Wilson Lau New Media

The page in wikipedia on which I have worked on is  Religion in Hong Kong, Buddhism and Taoism.  I have beefed up the part on Buddhism and activities organized by Buddhists’ associations in Hong Kong. I have also updated the information with the new “Buddhism- themed” tourist attraction Ngong Ping 360 Skyrail Cable Car on Lantau Island and incorporated it into the original paragraph on Po Lin Monastery. Hyperlinks to websites on the Skyrail and some spots of interest to tourists have been added.

Like the Anglican (Protestant) and Catholic churches in the city, Buddhists’ associations and temples have long been involved in the social welfare of the city. The Buddhists’ associations have been actively promoting “harmony” in the society – an essential Buddhist value often advocated by the former chief executive Tung Chee Wah and Mr Donald Tsang, the present chief executive. I have cited examples of schools, elderly homes and centres for local youth and children and provided the links to individual organizations’ websites. They are in the third paragraph of the entry.

In the fourth and fifth paragraphs, I have highlighted some of the changes that Buddhists’ organizations have undergone since the handover of the city’s sovereignty back to China in 1997. For example, prominent figures of the local Buddhists’ associations have become more open in discussing politics in public, even openly endorsing the re-election of the SAR chief executive.

In the last paragraph, I have highlighted the fact the two of the most important education institutes in Hong Kong – the Hong Kong University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, have established research centres devoted to the religion. Not only do these centres help develop more systematic study of the religion, they also help connect local Buddhist scholars with those in the rest of the world, particularly mainland China. I have included the links to the websites to the centres.

Is it Journalism?   

Contributing to, editing and correcting wikipedia’s entries share some similarities with journalism. To start with, they are both about finding the truth of some issues, events and individuals. They are both about publication of information and individual’s urge to share it, thus keeping other people informed of issues, events and individuals that matter to them. Both give voice to those who care.

Another important similarity is the emphasis on verifiability of published information. Good journalism should provide information that has been and can be verified, partly for the accuracy and partly for the reason that if other people would like to pursue the subject further, they can do so with the verified facts. Wikipedia’s content are required to be verifiable.

Perhaps this is the reason that the article “Courts turn to wikipedia, but selectively” said that more courts acknowledge the accuracy of entries in wikipedia and use them for “soft facts” so that people can better appreciate the context of cases.

Apart from verifiability, the other two wikipedia’s content policies are “no original research” and “neutral point of view”. They emphasize citing reliable sources and neutrality in information. I believe these are also what good journalism is about.

Wikipedia is about peer production, according to an article “Getting rich off those who work for free” by Justin Fox in Time magazine, March 5, 2007. Wikipedia is a good example of bringing together dispersed information and provides access to information that might otherwise be inaccessible to many people. Maybe another similarity is that wikipedia relies on many people who are willing to work for free and in a funny way, journalists also do. As Mr Fox said, journalists interview people who are not paid for their information or comments.