Circular reporting
In source criticism, circular reporting or false confirmation is a situation where a piece of information appears to come from multiple independent sources, but in fact is coming from only one source.[1][2] In most cases, the problem happens mistakenly through sloppy intelligence gathering practices, but in a few cases, the situation was believed to have been intentionally caused by the original source.[3]
This problem occurs in variety of fields, including intelligence gathering[2], journalism, and scholarly research.
Wikipedia is sometimes criticized for being used as a source of circular reporting.[4] Wikipedia advises all researchers and journalists to be wary of using Wikipedia as a direct source, and instead focus on verifiable information found in an article's cited references.
[edit] Specific examples
- the 2002 Niger uranium forgeries [5]
- Wikipedia and Der Spiegel in 2009, regarding Karl-Theodor Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg [6]
- Wikipedia and The Independent in 2007, propagating the false information that Sacha Baron Cohen worked at Goldman Sachs[7]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Sergeant Marcus Sterzer, CD, B.A.; Master Corporal Patrick McDuff B.A., M.A.; and Corporal Jacek Flasz (Summer 2008). "The Challenge of Centralized Control Faced by the Intelligence Function in Afghanistan". Canadian Army Journal. http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/caj/documents/vol_11/iss_2/CAJ_Vol11.2_12_e.pdf.
- ^ a b "The Cocktail Napkin Plan for Regime Change in Iran". Mother Jones. 2008-06. http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/06/8595_three_days_in_r.html.
- ^ Micheal T. Hurley, Kenton V. Smith. "8". I Solemnly Swear. p. 128. ISBN 0595299474. "Pan Am would eventually try to play that game by trying to introduce into court news reports that they themselves had a hand in producing." Google Book search, retrieved on 23 July 2009.
- ^ Timmer, John (2009-05). "Wikipedia hoax points to the limits of journalists' research". Ars Technica. http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/05/wikipedia-hoax-reveals-limits-of-journalists-research.ars.
- ^ Drogin, Bob; Hamburger, Tom (2006-02-17). "2006-02-17". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2006/feb/17/nation/na-niger17.
- ^ "Wie ich Freiherr von Guttenberg zu Wilhelm machte" (in German). BildBlog.de. 2009-02-10. http://www.bildblog.de/5704/.
"False Fact On Wikipedia Proves Itself" (in English). Slashdot. 2009-02-11. http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/10/2211220. - ^ "Wikipedia Article creates Circular references". Tech Debug blog. 2009-01-14. http://techdebug.com/blog/2008/04/19/wikipedia-article-creates-circular-references/.
