Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Because someone says so ...

... Wikipedia and the Meaning of Truth. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

On Wikipedia, truth is received truth: the consensus view of a subject.
That standard is simple: something is true if it was published in a newspaper article, a magazine or journal, or a book published by a university press--or if it appeared on Dr. Who.

This is pretty much the same standard that obtains in newsrooms, which is why the news has become a game of Chinese Whispers. Obviously, one can't rely on a single source of information. And you have to ask questions.

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