Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-12-30/From the editors
The Force we expected
Not surprisingly, Star Wars: The Force Awakens tops the list, with over five million views, one of the highest weekly view counts we've seen this year. And eleven of the Top 25 entries are Star Wars-related, clearly one of the top pop culture events of the year. (The record of related topics on a single report is 15, which the Super Bowl did in February.) Outside the Star Wars universe, Yoga master B. K. S. Iyengar hit #3 on the strength of a Google Doodle, and MMA fighter Conor McGregor came in #4 after a big win at UFC 194 (#12). And Adele is still going strong, rising back 10 spots this week up to #5 in her ninth consecutive appearance on the chart.
Followers of Wikipedia article statistics should be sure to check out the new Hatnote Top 100, a daily report of the 100 most viewed articles for thirteen different language Wikipedias. This daily report includes mobile data (which stats.grok.se does not), and is updated daily just a few hours after midnight UTC. As an automated report, it does not exclude non-human entries (as this report strives to do), so beware oddities like Java (programming language) which get afflicted by bots. I enjoyed using the Hatnote reports this past week to know in advance that Star Wars: The Force Awakens would top the chart this week. The Hatnote report is derived from Wikimedia's new pageview API, and WMF Labs has already released a Demo Article stats tool that is worth checking out, as it also includes the mobile views which are now a large segment of all Wikipedia views.
For the full top-25 list, see WP:TOP25. See this section for an explanation of any exclusions. For a list of the most edited articles of the week, see here.
For the week of December 13 to 19, 2015, the ten most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages, were:
Rank Article Class Views Image Notes 1 Star Wars: The Force Awakens 
5,164,168 
Over 38 years after the release of Star Wars in 1977, the pop culture domination that the franchise has enjoyed is undeniable, now again reinforced by the debut of the latest film. Many people who saw the first film as teenagers could well be grandparents by now. Though just released, this is already the article's ninth appearance on the Top 25 in 2015. It is hard to think of any other pop culture franchise that has had such a long lasting and pervasive effect as Star Wars. For example, the stories of Sherlock Holmes appeared over a forty year period as well (1887–1927), and have generated a large legacy, but cannot compete with the powers of our mass media age. The Force Awakens has already grossed $517 million worldwide in its opening weekend (as of December 20) – just shy of the worldwide opening record of $524 million set by Jurassic World earlier this year. The U.S. opening of $238 million easily beat the $209 million which Jurassic World racked up. The movie has also received very good reviews, though it should be kept in mind that many reviewers in 2015 probably saw the first film as children, creating a powerful force of nostalgia. 2 Star Wars 
2,643,442 See #1 3 B. K. S. Iyengar
1,165,101 
Iyengar, who died in 2014, was one of the foremost yoga teachers in the world, and is often called "the father of modern yoga." A Google Doodle celebrated what would have been his 97th birthday. 4 Conor McGregor
1,139,804 
Up from #17 last week. On December 12, at UFC 194 (#12), the Irish MMA star became the UFC Featherweight Champion after knocking out José Aldo in 13 seconds, capping a pretty good last few weeks for his country in combat sports. 5 Adele
863,442 
"Hello, it's Adele, if you're wondering, after nine weeks yes I'm still here." And will no doubt stay in the Top 25 for a bit longer. Up from #15 last week, with over double the views of the prior week, primarily propelled by the American TV special Adele Live in New York City which aired on December 14. 6 Dilwale (2015 film) 
841,772 
This Indian film, including Kajol (pictured) among its starring actors, debuted on December 18. Dilwale grossed around ₹150 crore (US$22 million) worldwide in its opening weekend, the third highest of the year for an Indian film. 7 Martin Shkreli
772,581 On December 17, the then-CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals was arrested by the FBI on charges of securities fraud. The 32-year-old Shkreli was already the prime target for dissatisfaction with corporate greed these days. Shkreli received widespread criticism in September when Turing obtained the manufacturing license for an antiparasitic drug and jacked up the price by over five thousand percent. 8 Daisy Ridley
765,459 
The English actress stars in #1 in the role of Rey. 9 Star Wars (film) 
750,021 
See #1. The first movie in the series, released on May 25, 1977 in only about 30 movie theaters. 10 Donald Trump
720,311 
The improbable U.S. Presidential campaign of Mr. Trump continues. Every Republican party debate generates more attention for him, and he stood center stage again at the last debate on December 15. Trump continues to ride the top of national polls of Republicans by a wide margin, though the fact that the actual party nomination system in the United States is a state-by-state contest and not a national one will now become more of a focus. The Iowa caucus to be held on February 1, 2016 will be first, and not easy for a cult-of-personality candidate to win, followed by the New Hampshire primary on February 8 and South Carolina primary on February 20. If Trump actually does well through those first three contests, the reaction within the party and by the press is going to be something incredible to behold.
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- Just missing the WP:TOP25, four of out five are Star Wars-related: #26 Harrison Ford; #27 Joy (film), #28 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, #29 Darth Vader, and #30 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Wikipedia plagued by a "Basket of Deception"
At Gawker, Ashley Feinberg writes the first in what is hopefully a long-running series called "Wikipedia Watch". The first installment features "The 10 Best Articles Wikipedia Deleted This Week".
For more documentation of the Warren Chaney series of hoaxes (Magic Mansion etc.), see User:Tokyogirl79/Warren_Chaney.
Fraudulent data abounds on Wikipedia articles for southeast Asian football
At Vocativ, Jack Kerr writes "Meet Wikipedia's Soccer Scammers", the latest in a series of articles on various websites he's written about Wikipedia and southeast Asian football. Kerr writes that players from South American countries, primarily Brazil, are obtaining citizenship from East Timor and using that as a way to avoid limits on the number of foreign players in Asian football teams. Kerr notes that information on these players is hard to come by for teams: "In a region where few countries even share the same alphabet, accurate soccer data can be hard to find. Even clubs—which are frequently under-resourced—sometimes have to turn to Wikipedia to find out more about potential signees". Naturally, Wikipedia is an irresistible target for resume inflation, backed up by fraudulent blogs and sockpuppet accounts. Over the years, a number of sockpuppet investigations have resulted in the blocks of numerous accounts. Some of that fake information has made its way into usually reputable sources, such as the Opta Sports database, which was found to contain a fake team logo posted on Wikipedia. (Dec. 25)
In brief
- Fundraising watch: Annalisa Merelli of Quartz writes "You take so much from Wikipedia and it asks for so little in return". (Dec. 28) Nate Swanner of The Next Web declared "I’m donating to Wikipedia this year, and so should you". (Dec. 20)
- Traffic rankings: Search Engine Land reported on the domains that got the most Google visibility in 2015. Wikipedia tops the list with a 5.12% share, but also had the second largest drop of 0.36%. "Wikipedia still dominates by far, even with reports that Wikipedia has taken a dive in the Google search results this year." (Dec. 23)
- Important questions: The New York Observer observes "Someone at Congress Raises Questions About Rudolph’s Existence on Wikipedia". (Dec. 23)
- Cinematic inspiration: Dread Central interviewed David S. Goyer, director of the upcoming horror film The Forest. Goyer said he was inspired after reading the Wikipedia article about the infamous "suicide forest" of Aokigahara. (Dec. 22)
- Data mining: MedCityNews asks "Can data mining improve health information on Wikipedia?" (Dec. 22)
- Historic images: The Press and Journal reports on how Braemar Castle in Scotland is using Wikimedia Commons to disseminate its images and heritage. (Dec. 21)
- Indian ecology: Following government inaction regarding the results of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, The Hindu reports that ecologist Madhav Gadgil is turning to Wikipedia to disseminate the results and potential solutions. (Dec. 21)
Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-12-30/Technology report Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-12-30/Essay Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-12-30/Opinion
WMF Board dismisses community-elected trustee
In an unprecedented move that has sent shockwaves across the movement, the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees voted 8–2 to remove James Heilman (Doc James) from the board effective immediately, citing "serious consideration", but no specific evidence. The resolution was published on the Foundation's wiki, and Heilman was removed from the list of trustees within hours. Fellow community-elected representative Dariusz Jemielniak was the only board member other than Heilman to oppose the motion; notably, the third community-elected trustee, Denny Vrandečić, supported the removal of his colleague. The standard appointment resolution for community-elected trustees includes a clear reference to the possibility of dismissal – in the case of Heilman, his term was "for a term of two years beginning on July 15, 2015, and continuing until September 1, 2017 or until the Board appoints a replacement for that seat, whichever comes first."
The announcement was made on the Wikimedia-l mailing list by chair Patricio Lorente, who said that the board is exploring its options to fill the vacant seat. For his part, Heilman also declined to specify any details about his dismissal, either publicly to the mailing list or in response to Signpost inquiries. Heilman was elected to the board in 2015 for a two-year term.
According to the Board's bylaws, any member may be removed by a majority vote of the trustees at any time, with or without cause. In this case, no explanation has been offered by either the Board or by the WMF’s chief communications officer Katherine Maher, who shared with the Signpost only that to her knowledge this is the first time that the Board has removed a member, while not answering our question as to whether the removal was related to unauthorized disclosure of information.
It is now clear that Heilman had come under pressure from his fellow trustees for some time. He wrote on Jimmy Wales' talkpage:
| “ | Yes I was given the option of resigning over the last few weeks. As a community elected member I see my mandate as coming from the community which elected me and thus declined to do so. I see such a move as letting down those who elected me to do a difficult job. | ” |
Although the Board has promised a statement detailing the reasons for the Heilman dismissal, as of publication none has been released, and the Board is under no legal obligation to provide those reasons. The Signpost understands that Lorente has been negotiating a joint statement with Heilman, but that a result is not imminent.
Jimmy Wales, who holds the founder seat on the Board and supported the motion to remove Heilman, responded to an inquiry on his talk page:
| “ | I couldn't possibly agree more that this should have been announced with a full and clear and transparent and NPOV explanation. Why didn't that happen? Because James chose to post about it before we even concluded the meeting and before we had even begun to discuss what an announcement should say. WMF legal has asked the board to refrain from further comment until they've reviewed what can be said – this is analogous in some ways to personnel issues. Ideally, you would have heard about this a couple of days from now when a mutual statement by James and the board had been agreed. For now, please be patient. Accuracy is critically important here, and to have 9 board members posting their own first impressions would be more likely to give rise to confusions. | ” |
In response to allegations that he was blaming Heilman, Wales replied:
| “ | In what way did I do that? I did not. I merely gave you a very clear, transparent, honest and NPOV explanation of why this was announced in this fashion. We were having a meeting about it, and hadn't begun to discuss how to give the full explanation to the community in fairness to everyone, and James decided to simply announce it without explaining anything. That's just what happened, it's a fact. If you take it as "blaming" him in some way, you are reaching beyond what I said ... He's the one who went public without warning in the middle of the meeting. | ” |
It remains unclear what prompted the meeting, which appears to have been specially called, and whether Heilman had any foreknowledge of the proceedings. Former WMF trustee Phoebe Ayers told the Signpost that the chair, vice chair, or any two trustees can call a meeting pursuant to guidelines on timing and notification in the bylaws, and that votes that are not going to be unanimous are conducted either in person or on the phone for a formal voice vote.
Shortly after the announcement, we spoke by video link with Heilman, who was in a Japanese ski resort, seemingly in good spirits but urgently awaiting a day of downhill skiing after significant overnight snowfalls. He cautioned that he was under an obligation not to speak openly about specifics. Heilman is a known advocate of transparency and openness in Foundation practices. We asked what he sees as his contributions during his short membership of the Board. He replied:
| “ | The most concrete example was my advocacy for the removal of superprotect – collaborating with fellow Wikimedians on that issue has been one of my successes. ... And when I started my position, I found that communication between the staff, the executive, and the Board were not as good as I expected, and the level of secrecy was greater than I expected. I have definitely tried to improve that. ... I believe my actions were always in the best interests of the movement, even though not always perfectly performed. My impression is that it takes all new trustees a while to learn the ways of a board of a large organization. | ” |
Should certain things remain confidential? "Yes, there are definitely certain aspects that need to be kept confidential, but this should not extend to the overarching strategy at the WMF. In a movement like ours these discussions need to be public." Does he think voters were attracted by his achievements in medical content on WMF sites? "Yes, but more than that, I believe I have a good understanding of large parts of the movement; I share its values; and I'm outspoken. I think many voters probably expected that I'd say and do what I've done."
Reaction
There was immediate reaction to the announcement on the Wikimedia-l mailing list, on Wikipedia, and in third-party forums, including the Wikipedia Weekly Facebook Group.
Pete Forsyth, who was briefly a candidate for the WMF Board in 2015 before withdrawing and ultimately endorsing each of the three community-elected representatives, expressed grave concern at the Board’s decision. He wrote on the mailing list: "With this action, eight Trustees with little accountability overruled several hundred volunteers and another Trustee who literally earned the most support votes of any Trustee in the organization's history."
He went on to tell the Signpost:
| “ | There are a great many unanswered questions in this situation; those of us who care about the Wikimedia Foundation should be open to reassessing how effectively every member of the board, up until and including yesterday's vote, has upheld that duty ... There is no small irony in this incident happening [close to] the expiration of the five year strategic plan developed in 2010, at a cost of about 5 to 10% of the organization's budget at that time, with the input of 1,000 stakeholders. ... In my view, Trustees elected by the community do indeed have a duty to maintain lines of communication, and to inform the community of important events. That duty is secondary to their duty to the organization, but it is still of vital importance. | ” |
This raises an issue that commonly leads to tension where the boards of corporations, non-profits, and public entities include elected stakeholder seats. It is typical for board members to be required to sign a pledge of personal commitment, and this is the case for all WMF trustees. That can leave elected representatives of stakeholder groups who elected them in a difficult position: should they consult with their constituents when there's a risk it might be seen as breaching confidentiality? (Editor's note: the original version of this story stated that board members were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.)
Several commenters on Facebook were more outspoken, including statements such as: "I am very unhappy with the board's weak statement and the fact that this was opposed by ⅔ of the elected members of the board. It sounds like this was a purging of community voices that disagreed with the majority or in West Coast newspeak 'culture fit'. This is why appointing a majority of the board is a mistake."
Within a day of the Board's action, a page was set up on Meta entitled WMF Transparency Gap, with several WMF accounts among the contributors. The brief page points readers to the talkpage for "developing topics", and links to a WMF Board resolution in 2013 on transparency. The Signpost understands that muted reports of staff discontent within the organization have been circulating, although the matters at issue are unclear. Former trustee Samuel Klein told the Signpost: "A discussion in detail with interested staff would not be a bad idea."
This story has been characterised more by what we do not know than what we do. A fast-moving situation is likely to remain in high profile for some time, with broad and far-reaching ramifications for the movement in terms of organizational process, transparency, and community relations.
Brief notes
- New administrators: The Signpost welcomes the English Wikipedia's newest administrators, BethNaught and 78.26.
Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-12-30/Serendipity
Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-12-30/Op-ed
Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-12-30/In focus
Second Arbitration Enforcement case concludes as another case is suspended
For the last Arbitration Report of 2015, we have the Arbitration enforcement 2 case closed. Meanwhile, the Kevin Gorman case has been suspended.
Arbitration Enforcement 2 case closes
On 25 December, Arbitration enforcement 2 concluded. The Committee affirmed that restrictions were made to Eric Corbett during the Interactions at GGTF case and that he has been blocked multiple times for violating those restrictions. The Atlantic article that focused on, in part, the Lightbreather case prompted a discussion on Jimbo Wales' talk page. Corbett participated in that discussion and posted comments "which could be reasonably construed as violating his topic ban". As a result, administrator Kirill Lokshin blocked Corbett for a month. Yngvadottir unblocked Corbett and was desysopped because that action "violated the standard procedure for appeals and modifications of sanctions". The filing party of the case, Black Kite, was found to have "cast aspersions against, and made personal attacks on other users" after Corbett's block, and another named party, Giano, was also found to have "repeatedly cast aspersions against, and made personal attacks on editors and administrators involved in enforcing Eric's restrictions".
The remedies of the case confirm Eric Corbett's sanctions imposed as a result of the GGTF case, "but mandates that all enforcement requests relating to them be filed at arbitration enforcement and be kept open for at least 24 hours." Black Kite was also admonished for their actions, though Black Kite is currently retired. And for the last remedy:
- In brief
- Kevin Gorman case suspended: The Arbitration Committee voted 7–0 to suspend the Kevin Gorman case. The suspension will be from 22 December 2015 to 2 January 2016.
- Nadirali's topic ban is suspended: A 7-0 motion by the Committee at Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Clarification and Amendment was made to have Nadirali's topic ban from "India, Pakistan and Afghanistan broadly construed", which was part of their unban conditions, be suspended for one year.
- Rich Farmbrough case amended: A motion by the Committee on 27 December was made to have remedy 2 of Rich Farmbrough's restrictions, which prohibited him from using automation, "not apply in Rich Farmbrough's user space, his user talk space, or any subpage of Wikipedia:Database reports."
- Soap desysopped and banned: On 30 December, for off-wiki harassment, Soap had their admin rights removed and was indefinitely banned from the English Wikipedia.
- Checkuser and oversight permissions restored: On 30 December, DoRD had their CheckUser and Oversighter statuses re-granted after resigning earlier this year.
Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-12-30/Humour