Wikipedia:PR Professionals & Editing

• Editors should create an account on Wikipedia. This links all edits that you make to an account and prevents your IP address from being posted publicly on the website.
• On your user page you should disclose any conflict of interest that you might have. This could include where you work or potentially the clients that you work with.
• Avoid editing pages that are relevant to any conflict of interest that you have.
• If you have an issue with a page that you have a conflict of interest with then you should go onto the talk page and engage with other users about the issues.

For futher information on Conflict of Interest Editing see Conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia

Corporate Representatives for Ethical Wikipedia Engagement (CREWE) group is a group of PR Professionals and Wikipedia editors that are working together to improve the relationship between PR firms and Wikipedia. If you would like to join the conversation join the group on Facebook.

File:Wiki pr infographic.jpg

For more information go to the Corporate Representatives for Ethical Wikipedia Engagement

File:Jimmy-wales-frankfurt2005-alih01.jpg

In December 2005, it was noticed that Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales had edited his own Wikipedia entry. According to public logs, he has edited his biography 19 times,https://tools.wmflabs.org/xtools/pcount/index.php?name=Jimbo+Wales&lang=en&wiki=wikipedia as of September 9, 2013, seven times altering information about whether Larry Sanger was a co-founder of Wikipedia. It was also revealed that Wales had edited the Wikipedia article of his former company, Bomis. "Bomis Babes", a section of the Bomis website, had been characterized in the article as "soft-core pornography," but Wales revised this to "adult content section" and deleted mentions of pornography. He said he was fixing an error, and didn't agree with calling Bomis Babes soft porn. Wales conceded that he had made the changes, but maintained that they were technical corrections.{{cite news|author=Evan Hansen|url=http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/12/69880|title=Wikipedia Founder Edits Own Bio|work=Wired|date=19 December 2005}}

{{main|US Congressional staff edits to Wikipedia}}

In 2006, it was discovered that more than 1,000 changes had been made to Wikipedia articles originating from United States government IP addresses. Changes had been made to articles about Representative Marty Meehan,

{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2006/feb/12/news/adna-wikipedia12|title=Wikipedia Objects to Editing for Political Incorrectness| work=Los Angeles Times|date=12 February 2006|first=Yuki|last=Noguchi}}

• {{cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20060202095103/http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_3444567|title=Rewriting history under the dome|work=Lowell Sun|first=Evan|last=Lehmann|date=27 January 2006}} Senator Tom Coburn, Senator Norm Coleman,{{cite news|url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article728983.ece|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20110611161915/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article728983.ece|archivedate=11 June 2011|title=Washington's politicians edit Wikipedia|work=The Times|author=Rhys Blakely|date=9 February 2006}} Representative Gil Gutknecht, Senator Joe Biden,{{cite web|url=http://www.startribune.com/587/story/618899.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060821024133/http://www.startribune.com/587/story/618899.html|archivedate=2006-08-21|title=Gutknecht joins Wikipedia tweakers|work=Star Tribune|date=18 August 2006}} Senator Conrad Burns,{{cite web|url=http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/article_2b39cf61-340f-5f5b-9933-3e09f3e2de84.html|title=Burns' office may have tampered with Wikipedia entry|work=The Bozeman Daily Chronicle|date=8 February 2006|accessdate=2012-03-14}} Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Tom Harkin, Representative David Davis, Tennessee state representative Matthew Hill{{cite web|last=Humphrey|first=Tom|url=http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/aug/11/entries-on-wikipedia-edited-bydavis-aide/|title=Entries on Wikipedia edited by Davis aide|work=Knoxville News Sentinel|date=11 August 2007|accessdate=2012-03-14}}{{cite web|last=Collins|first=Michael|url=http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/aug/15/lawmakers-office-awaits-panels-verdict-on-aides/|title=Lawmaker's office awaits panel's verdict on aide's act|work=Knoxville News Sentinel|date=15 August 2007|accessdate=2012-03-14}} and Representative Mike Pence.{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/18/mike-pences-wikipedia_n_930645.html|title=Did Mike Pence's Office Edit His Wikipedia Page To Make It More Flattering?|work=The Huffington Post|date=18 August 2011|first=Zach|last=Carter}} The edits removed accurate but critical information and embellished positive descriptions.{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/08/AR2006020802212.html|title=Wikipedia's Help From the Hill|work=The Washington Post|date=9 February 2006|first=Yuki|last=Noguchi}} In response to the controversy, certain affected IP addresses were temporarily blocked.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailytech.com/Wikipedia+Now+Blocking+US+Congress+From+Making+Edits/article536.htm|title=Wikipedia Now Blocking US Congress From Making Edits|work=DailyTech|date=30 January 2006|accessdate=2012-03-14}}
• {{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/United_States_Congress|title=Wikipedia:Requests for comment/United States Congress|publisher=En.wikipedia.org|accessdate=2012-03-14}}

Later, in 2011, conflicted edits were also made to US Congressional representative David Rivera's article.{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/52705.html|title=Rep. David Rivera's war with Wikipedia|author=Marin Cogan|work=Politico|date=7 April 2011}}

{{Main|Wiki-PR editing of Wikipedia}}

In 2012, Wikipedia launched possibly one of the largest sock puppets investigations in its history after editors on its website reported suspicious activity suggesting a number of accounts were used to subvert Wikipedia's policies. After almost a year of investigation, over 250 sockpuppet accounts were allegedly found, operated by two independent networks of users. Wikipedia traced the edits and sockpuppetry back to a firm known as Wiki-PR, leading to a cease and desist letter by Sue Gardner issued to the founders of the organization.{{cite news|last=Owens|first=Simon|title=The battle to destroy Wikipedia's biggest sockpuppet army |url=http://www.dailydot.com/lifestyle/wikipedia-sockpuppet-investigation-largest-network-history-wiki-pr/ |accessdate=2013-10-20 |newspaper=The Daily Dot |date=2013-10-08}} The accounts were banned. On October 25, 2013, a community ban was further placed on Wiki-PR and any of its contractors.

For more examples see the Conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia.

• Wikipedia:For publicists publicizing a client's work
• Wikipedia:Public relations and marketing, rather blunt advice to just not try marketing here

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