Optional: write a lede — not necessarily a WP:LEAD. Interesting > encyclopedic.

The Independent Journal Review, borrowing from The Daily Caller, claimed that your Wikipedia donations might be funding "feminism and racial justice" instead of just keeping the lights on. The Commune Mag and OpIndia then joined the fray, alleging that Wikimedia's finances are tied to shadowy donors. Karah Rucker of Straight Arrow News listed left-leaning leaders like Art+Feminism and Black Lunch Table—programs we’ve highlighted in The Signpost. Meanwhile, in yet another familiar critique of Wikipedia's alleged political leanings, Voz branded the platform as “Wokepedia”, saying it is the world’s largest encyclopedia in one sentence, and it "now resembles a sort of Orwellian authority" in the next. At this point, it's like watching a rerun. Every few weeks, a new outlet accuses the free encyclopedia of the mind numbing non-napping known as part of the politics of perception. Next, Matt Walsh, a commentator for The Daily Wire (not the most reliable source), describes a scene in his movie Am I Racist?. Supposedly a "white-guilt" group tries to get him arrested by reading the Wikipedia article about him to the police. See previous Signpost coverage on Walsh's commentary. – JSG, S

News from WISH-TV in Indianapolis features James Popoola, Justin Clark (the digital initiatives director at the Indiana State Library), and the conference organizer, Dominic Byrd-McDevitt. "The IU Indianapolis Library received $280,000 from the Indianapolis Foundation Library Fund to improve Indiana’s digital heritage on Wikipedia."

Devex reported on how Wikipedia’s army of human volunteers is being hailed as its greatest weapon against the rise of artificial intelligence. Wikimedia Foundation CEO Maryana Iskander emphasized that while AI churns out a lot of "slop" prioritizing speed over accuracy, Wikipedia’s crowdsourced approach has kept it a beacon of reliable information. Despite the AI hype, Iskander notes that Wikipedia’s human editors remain cool and confident, because, well, it turns out that good old-fashioned community curation still works. Additionally, 404 Media has picked up that editors have formed WikiProject AI Cleanup (see previous Signpost coverage) to tackle a growing problem: AI-generated content that introduces errors or misleading information into articles. ExtremeTech also highlighted the surge of "AI-generated garbage," including a fabricated article about a non-existent Ottoman fortress and incorrect information added to existing articles. Even with the challenges posed by AI, at least this human editor is confident that community-driven curation will remain the best guarantor of quality. – JSG

Ashley Rindsberg shows How Wikipedia is Becoming a Massive Pay-to-Play Scheme at Pirate Wires. "A boomtown industry feeding an insatiable demand for services like article creation, editing, management and deletion has emerged." One of his first targets is the Pakastani company Abtach, which is tied to "at least 130 different Wikipedia editing front companies that operate under domains like Wikicreatorsinc.com, Wikicreation.services, Wikipedia Pro, Wikipedia Legends, and USAwikispecialists.com." See this story in The Signpost for more details. For examples of slightly more sophisticated paid editing, he links to articles about British investment immigration consultancies, Canadian frozen foods producers, cellulite-busting self-massage accessories, custom T-shirt retailers, Swedish online travel agencies, German disinfectant brands, industrial waste management companies, RegTech software firms, as well as packaging producers, electronic device recyclers, and self-storage chains. That's just what he considers "black hat" paid editing.

The more sophisticated "white hat" editors are linked to articles on Bain & Co, Yelp, Qualcomm, Kaspersky Lab, software company Forcepoint, the RSA Conference as well as a New York Times exec and corporate clients like Reddit, MetLife, Accenture, Intel, IBM, Hubspot, Hilton, Vox Media, Dick’s Sporting Goods, United Airlines, Amdocs, Gallup, Allergan, Breyers, Vimeo and Waymo.

Along the way, he mentions several of the better known scandals including MyWikiBiz (see related Signpost coverage and related Signpost coverage), Legal Morning (see Signpost coverage) and WhiteHatWiki (see see Signpost coverage). It's an excellent introduction to paid editing on Wikipedia and you shouldn't be surprised if you see some of these names again.

"The question this leaves us asking is whether we can really apply the historic term 'encyclopedia' to a sprawling network of thousands of articles carefully pruned by the PR departments of billion dollar companies, or if Wikipedia is something else entirely." – S

A crossword published in USA Today by constructor Ada Nicolle featured an unexpected nod to Wikipedia. One clue highlighted Annie Rauwerda, founder of the popular Depths of Wikipedia accounts on Instagram and other social media platforms, which showcase quirky and obscure content from the site. Other clues celebrated Icelandic-Canadian heritage, such as a reference to Gimli, Manitoba—the Canadian town with the highest population of Icelanders outside of Iceland. In a recent interview with The Michigan Daily, Rauwerda reflected on how her account has grown into a hub for curious readers and Wikipedia enthusiasts, emphasizing the thrill of discovering—and correcting—obscure content. She also discussed the unique challenges of maintaining the account while navigating Wikipedia’s complex editing rules, and the role her platform plays in demystifying the editing process and encouraging new contributors. From clickbait headlines to deep dives into obscure history, Depths of Wikipedia has evolved into a cultural phenomenon that brings new visibility to the weird and wonderful corners of our beloved encyclopedia. – JSG

According to a report by Stefan Weber, an Austrian media researcher noted for his work as a "plagiarism hunter", current US Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris "copy-pasted a Wikipedia article into her book Smart on Crime (2009)" (co-authored with Joan O'C. Hamilton), alongside plagiarism from other sources. The allegations were publicized by US conservative activist Christopher Rufo in what may be intended as an October surprise ahead of the November 5 presidential election. (Rufo and a co-author had previously investigated plagiarism in academic publications by Harvard University president Claudine Gay, contributing to her resignation.) The New York Times summarized a different plagiarism expert's reaction as stating that "the errors were not serious, given the size of the [book]." The Wikipedia article in question is Midtown Community Court (in this revision). – H

• Wikipedia paces to victory: In an unexpected twist, Wikipedia isn't just for late-night research dives anymore—it's also the name of a harness racing horse! Standardbred Canada reports the nobly named Standardbred pacer, a 3-year-old son of Mcwicked, came from 5 lengths back in the stretch overcoming Crush Kill Destroy, Unrivaled Hanover, Legal Attack, and Chain Gang, winning an Ontario Sire Stakes Gold division race. Now when someone says “Wikipedia is fast,” they're not just talking about the servers. – JSG
• Camille Herron's race for wiki supremacy: Multiple magazines and news outlets, including Runner's World, Canadian Running Magazine, Women's Health, and Athletics Illustrated, reported that ultrarunner Camille Herron went from trails to keyboards, getting flagged for editing the Wikipedia page about her to emphasize her achievements and for removing some of the achievement in the article about Kilian Jornet — turning this into a race of reputation rather than endurance. Wikipedia's neutrality got a workout as Herron's edits sparked controversy over athletes curating their own narratives. Actions have consequences, though—Herron was swiftly dropped by her primary sponsor, Lululemon, making this yet another high-stakes lesson in online reputation management gone wrong. – JSG
• Recent research piece picked up: The Arabian Post picked up on a study comparing how people perceive credibility between Wikipedia, ChatGPT, and Alexa. While their coverage didn't mention The Signpost directly, it did link back to our Recent research piece from two issues ago. So, even though we weren't named, The Signpost served as a bridge between the original Nature article and international media coverage. – JSG
• Wikipedia "winner" goes viral!: A viral screenshot of a Wikipedia page claiming Abhijeet Sawant as the winner of Bigg Boss Marathi season 5 has stirred up social media, leading to debates on whether it's true or just another case of Wikipedia vandalism. The buzz even got coverage by The Free Press Journal, which pointed out the ongoing confusion. Just goes to show—when it comes to reality TV, even Wikipedia edits can become a trending topic. – JSG
• Goa's newest archive: The Goamankat Times highlighted local Wikipedian Tanmay Pereira Naik's efforts to expand and improve articles related to Goa, India on Wikipedia. His mission? To give Goa's history and culture the representation it deserves on the global platform. This initiative includes everything from documenting local history and politics to covering underrepresented topics like traditional cuisine and Goan personalities. Naik's work is a testament to the importance of diverse contributions—he's bridging the knowledge gap for Goa, one Wikipedia page at a time. – JSG
• Wikipedia training camp: The Punch reported that a group of 20 participants attended a Wikipedia editing workshop in Nigeria hosted by the Tyap Wikipedia User Group. The goal? To improve digital literacy and expand representation of Nigerian topics on the encyclopedia. With Wikipedia's emphasis on reliable sourcing and neutrality, it'll be interesting to see if these new editors shake up the content landscape. With Nigeria's rich history and culture often underrepresented, initiatives like these help bring local voices to the global platform. – JSG
• Portland City Auditor reopens Gonzalez case: After initially determining there was insufficient evidence to determine that the Portland, Oregon mayoral candidate broke campaign finance law by hiring a firm to burnish his Wikipedia page, the city auditor reopened the case. KOIN reports that "Gonzalez's office had paid a company called Codename Enterprises, operating under WhiteHatWiki, to assist with edits and contentious matters on Gonzalez's Wikipedia page." See also the report in The Oregonian and previous Signpost coverage here, here, and here. The next installment of this long running saga is expected with the release of the revised City Auditor's report on or before Halloween.
• "Under the radar" page move rankles: Scholar Asaf Romirowsky said of Israeli apartheid that the "Wikipedia article's title and opening paragraph [are] a 'work of fiction'" [1]; the Jewish Journal article also claims the Requested move to the current title was accomplished "under the radar". This is not the first page move controversy reported by The Signpost; see here, and here.
• Spotlight on Bangladeshi Authors: An article in The Daily Star explored how Wikipedia categorizes prominent Bangladeshi literary figures like Abbasuddin Ahmed and Humayun Kabir. The piece highlighted issues with labeling writers based solely on linguistic or geographical ties, which sometimes results in misclassifications—such as identifying them only as "Bengali" or "Indian" rather than acknowledging their unique Bangladeshi heritage. The article argues for more precise representation on Wikipedia to honor these authors' contributions to the cultural and literary history of Bangladesh, and to avoid losing the nuances of their identities due to historical geopolitical changes. – JSG
• High interest in 5784: In its year-end Internet culture wrapup, the Jerusalem Post noted that "Israel's Wikipedia entry... [got] approximately 14,769,946 views in a year, more than Israel's entire population." Other Wikipedia pageviews were noted, as well as Google search and YouTube popularity, to gauge interest in various Israel related topics (and some Jewish public figures in the US and elsewhere).

• The silent majority?: The 2024 Silent Hill 2 Remake Wikipedia article was recently locked after persistent disruptive editing aimed at lowering review scores. According to IGN, the edits skewed the ratings from various sources to make the remake seem less well-received. In a move straight out of the game's own playbook, admins had to put the page under “lock and key”—much like the puzzles and locked doors players navigate in Silent Hill 2—to keep the chaos at bay. – JSG
• If sockfarms don't succeed, try, try again: "How Russia Invaded Wikipedia". Olga Boichak of the University of Sydney writes in Foreign Policy about the splinternet and Putin's fork of ru.wiki.
• Are press releases news?: Outlets such as Business Standard and NewsTap both covered the Wikimedia Technology Summit 2024, one by publishing a press release and the other seemingly by slightly rewriting it. The summit was hosted at IIIT Hyderabad and focused on enhancing inclusivity and innovation within Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. The press release highlighted sessions on developing tools to better support diverse communities and promoting equal participation in tech development. Discussions revolved around making Wikipedia more accessible and breaking down barriers for contributors from underrepresented regions. The event brought together tech enthusiasts, developers, and Wikimedia volunteers to collaborate on building a more inclusive digital future. – JSG
• Check the stats first: UnHerd reported that Wikipedia recently renamed its article on the UK's grooming gang scandals to “Grooming gang moral panic in the United Kingdom,” sparking controversy. The change, which was based on discussions citing sources like a 2020 Home Office report, was intended to reflect how the media and public framed the issue. Critics argue that the new title downplays the severity of the abuse, causing debate over whether Wikipedia is succumbing to political correctness at the cost of historical accuracy. The Wikipedia article highlights another government report and statistics that show that White men in the UK sexually abuse children more than Muslims or South Asians. – JSG
• The court reads: Following the last issue's coverage of the ongoing legal case between India's Asian News Network and Wikimedia Foundation, a Wikipedia article, titled Asian News International vs. Wikimedia Foundation, was written and published on 10 October 2024, Thursday. However, the article has now been mentioned in the court on 14 October, Monday, and not approvingly, write Bar and Bench and Live Law. On 16 October, the court pretty much ordered a deletion of the article, which was snow-kept at a short-lived AfD. – GGS, rs

This page is a draft for the next issue of the Signpost. Below is some helpful code that will help you write and format a Signpost draft. If it's blank, you can fill out a template by copy-pasting this in and pressing 'publish changes': {{subst:Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Story-preload}}

Images and Galleries

Sidebar images To put an image in your article, use the following template (link): I understand the primacy of pure feeling in creative art. {{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler image-v2 |image = |size = 300px |alt = TKTK |caption = |fullwidth = no }} This will create the file on the right. Keep the 300px in most cases. If writing a 'full width' article, change |fullwidth=no to |fullwidth=yes. Inline images Placing {{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Inline image |image = |size = 300px |align = center |alt = TKTK |caption = }} (link) will instead create an inline image like below The significant thing is feeling, as such, quite apart from the environment in which it is called forth. Galleries To create a gallery, use the following <gallery style="float:right;" mode=packed | heights=200px> |TKTK |TKTK </gallery> Each line inside the tags should be formatted like File:Whatever.jpg|Caption). This creates: Art no longer cares to serve the state and religion, it no longer wishes to illustrate the history of manners. It wants to have nothing further to do with the object as such, and believes that it can exist in and for itself. If you want it centered, remove tstyle="float:right;" from the first line.

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler quote-v2
 |1         = 
 |author    = 
 |source    = 
 |fullwidth = 
}}

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Quote
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}}

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/block quote
 | text   = 
 | by     = 
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 | oldid  = 
}}

Side frames

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. A caption Side frames help put content in sidebar vignettes. For instance, this one (link): {{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler frame-v2 |1 = Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. |caption = A caption |fullwidth = no }} gives the frame on the right. This is useful when you want to insert non-standard images, quotes, graphs, and the like. Example − Graph/Charts Further information: Category:Graph, chart and plot templates Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. A caption For example, to insert the {{Graph:Chart}} generated by {{Graph:Chart |width=250|height=100|type=line |x=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8|y=10,12,6,14,2,10,7,9 }} in a frame, simple put the graph code in |1= {{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Filler frame-v2 |1= {{Graph:Chart |width=250|height=100|type=line |x=1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8|y=10,12,6,14,2,10,7,9 }} |caption=A caption |fullwidth=no }} to get the framed Graph:Chart on the right. If writing a 'full width' article, change |fullwidth=no to |fullwidth=yes.

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Signpost-block-end-v2}}
{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Signpost-block-start-v2|fullwidth=yes}}

{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Signpost-block-end-v2}}
{{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Templates/Signpost-block-start-v2|fullwidth=no}}

Article series

To add a series of 'related articles' your article, use the following code Related articles Visual Editor Five, ten, and fifteen years ago 1 January 2023 VisualEditor, endowment, science, and news in brief 5 August 2015 HTTPS-only rollout completed, proposal to enable VisualEditor for new accounts 17 June 2015 VisualEditor and MediaWiki updates 29 April 2015 Security issue fixed; VisualEditor changes 4 February 2015 More articles Draft namespace, VisualEditor meetings 25 December 2013 Sockpuppet investigations, VisualEditor, Wikidata's birthday, and more 6 November 2013 Last call for Wiki Loves Monuments; Community–WMF tension over VisualEditor 25 September 2013 Making Wikipedia more accessible 4 September 2013 Gallery improvements launch on Wikipedia 28 August 2013 The VisualEditor Beta and the path to change 31 July 2013 Defining consensus; VisualEditor default state; expert and layperson terms in article titles 31 July 2013 VisualEditor in midst of game-changing deployment series 3 July 2013 VisualEditor will "change world history" 12 June 2013 VisualEditor, elections, bots, and more 12 June 2013 The Visual Editor: Where are we now, and where are we headed? 25 March 2013 Visual Editor "on schedule" for July rollout 18 March 2013 Looking ahead to 2013 7 January 2013 The new Visual Editor gets a bit more visual 10 December 2012 Second Visual Editor prototype launches 25 June 2012 Visual editor demo launched, hailed as "most important change to our user experience ... ever"; but elsewhere over-hasty deployments criticised 19 December 2011 Full steam ahead on Visual Editor, the avoidance of lock-breaking and 1.18b1 release 7 November 2011 {{Signpost series |type = sidebar-v2 |tag = VisualEditor |seriestitle = Visual Editor |fullwidth = no }} or {{Signpost series |type = sidebar-v2 |tag = VisualEditor |seriestitle = Visual Editor |fullwidth = yes }} will create the sidebar on the right. If writing a 'full width' article, change |fullwidth=no to |fullwidth=yes. A partial list of valid |tag= parameters can be found at here and will decide the list of articles presented. |seriestitle= is the title that will appear below 'Related articles' in the box. Alternatively, you can use {{Signpost series |type = inline |tag = VisualEditor |tag_name = visual editor |tag_pretext = the }} at the end of an article to create For more Signpost coverage on the visual editor see our visual editor series. If you think a topic would make a good series, but you don't see a tag for it, or that all the articles in a series seem 'old', ask for help at the WT:NEWSROOM. Many more tags exist, but they haven't been documented yet.