Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free-content online encyclopedia established by Jimbo Wales and Larry Sangers on January 15, 2001. It currently has over 6 million articles, written in 250 languages[1] on various topics, including over 1,600,000 articles in the English version. Like Conservapedia, it is a wiki that is written and edited by its users. Under its GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), anyone can add to or edit the content on Wikipedia.
Initially, Wikipedia was hosted on servers operated by Bomis Incorporated, a pornographic search engine funded by Jimbo Wales. Then in 2003, Jimbo Wales created the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation with himself as board president, to oversee the day-to-day operation of Wikipedia.
Essjay Scandal
In February 2007, Wikipedia critic Daniel Brandt discovered that a prominent Wikipedia administrator, bureaucrat and arbitrator nicknamed Essjay has lied on Wikipedia and in phone interviews with the New Yorkers magazine about his age, job, activities, background, and academic credentials[2]. Essjay, who later identified himself as Ryan Jordan and who was an employee at Wikia Inc. funded by Jimbo Wales, had claimed to be a 40 year old homosexual, holding doctoral degrees in theology and canon law and is a tenured professor at a private university; but he was in fact a 20 years old community college dropout from Kentucky. The fraud was reported by ABC, BBC and many other major news organizations.
Wikipedia and Bias
Wikipedia has been accused by the American Public at large in numerous news articles, talk shows, and forums of containing biased and inaccurate entries, including the concept of "Wikiality". The article detailing confirmed incidents of liberal bias is found here: Examples of Bias in Wikipedia.
