Changes

* [[Liberal]] icon [[Bertrand Russell]] receives glowing adoration on Wikipedia; it is only after about 7,700 words about him that Wikipedia finally mentions Russell's support of the [[communist revolution]] (but pretends that Russell quickly opposed it). <ref name="wikibias" />

* [[Liberal]] icon [[Bertrand Russell]] receives glowing adoration on Wikipedia; it is only after about 7,700 words about him that Wikipedia finally mentions Russell's support of the [[communist revolution]] (but pretends that Russell quickly opposed it). <ref name="wikibias" />

It is understood in newspaper editing that the number of people who read a comment is proportional to its proximity to the beginning of the article.  Moreover, readers expect the more important information to be first, and place more emphasis on the top part of an article.  As an example of how this can be manipulated, Wikipedia's entry on former liberal Vice President [[Al Gore]] contains no mention of the drug charges against his son. But Wikipedia's entry on conservative Vice President [[Dick Cheney]] prominently mentions his adult daughter's sexuality.<ref name="wikibias" /> The same effect can be seen in the [[Jimmy Swaggart]] article; also in disputes on the talk page of Wikipedia's [[Barney Frank]] article concerning what details deserve mention in the introduction.<ref>See http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Barney_Frank&oldid=291734546.</ref> Similarly, in the entry on Barack Obama on [[Conservapedia]] the prominent placing of the long section "[[Barack Hussein Obama#Obama is likely the first Muslim President|Obama is likely the first Muslim President]]" might be seen by some as placement bias.

It is understood in newspaper editing that the number of people who read a comment is proportional to its proximity to the beginning of the article.  Moreover, readers expect the more important information to be first, and place more emphasis on the top part of an article.  As an example of how this can be manipulated, Wikipedia's entry on former liberal Vice President [[Al Gore]] contains no mention of the drug charges against his son. But Wikipedia's entry on conservative Vice President [[Dick Cheney]] prominently mentions his adult daughter's sexuality.<ref name="wikibias" /> The same effect can be seen in the [[Jimmy Swaggart]] article; also in disputes on the talk page of Wikipedia's [[Barney Frank]] article concerning what details deserve mention in the introduction.<ref>See http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Barney_Frank&oldid=291734546.</ref>  

 

On [[Wikipedia]], placement bias is taken one step further by downplaying facts unfavorable to [[liberals]] by placing them in entirely different, and less-visited, entries. For example, the drug charges against Albert Gore III were mentioned in the rarely-viewed Wikipedia entry "Al Gore III" -- but that entry has now been deleted.<ref>See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Al_Gore_III_(8th_nomination).</ref>

On [[Wikipedia]], placement bias is taken one step further by downplaying facts unfavorable to [[liberals]] by placing them in entirely different, and less-visited, entries. For example, the drug charges against Albert Gore III were mentioned in the rarely-viewed Wikipedia entry "Al Gore III" -- but that entry has now been deleted.<ref>See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Al_Gore_III_(8th_nomination).</ref>