Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2016-04-01/In the media

{{signpost filler image|image=File:SPS1905-1910.jpg|caption=Saskatoon Police Service in 1910}}

CBC News [http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/saskatoon-police-starlight-tours-wikipedia-delete-1.3512586 reports] (March 31) that someone using a Saskatoon police computer blanked information on the infamous "starlight tours" from the article on the Saskatoon Police Service. The "starlight tours" involved "police taking aboriginal men and women to the edge of the city in the winter and abandoning them". The practice has been linked to several deaths; a report published in 2004 after a government inquiry advocated adding aboriginal officers to the force.

The deletions (e.g. [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saskatoon_Police_Service&diff=prev&oldid=585623837], [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saskatoon_Police_Service&diff=prev&oldid=585623837], [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saskatoon_Police_Service&diff=479141501&oldid=479141292]) were spotted by university student Addison Herman:

{{signpost inline quote|The deletion came to light when Herman started to research the Saskatoon police as part of a history class.

He went to the Wikipedia page on the Saskatoon Police Service.

"I noticed there was no section on the starlight tours. So I looked in the article history and there was an IP address that took it off the page," he said in an interview.

"I looked at the info for the registration on the IP address, and that IP address pretty much is registered to Saskatoon Police Service, which means that a computer from their office went on Wikipedia and took it off."

And it happened more than once. The section was deleted, added back and then deleted again between 2012 and 2013.}}

A Saskatoon police spokeswoman confirmed deletions were made from one of their computers, but said it would be impossible to identify the person who made the edits, as server logs are only kept for 30 days. The story has also been [http://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/police-accused-of-deleting-starlight-tours-section-from-wikipedia-page-1.2840924 picked up] by CTV News.

{{Signpost brief filler image|image=File:National Assembly Building (19898889148).jpg|size=300px|caption=The Angola Wikipedia Zero story has remained in the news.}}

• Best deleted articles: Gawker{{'}}s Ashley Feinberg has [http://gawker.com/the-best-articles-wikipedia-deleted-this-week-1768013198 another round-up] of "the best articles Wikipedia deleted this week". (March 31)
• Gender gap: The [http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/wikipedia-edit-a-thon-women-artists_uk_56fd0dcde4b069ef5bffee61 Huffington Post] and [http://verilymag.com/2016/03/female-scientists-wikipedia-stem-feminism-emily-temple-woods-news-2903 Verily Magazine] cover the gender gap. (March 29, 31)
• Wikipedia editing replaces "unappealing essays": Times Higher Education [https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/exam-by-wikipedia-replaces-increasingly-unappealing-essays reports] on University of Sydney assessments asking students to edit and write Wikipedia articles. (March 31)
• Mustaine: Loudwire has the second [http://loudwire.com/dave-mustaine-plays-wikipedia-fact-or-fiction-part-2/ second installment] of its Dave Mustaine interview. (March 30)
• Angola: The Angola Wikipedia Zero story (see detailed report in last week's "In the media") has attracted further coverage in [http://www.forbes.com/sites/tobyshapshak/2016/03/30/african-ingenuity-hacks-free-facebook-and-wikipedia-services-to-share-videos/#59d364fa463a Forbes], [http://www.techtimes.com/articles/144825/20160329/facebook-and-wikipedia-turning-into-file-sharing-paradise-in-angola-heres-whats-happening.htm Tech Times], [http://www.pcmag.com/news/343248/free-web-services-foster-piracy-in-angola PC Magazine], [http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/facebook-free-basics-and-wikipedia-zero-used-to-set-up-clandestine-file-sharing-network-306055.html Firstpost] and [http://www.engadget.com/2016/03/27/piracy-on-free-internet-services/ Engadget]. (March 27–30)