Apologies for not noticing this thread before, so here we go.
I never met Katefan0. I saw some of her actions, and some of them seemed to be pretty woeful, but I wouldn't list her in the cabal, or anywhere near there. She seems to be half decent. She hasn't been mentioned here before, so this would suggest that she is probably basically okay. Yes, she has unfairly blocked before. Yes, she has deleted content, reverted, etc. But not enough to warrant a huge criticism based on her actions.
However, if we've learned nothing more from the Congress staffers fiasco, we would know that people are using Wikipedia to make money. For some people, like Wikipedia administrator Alkivar, it is rather blatant - he advertises for his DJ business (and then turns around and claims he is being stalked because someone reposts his phone number that is listed on his Wikipedia userpage!) For others, like Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters and Jtdirl, it is somewhat more subtle - they make an article about themselves, and then edit it to advertise themselves. And then there are the likes of Cory Doctorow, Chip Berlet and Adam Carr, who are famous people that do deserve to have a Wikipedia article, but get to have one which is 100% positive, in return for certain favours.
We all saw what happened with Snowspinner's little story, and how Cory Doctorow paid back Wikipedia's good treatment of him, allowing him to remove all criticism of him from his own Wikipedia article by pretending that Snowspinner was the victim. We've seen Chip Berlet dig up dirt on Daniel Brandt in return for Wikipedia allowing him to be painted as a saint. And we've of course seen Adam Carr's antics.
And what about Katefan0? I can't see any bad things that she's done, but that doesn't mean that she hasn't done them. She is editing articles about the Congress, articles which she has a vested interested in. Articles which we know full well could lead to her making money from. She could be editing them so as to give herself stories that make her look better. Or she could be changing facts so that she gets to make black look like white. And not only could this be happening to make her money, but it might be at the expense of truth.
Haven't we seen enough podcasts and exposes on just how easy it is to change articles to see that people can use them to make money? What if the people who were doing the Congress staffers story found out that she was working there, as an admin, while being a member of the Congress press? That'd be a huge scandal. And indeed, once that was pointed out by Daniel Brandt, she had 2 choices - either to quit, or else to say who she really was.
They say oh no its black mail, but what money has Daniel Brandt asked for? Has he asked for anything? Indeed, I can't see him asking for anything at all. This has been used by Wikipedia zealots to insist that this forum is awful.
Sure, we do criticise admins who are corrupt, but that's not the entirety of criticism. My criticism of the Port Arthur massacre article is not in relation to corrupt admins at all - it is about inaccurate content that changes history. And it is that kind of criticism that relates to Katefan0. We are not talking about a corrupt admin. She isn't banning users unfairly. She isn't hurting any other users on the Wikipedia. But she is changing history.
If people get banned, who cares? It doesn't really make a difference. But if truth is changed, then that is a much more serious issue.
QUOTE(Herschelkrustofsky @ Mon 29th May 2006, 12:07am)
I was trying to recall where and when I had encountered Katefan0 at Wikipedia. Now I know. She spoke for the cabal
here in the second SlimVirgin RfC. I no longer am inclined to feel any sympathy for her.
I wrote on the same RFC in support of Slim Virgin:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Req...by_User:ZordracWas I speaking for the cabal too? Of course, that was before I found out about just how awful Slim Virgin was.
Professional journalist is an anonymous admin
