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Wikipedia

A place to debate issues or to rant about what's on your mind. In addition to discussions about historical fiction, books, the publishing industry, and history, discussions about current political, social, and religious issues and other topics are allowed, so those who are easily offended by certain topics may want to avoid such threads. Members are expected to keep the discussions friendly and polite and to avoid personal attacks on other members. The moderators reserve the right to shut down a thread without warning if they believe it necessary.
Helen_Davis

Post by Helen_Davis » Sat August 24th, 2013, 7:29 pm

As a scholar of Eva Peron, I will say the wiki article on her is so biased in her favor it embarrasses me. Evita was certainly not the monster she has been portrayed as, but she DID have fascist ties, she DID behave like a prostitute when she was younger, and the saint myth of her life discredits her just as much as the darker myth.

Wikipedia is supposed to be neutral but it's not. I am embarrassed at the political biases about both modern leaders and historical figures.

I would consider it good for looking up stuff on science or pop culture, but for serious stuff look elsewhere. Anywhere else.

Just my two cents.

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Madeleine
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Post by Madeleine » Sun August 25th, 2013, 11:08 am

I agree Helen, it's a good starting point but I'd always double check anything I look up, and they do have useful links.
Currently reading "The Whitstable Pearl Mystery" by Julie Wassmer

Helen_Davis

Post by Helen_Davis » Sun August 25th, 2013, 10:32 pm

[quote=""Madeleine""]I agree Helen, it's a good starting point but I'd always double check anything I look up, and they do have useful links.[/quote]

Sometimes I do go for the links. I'm reading a bit about Angela Merkel and the links on the page about her were helpful. I seem to remember once Michelle Moran tried to correct the page on Cleopatra Selene but it reverted to inaccurate information soon after she did so.

But please. Avoid the Eva Peron wiki at all costs.

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DianeL
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Post by DianeL » Sun August 25th, 2013, 10:51 pm

I get a lot of good out of the links too, and have no shame about using the 'pedia as a starting point. Being a critical thinker I tend to take all things equally with a grain of salt - Wikipedia, articles found anywhere online, word of mouth, advertising, whatever. Most of what we hear from *any* source, even scholarly texts, and across centuries, is demonstrably riddled with bias of one form or another. I've gotten so I consider the slants themselves a form of interesting narrative which have something to say. Wikipedia is just a concentrated collection of that very human communication issue, so I find it hard to get more upset with it than any other outlet.
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