Biased Sources Dictated by Biased Editors Mean Biased Articles

A new article is out in the Jewish Journal by the great Aaron Bandler on an issue that we've described several times in the past: how sources on Wikipedia are skewed against Israel. The article can be found here. 

In what world are Al Jazeera, MSNBC and Mother Jones considered reliable sources but Fox News, The New York Post and Daily Mail are not? Answer: Wikipedia, where editors can only summarize what reliable sources say …  or at least sources that Wikipedia editors have determined to be reliable.

How do the sources get skewed? It comes down to numbers, as we've said many times. The Wikipedia Flood has the numbers. Aaron also makes an important point, which is that bad sourcing leads to still more bad sourcing. Sources that are anti-Israel are used as justification for giving a blessing to the use of even worse sources. It's a kind of closed loop of bad sourcing.

But even there, it comes down to numbers and to the aggressive tactics the pro-Hamas editors use to get their way: bullying other editors, brazenly organizing offsite, and seeking to have the "enemy" tossed out of the subject area. 

One editor told me they’re optimistic that “over time pro-Hamas sources will be downgraded … Unfortunately I think all the scare tactics and firing squad tactics have made pro-Israel editors afraid to opine.”

Yet again, it comes back to numbers.