by Jaqueta Abbey
Screenshot of Wikinews Homepage
Background
Wikinews is one of the many sister projects of Wikipedia, hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. With the slogan of "The free news source you can write!", the goal of the site is to create a global community that can report on a variety of current news events in a reliable and unbiased manner. All Wikinews content falls under a free license so that articles are available for redistribution. On the English Wikinews page alone, there are over 16,000 articles.
In November 2004, Wikinews was nothing more than a demonstration wiki to show how a collaborative news site could work. In December of that same year, the site moved into the beta stage.
As well as text articles, Wikinews has other media projects such as Audio Wikinews, which has podcasts and audio files. Two other projects include Wikinews Video 2.0 and a Wikinews Print Edition.
Features
The latest news is featured on the right side of the front page; you can even subscribe for the latest headlines through RSS feeds. Right below, you can a section containing the most popular Wikinews articles of the moment.
As for the rest of the article database, you can sort articles by geographical location as well as categories, including but not limited to: crime and law, disasters and accidents, obituaries, and "wackynews".
Also, WIkinews has an article writing guide to help send amateur reporters on their way. The guide asks budding reporters to first look at Wikinews guidelines and check to see if the story is appropriate for publication. The guide then offers five essential steps: meet content guidelines, write in "news style", list your sources, add categories, and request a peer review.
Wikinews even has a writing contest open to any and everyone (though experienced contributors will receive a handicap)! The contest started on January 25, 2010 (so you have some catching up to do) and will end on April 18, 2010. Participants can author the following and be scored: a synthesis article, original reporting articles, and photoessays. The prizes are limited, but it's all about the work and sense of pride.
Problems and criticisms
One criticism of Wikinews is that it hasn't been able to separate its identity from sister site Wikipedia as it also covers news events in real time. On the other hand, there are differences between the two projects. One difference is that articles on Wikinews are written in "news style" and Wikipedia articles are written as encyclopedic entries. Another thing that sets Wikinews apart from Wikipedia is that Wikinews reporters have held interviews with many notables, including Israeli President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Shimon Peres in 2007.
Two other criticisms of Wikinews are those that attach themselves to every citizen reporter: issues of credibility and bias. With so many contributions, it is hard to parcel out the credibility of not only the article but its authors.
Have something to contribute? Head on over to Wikinews.org and enter the writing contest before April 18th!
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