I took a little look through some of Katefan's contributions. What did I see?
No POV pushing of any kind.
No indication that she pursued any sort of personal vendettas.
And most of all, no indication that she at any time used information acquired through her privileged position as a congressional reporter. I was not able to find any example of her adding information that would not be equally accessible to myself, you, or any other person.
In fact, Katefan (who I had only seen mentioned in passing before today) seems to have been a defender of actual NPOV and an all around good editor. Mr. Grayban, if you have any evidence that she was publishing on WP any information that she had obtained through her job, that would be a legitimate complaint, but until you present evidence of that sort I have nothing but your presumption of guilt to go on.
I am anonymous here and on WP. One might reasonably ask why; after all, I hold myself to the same standards of behavior on WP as I do in the rest of my life, and I am not ashamed, and, indeed, am quite proud, of the work I have done there. That said, WP attracts its fair share of aggressive editors, and good behavior alone is no guarantee that one will not attract someone's malicious attention. And although I believe that my actions on WP, here, and elsewhere on the internet stand up to a high standard of scrutiny, I have no wish to be forced to explain them at length to an employer or other authority figure who wants to know why someone is badgering them with complaints about me. Anyone revealing their real name on the internet is subject to harassment from any of the great number of kooks who inhabit the place. And thus, for me, and for many others on WP, anonymity seems the best choice.
Frankly, I find Mr. Brandt's action to be highly counterproductive. Wikipedia will not be improved by exposing good contributors to petty harassment. And neither will accountability on WP. Digging for the names of contributors will not produce a climate of accountability; it will only produce an environment in which those who would prefer not to have to answer groundless questions to their employers, and who were careless enough to reveal their names are driven off, whether they were good or bad contributors. Accountability can only be created in the form of a healthy climate of constructive criticism and rigorous standards of quality. By removing from the field a contributor who worked hard to raise the standards of WP, Mr. Brandt has achieved nothing but a lowering of those standards for the future.
|