Hacks feel guilty relying on Wikipedia. At least, we should do.
The trouble is, it is awfully convenient. If nothing else, it’s a good place to start when researching a person or a company for the very first time.
We tend to assume that the bare bones, the historical/biographical stuff, will at least be accurate. That if Wiki says someone is 42, that’s most likely to be right.
Sometimes Wiki is miles off in surprising ways.
Working on a profile piece recently, I sent the flak the Wiki link on her client and just asked her to correct anything that was wrong.
The answer turned out to be: nearly all of it.
The flak was huffy that I would even consider using Wiki as a research tool.
I couldn’t understand why the flak hadn’t already changed the erroneous stuff that’s on the internet on behalf of her client.
Let’s say we both had a point.