Summary

One in a series of seminars presented by The Paley Center for Media in New York as part of its PALEYDOCFEST 2010 Television Documentary Festival. This seminar focuses on “Truth in Numbers? Everything, According to Wikipedia,” a documentary about the extremely popular non-profit Internet encyclopedia that can be edited by all users in many languages.

Host Ron Simon (television curator, The Paley Center for Media) offers opening remarks before bringing producer/director Scott Glosserman to the stage. Glosserman introduces the film, which is screened in its entirety. (For synopsis and credits, see ACCNUM 104050.)

After the screening, moderator Noam Cohen (columnist, The New York Times) introduces the panelists: Glosserman; Wikimedia Foundation member Samuel Klein; and British Museum Wikipedia expert Liam Wyatt (appearing via Skype).

The panelists touch on such topics as: the importance of “love” for Wikipedia in the editors’ collaborative work; the necessity of utilizing the work of experts on various topics; suggestions for changes to the site; the multitude of “haters” of the site; the ability of Wikipedia contributors to handle criticism; if Wikipedia is trying to replace professional research sources; the film’s exploration of how the site “gets at the truth”; the portrayal of Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales in the film and whether it was “forced”; and Wales’ reaction to criticism and debate about Wikipedia.

Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics among others: the biggest surprise for the filmmakers once they began researching Wikipedia; whether the site could generate profits by authenticating its users; how information on the site can be “repurposed” for any use; a shared interest by Wales and co-founder Larry Sanders in the work of Ayn Rand; how critics often bring their own politics into Wikipedia debates; the mystery of Wikipedia's funding from unnamed, individual donors; the "relative unimportance" of minor inaccuracies in articles; and contributors that experience "the joy of sharing what you know.”