of spiritual transcendence through selfless service to an ideal, finding a cadre of acolytes willing to devote their lives (without payment) to the organisation's projects."

Academics

On March 2, 2007, a report in The Chronicle of Higher Education concluded "the incident is clearly damaging to Wikipedia's credibility – especially with professors who will now note that one of the site's most visible academics has turned out to be a fraud."

Ross Brann, a professor of Judeo-Islamic studies at Cornell University, said, "This [process of scholarly review] is completely removed [at Wikipedia]…They could make up your life if they wanted to." Brann said that Wikipedia "has no place in the University," and he believed the Essjay incident would do nothing to change the unfavorable opinion that academics generally hold about the online encyclopedia. Several students interviewed at Cornell indicated that they would continue to use Wikipedia as a quick source of information, though they would not cite it in scholarly work.

In an interview about a new course at the University of East Anglia in which postgraduate students studying for a masters degree in international relations and development are required to read and edit Wikipedia to see at first hand how knowledge is produced, the lecturer Dr Nicola Pratt stated that she was undeterred by the revelation about a 24-year-old student posing as a professor of religious studies. She stated that "The ethos of Wikipedia is that anyone can contribute, regardless of status... What's relevant is their knowledge as judged by other readers, not whether they are professors or not - and the fact the student was exposed shows it works."

References

External links

Primary sources

• User:Essjay/History1 - archive at Google cache. Also, here, archive at WebCite.
• User:Essjay snapshot from the Internet Archive archived on 2006-01-11
• Edit in which Essjay claims to a user that he had a PhD and students under his charge -- and references Catholicism for Dummies - archive at WebCite.
• Letter by Essjay to an academic in which he falsely claims academic credentials and accomplishments. - archive at WebCite.
• Essjay's apology - archive at WebCite.
• Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Essjay - archive at WebCite.
• Ryan Jordan claiming false credentials
• Essjay's user talk archive reflecting his false statements
• Wikitruth - Essjay
• Essjay's response in his own words on his talk page at 16:06, March 1, 2007, Wikipedian time. My response. Retrieved on 2007-03-15.
• User:Essjay - Essjay's user page on Wikipedia.
• User talk:Essjay - Essjay's personal talk page on Wikipedia.

News sources

February 28 2007

• Lutter, David A.. Wikipedia Source For 'New Yorker' A Fraud, WebProNews, February 28 2007.

• Bercovici, Jeff. Ode to Wikipedia Riddled with Errors, Radar Magazine, February 28 2007.

March 1 2007

• Kane, Margaret. Wikipedia 101: Check your sources, CNET News. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.

• Ingram, Mathew. The Wikipedia Admin Brouhaha, WebProNews, March 1 2007.

• Sadofsky, Jason S (01 March 2007). Wikipedia: J.S. on Essjay. ASCII. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.

March 2 2007

• Read, Brock. Essjay, the Ersatz Academic, The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 2 2007.

• Thomas, Brett (2 March 2007). Wikipedia manager lied about background. bit.tech.net. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.

March 5 2007

• Mitch Ratcliffe. Wikipedia: Why does Essjay need to “protect himself”?, ZD Net. Retrieved on 2007-03-05.

March 6 2007

• Dan Blacharski. Blog Insights: Wikipedia's great fraud, ITworld.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.

• Stephen Foley. Wikipedia hit by identity crisis as student admits posing as professor, World news, Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.

• Blog Insights: Wikipedia's great fraud, Editors, Foreign Policy. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.

• Orlowski, Andrew. Farewell, Wikipedia?, The Register, March 6, 2007.

• Staff. Fake professor in Wikipedia storm, BBC News, March 6, 2007.

• Key Wikipedia 'editor' unmasked as fraud, Irish Independent. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.

• Elsworth, Catherine. Fake Wikipedia prof altered 20,000 entries, The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.

• Cherian, Jacob. Controversy Emanates Over Fake Editor On Wikipedia, All Headline News. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.

• Staff. Bogus professor resigns as Wiki editor, United Press International. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.

• Foley, Stephen. Wikipedia ‘Prof’ Is A Fraudster, The Statesman. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.

• Cohen, Noam. Wikipedia ire turns against ex-editor, International Herald Tribune. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.

• Staff. Wikipedia editor resigns after credentials exposed as bogus, Associated Press. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.

• Goldman, Russell. Wikiscandal: A Prominent Editor at the Popular Online Encyclopedia Is a Fraud, ABC News. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.

• Cherian, Jacob. Controversy emanates over fake editor on Wikipedia, BizReport, March 6 2007.

• Withers, Stephen. Bogus professor quits Wikipedia, iTwire, Australia, March 6 2007.

• Wolfson, Andrew. Wikipedia editor who posed as professor is Ky. dropout, The Louisville Courier-Journal, March 6, 2007.

• Goldman, Russell. A prominent editor at Wikipedia might not be what he says, 7 Online, March 6, 2007.

• Doran, James. Wikipedia chief promises change after 'expert' exposed as fraud, Times Online, March 6 2007.

March 7 2007

• Staff. Wikipedia's 'bogus' editor ousted, Freelance UK, March 7 2007.

• Staff. Fake 'expert' scandal forces Wikipedia to review editor policy, CBC News, March 7 2007.

• Bergstein, Brian. Wikipedia to seek proof of credentials, Associated Press, March 7 2007.

• Doran, James. Wikipedia Editor Out After False Credentials Revealed, Fox News. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.

• Morphy, Erika. Phony Prof Triggers Wikipedia Uproar, TechNewsWorld, March 7 2007.

• Nichols, Shaun. Contributor scandal rocks Wikipedia, vnunet, March 7 2007.

• Morphy, Erika. Phony Prof Triggers Wikipedia Uproar, Tech News World, March 7 2007.

March 8, 2007

• Zaharov-Reutt, Alex. Wikipedia: Rogue editor EssJay resigns in shame, IT Wire, March 8 2007.

• Staff. Fount of all wisdom - and foolery, Telegraph.co.uk, March 8 2007.

• Vallis, Mary. Editor scandal rocks Wikipedia, National Post, March 8 2007.

• Associated Press. Wikipedia to writers: Prove your expertise, CNN, March 8, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-03-08.

• Elsworth, Catherine. Wikipedia professor is 24-year-old college dropout, The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2007-03-09.

March 9, 2007

• Annunziata, Luca. Wikipedia controllerà le credenziali degli editor, Punto Informatico, March 9 2007.

March 11, 2007

• Staff. Fact or fiction?, The Economist. Retrieved on 2007-03-11.

Audio and video

• Wikipedia Weekly: Episode 12: Essjay (special episode) - March 3 2007
• ABC News broadcast on Essjay - March 6 2007

Blogs

• Andrew Lih
• Blogma
• oblem-with-fraud Blog World
• Chronicle of Higher Education
• ght-to-identity-fraud/ Citizendium & e-essjay-situation/ Article 2
• Freakonomics
• Infothought
• LiveJournal
• ght-about.html Nonbovine Ruminations
• Rough Type
• Slashdot
• ha Web Pro News

This draft uses content that originally appeared on Wikipedia.

[[Category:Controversies]] [[Category:Scandals]] [[Category:Internet hoaxes]]