My comments are geared toward the current Wikimedia model of the way Wikipedia, Wikinews and Wikimedia Commons function together, albeit dysfunctionally.

In a prior article I argued that Wikipedia suffers when it ignores Wikinews and writes new articles that are not properly suited for the “encyclopedia.” In this article I argue that the Wikinews model itself is unworkable because it is too limited in scope.

The crux of the prior article was that there is a need for original research to be conducted by Wikimedians, for use on Wikipedia. I gave the example of a notable individual whose last name we had wrong but was cited, who had supplied three levels of identification to us, only to find arguments that the man’s own birth certificate could not be used as “original research” (even though we had an image of it that I took).

Equally problematic is the limited scope of Wikinews. It is hobbled by some of its editors use of the NPOV policy to cripple the site’s material to what you find there today. In reality, Wikinews should not attempt to be a wire service, but a news magazine. An NPOV policy is only applicable in that it needs an editorial staff, and there should be no problem with creating one. Wikipedia creates these governance systems all the time to review Biography of Living Person issues, Arbitration issues, Conflict of Interest issues. It is only logical that Wikinews create an editorial system.

This system would oversee a Wikinews that combines National Geographic (Wikipedians travel), People Magazine (already present), Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, CNN and Politico.

The second tranche of Wikinews would be the original research articles, some which may only be suitable for Wikipedia (such as a celebrity’s correct name), and some which might be fascinating publishing for the Wikinews site. That system, as I advocated previously, would have Wikipedia editors conducting research for topics they are most interested in. Conduct an interview with Matt Groening to clear up a Simpsons-related issue. Or submit a thesis paper you wrote for review for possible use. Let the community decide. We have certainly proved ourselves capable.

The third tranche would be to move the Wikipedia Signpost over to Wikinews. The Signpost, which reports about news on Wikipedia, belongs on the news site. I have long advocated for Wikinews to become the primary news source for Wikimedia news, both Foundational and project. It perplexes me this is not a no-brainer; it was actually met with resistance.

Because of the limited Wikinews model, few find it interesting to work on or feel the traffic too small compared with when they wrote on Wikipedia. This will never change until the community changes, on both sites. Commons will continue to serve as the photojournalism arm of the entire machine.

It’s such a more dynamic, exciting and inspiring vision, that it perplexes me why it is not immediately undertaken with broad support.  Otherwise, citizen journalism is just not going to work for Wikimedia.  The New York Times will prove prophetic.

I had an interesting morning yesterday, as giants from various worlds met in an Upper East Side apartment for breakfast….

Nily Oz and Amos Oz

Salman Rushdie, Israeli President Shimon Peres and David Shankbone

Paul Auster, Salman Rushdie and David Shankbone

With Ed Koch

I’m sick today, but I crawled out of bed to get these photographs of Donald Trump and David Blaine at Trump Tower announcing Blaine’s next public feat:  spending sixty hours suspended upside down.  Trump is helping to finance the project, making it free for the public.

Starting on September 22, Blaine will hang upside down for 60 hours over New York’s Central Park – with no safety net, at the risk of going blind, according to Massimo Napolitano, chief of vascular surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey

To see more photos, click here.

A few photos from yesterday’s Brooklyn Book Festival.

Ian MacKaye

Joan Didion

Jonathan Franzen

Naomi Wolf

Thurston Moore

I have to say, this was my first Fashion Week and as a complete newbie to fashion week photography, I had no idea how things operate.  Very differently than film festivals.  Tonight is my last night; I don’t enjoy the type of photography one is reduced to at Fashion Week.  Things would be helped considerably if they had a red carpet area for entrances and exits to the shows.  The celebrities all arrive at the same place by car, but there is nothing set up; no lighting, no backdrop.

So, end of project, although not end of MBF Week.  Interesting learning experience.

Click the photo to see this person’s Wikipedia article.

Click on the photo to see where they have been placed on Wikipedia.

When Time Magazine named Evan Wolfson as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, it was for making an impossible idea—marriage for gay people—conceivable.  Wolfson is the Martin Luther King Jr. of the modern fight for the marriage right.  There is no state or legal battle that does not involve Wolfson’s work, either directly or through his unavoidable precedents.

Wolfson’s organization, Freedom to Marry, is completely geared up to fight the bigots who are trying to overturn California’s marriage law.  They need your donations.  Now.

So Mr. Wolfson, one of the most influential people in the world, I have five questions for you:

A. Israeli — though it would be wonderful to have European citizenship, too

A. Yes, in college I worked to become Speaker of the Political Union.  I was proud to be elected, did some great projects with close friends (who remain friends to this day), and enjoyed serving.  But I remember the feeling of discovery that far from being the pinnacle I had imagined, the actual office meant less to me than the experience and friendships themselves.

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR PEOPLE – A SERIES

• JIMMY WALES – Citizen of the world, sage to millions of editors of Wikipedia, which he founded…I have five questions for you.
• BILLY NAME – Famous Warhol live-in photographer; silverized the Factory; shot the cover of the Velvet Underground’s eponymous album; iconic portraits of Lou Reed and Edie Sedgwick…I have five questions for you.

One of my favorite readers, Kelly P. from Austin, Texas, had for the first time in her life a brush with death.  Kelly and I usually correspond via e-mail and the phone, and she agreed I could post this recent trauma in her own words.  Kelly is an amazingly gifted writer, a former journalist, but she also knows the art of the turn of the phrase.

I wrote her about a major problem I experienced this weekend.  Her response is a must read:

Don’t worry, though. You could have almost died, like I did Sunday in a horrible car wreck that totaled my Volvo. That car saved my life.

I ran a stop sign accidentally at 45 mph and was T-boned by an oncoming car. The car missed hitting my door by a few inches, hitting the front panel and wheel-well instead, shattering windows and completely bending the wheel out and around.

The airbags deployed and I was knocked unconscious for a few seconds. I came to and climbed out of the car, my white shirt covered in blood from a head gash. My glasses flew off my face on impact and were later found by a sheriff’s deputy, lying in the rubble of swept glass.

I got a concussion and needed a few staples in my head but otherwise, I’m OK. Needless to say, I’m shopping Craigslist for a new Volvo.

So funny, but those things really do put life in perspective. I needed it, too. I’ve been in such a state of mental confusion and ennui since 2008 began (since the break-up) and now I’ll, like, eat a popsicle and be overwhelmed by the “magic” of it. Or I’ll kiss someone and it’ll feel like the first time, even though Sade says, “It’s never as good as the first time.” OMG, I’ve had my reset button pushed!

I made the irritating mistake of cutting off their feet, but here is an homage to the film Priscilla, Queen of the Dessert on Fire Island, and found on the Priscilla article:

UPDATE: Guess who is the celebrity in this overexposed portrait, and win a $50.00 Amazon gift card.

She is one of those stars that has staying power, and she is so overexposed:


Bleach Portrait of Leighton Meester, 2008.

Star of Gossip Girl.  There were rumors she was not going to show up for the premiere of (Click the photo to see her Wikipedia portrait taken just moments after this one, with the same camera settings).

Bleach portraits are rare.  They are often discarded by professional photographers as unusuable.  They occur at an instant when so many flashbulbs go off at once, the subject becomes bleached-out.  It is not Photoshop, it is not a camera setting.  It’s a moment, and often a significant one in the life of the subject.

You can, naturally, replicate the effect easily with any photo; but for it to be a true bleach portrait, it must occur naturally in the wild.  Also called the red carpet.

Click on Leighton’s bleach portrait above to see her Wikipedia portrait, taken just seconds after this shot, with all the same settings.

At the very photo you see here and on her Wikipedia page, Leighton was told to “grow up” by Page Six because she threw a tantrum (so, you Wikipedios who think what I do is easy…it’s not):

April 27, 2008 — LEIGHTON Meester needs to learn that when you promote your movie, you have to actually cooperate with the media. The “Gossip Girl” star was on the red carpet for “Killer Movie” at the Tribeca Film Festival Thursday night when she threw a fit be cause the photos and inter views were taking too long. “There were about 45 photog raphers there, and she missed a few and had to go back, so she started stomping her feet and whining, ‘No, I already did these!’ ” said our spy. “She went back, but she was not happy.”

Yes, I, like everyone else, has to deal with this shit.  You guys see the photos; you don’t see what goes into them, and it can be harrowing.

To learn more about bleach portraits, click on the overexposed people below.

Overexposed: Bleach Portraits
(click above for a complete list)

• Al Santos
• Bebe Buell
• Steve Martin

*All information regarding Leighton Meester’s past comes from her Wikipedia article; should it be inaccurate, feel free to let me know and I will see if there is something I can do to fix it.