Essjay controversy
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Ryan Jordan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1982/3 |
| Pen name | "Essjay" |
| Occupation | - |
Ryan Jordan (born 1982/3 [1]), known by his Wikipedia username "Essjay", is a prominent former editor and administrator of the English Wikipedia who gained notoriety outside Wikipedia in February 2007 when The New Yorker made an addendum to an article written some months earlier related to the mention of credentials attributed to Essjay in the original piece. The addendum stated that these credentials were non-existent and part of an online persona Essjay had created in part to avoid cyberstalking.[2][3]
New Yorker Interview
Jordan was interviewed for a New Yorker article on Wikipedia titled "Know It All" published in the July 31, 2006 issue.[1]
New Yorker Magazine recently updated the article with a correction indicating that "Essjay" had identified himself, giving what was alleged to be his real name. The New Yorker went on to state, "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.', he now claims he's actually "twenty-four and holds no advanced degrees, and that he has never taught."[1]
According to Vancouver 24 Hours, Daniel Brandt had discovered the Essjay/Ryan Jordan connection, and reported this to The New Yorker[4]
Scandal fallout
Initially, Jimmy Wales said of this administrator's invented persona, "I regard it as a pseudonym and I don’t really have a problem with it."[2] Following intense scrutiny from the web and internally from Wikipedia, Wales later wrote on his Wikipedia User talk page, "I have asked Essjay to resign his positions of trust within the community."[5] Essjay retired from Wikipedia on March 4, 2006. Shortly afterward, Wikipedia stewards, at Essjay's request, deleted most of the content of his user page and removed his account's administrative rights.[citation needed] Essjay also resigned from Wikia, Wales' for-profit company.[6]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Schiff, Stacey (2006-07-24). "Know it All". The New Yorker.
- ^ a b Zaharov-Reutt, Alex (March 2, 2007). "Wikipedia: did one of its admins lie?". iTWire.
- ^ Farrell, Nick (March 1, 2007). "Wikipedia 'expert' lied about qualifications". The Inquirer.
- ^ King, Ian (March 2, 2007). "A Wiki web they've woven". Vancouver 24 Hours.
- ^ Cohen, Noam (March 5, 2007). "A Contributor to Wikipedia Has His Fictional Side". New York Times.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Cohen, Noam (March 5, 2007). "A Contributor to Wikipedia Has His Fictional Side". New York Times.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
Further reading
- February 28, 2007
- Lutter, David A. (February 28, 2007). "Wikipedia Source For 'New Yorker' A Fraud". WebProNews.
- Bercovici, Jeff (February 28, 2007). "Ode to Wikipedia Riddled with Errors". Radar Magazine.
- March 1, 2007
- Margaret Kane (1 March 2007). "Wikipedia 101: Check your sources". CNET News. Retrieved 2007-03-02.
- Ingram, Mathew (March 1, 2007). "The Wikipedia Admin Brouhaha". WebProNews.
- Jason Scott (01 March 2007). "Wikipedia: J.S. on Essjay". ASCII. Retrieved 2007-03-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|year=(help)
- March 2, 2007
- "Essjay, the Ersatz Academic". The Chronicle of Higher Education. March 2, 2007.
- David A. Utter (2 March 2007). "Wikipedia Source For 'New Yorker' A Fraud". WebProNews. Retrieved 2007-03-02.
- Brett Thomas (2 March 2007). "Wikipedia manager lied about background". bit.tech.net. Retrieved 2007-03-02.
- March 5, 2007
- Cohen, Noam (March 5, 2007). "A Contributor to Wikipedia Has His Fictional Side". New York Times.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
Audio
- Wikipedia Weekly special episode 12 - "Essjay Edition".