Zambia: When Wikipedia Entry “Kills” a President

出自Taipedia

原文標題：Zambia: When Wikipedia Entry “Kills” a President
中文標題：尚比亞:當維基百科條目「處死」總統
原文作者：Gershom Ndhlovu
譯者：User:Chun ru ko
校對：User:校對者用戶名

在2012年一月22日的早晨，尚比亞人一起床就面對州政府駁斥新聞網頁散佈麥可薩塔(Michael Sata)總統被暗殺的言論。看樣子，此時許多尚比亞人都還沒看到一般新聞網頁上的任何故事。

州政府發布否認總統已被暗殺的公告。部分公告言論由薩塔總統的發言人喬治切拉(George Chellah)發布，他說:

州政府為惡意、殘酷而無稽的故事感到憂愁，這故事竟然傳播麥可薩塔總統閣下已經身亡。此故事來自於名為粗俗(uncouth)的網頁上一則無同理心又令人厭惡作噁的文章，宣稱國家首領在今天2012年一月22日前幾個小時被暗殺... 事實上，州政府注意到如此令人悚然的故事是由特定的無賴分子們造謠，他們多數在進行中的反貪污改革中被調查出有重大的瀆職和腐敗行為。此只比他出現於謠言起源於維基關於麥可薩塔發布資深政治人物的訃聞條目 It was only later that it emerged that the rumour stemmed from a Wikipedia entry about Michael Sata giving an obituary of the veteran politician, in office for four months after the September 20 elections which saw the defeat of the MMD, in government for 20 years since 1991.

雖然維基百科在理解到這是騙局時就立即移除此條目，WiredProject316已捕捉下這段文字:

	麥可薩塔在一月22日前幾個小時內被暗殺。他被一擊遭證實致命的子彈射過胸部...

「」謠言的背後推手所在地已被揭露: 這個變動似乎是由使用IP位置82.11.64.177的不知名者，在英國科勞力鎮(Crawley)透過由Virgin Media為網路提供者的網域 virginmedia.com所為。錯誤的更改透過數位用戶線路(DSL)或數位用戶迴路 The falsified alteration was sent through a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or Digital Subscriber Loop – a family of technologies that provide internet access by transmitting digital data over the wires of a local telephone network.

The coordinates for the altered post appeared to be 51°6’48″N -0°10’58″W while the weather station code for the alter was UKXX0816, signifying that it was done in the England region of the UK.

Suspicion soon fell on the Zambian Watchdog, which has been at loggerheads with President Sata since his days as an opposition leader. The site has been alleged to be linked to opposition United Party for National Development Party (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema. Hichilema himself denied the allegations of his links to the website on a blogtalkradio show.

The Zambian Watchdog, however, hit back when it turned out that the source of the assassination hoax was in fact Wikipedia:

Front page of The Post, Zambia's leading independent newspaper. Image courtesy of @luchi7 Obviously enemies of online media and particularly the Watchdog are disappointed that the story that President Michael Sata has been assassinated was not carried by any Zambian website.

On Sunday, someone, maybe a government operative, altered Sata’s biography on Wikipedia and entered new information that he died on Sunday after taking a single but fatal shot.

Now, Wikipedia is not a Zambian online publication. It is not even a news website.

It is an information website that anyone can edit and post whatever information they want.

The website is hosted in USA but can be edited even from Lundazi (a rural district in eastern Zambia).

President Sata’s spokesperson, George Chellah, has come under fire from a Zambian journalist based in the US, Field Ruwe, who has been writing a series of artices titled “Hunt for a Successor”. Field Ruwe has called for Chellah's dismissal for committing what he called “one of journalism’s deadliest sins”:

President Sata must fire his special assistant for press and public relations George Chellah for committing one of journalism’s deadliest sins—drawing from an unreliable source. Wikipedia is not a credible and authoritative source! Chellah should acquaint himself with the Seigenthaler Incident also referred to as the Wikipedia Biography Incident.

Ruwe continued:

The job of special assistant demands a qualified, proficient and skillful operative who plays a major role in bringing notability and decorum to the office of the president. He is a liaison between the government, the public, and the media. Major requirements of a special assistant include the ability to perform extensive research and maintain poise in high-stress environments. The president should have shopped better. The whole assassination prank does not make sense. When the news came to Chellah’s attention he should have first weighed the gravity of the matter. Before briefing the president and informing the press, he should have checked with Reuters, AP (Associated Press), UPI (United Press International), and couriers BBC and CNN to see if anyone was carrying the story. At the same time he should have kept his ear to the ground for any reaction from the Zambian people.

President Sata recently ordered his government’s Attorney General to have all Zambian “based” news websites registered but it is not known how far the exercise has gone. The former Minister of of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism Given Lubinda once challenged news websites to disclose their physical location. 麥可薩塔的死亡謠言在去年選戰期間猖獗。 Rumors of Michael Sata's death were rampant during last year's election campaigns. 2月 01, 2012