Since the end of July, the American news channel Fox News (which will launch in Europe) is no longer considered a reliable source of information for Wikipedia. A decision that concerns only the political and scientific subjects of the media, areas in which Fox News "should be used with caution to verify disputed claims." To better understand the origin of this decision, taken by a hundred editors of the online encyclopedia after a month-long debate, we must go back to the end of July.
Originally, Karen Bass's Wikipedia page
Joe Biden is starting to seriously believe it. He who wants to take Donald Trump's place in the White House is preparing to choose a running mate, a number 2, a sort of prime minister or right-hand man announced months before the election. At that time, the American media believed that a senator from Miami could be the lucky one. Her name: Karen Bass. Obviously, Americans want to know more about her. His Wikipedia page is consulted more than 360,000 times in just a few hours. Faced with this interest, more than 50 people help to lengthen his Wikipedia biography.
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And on Karen Bass's page, we see a section called "Polemics and Controversies". By reading Wikipedia, we learn in particular that Karen Bass loves Fidel Castro very much. Ouch: For many Americans, he's the absolute demon, one of the worst dictators of all time. But where does this information come from?
From "green" to "yellow" for science and politics
Look at the bottom of the page, where Wikipedia scrupulously lists its sources. It all comes from Fox News, Donald Trump's favorite channel, which reportedly heard that an American site heard someone say that when Fidel Castro died, Karen Bareen might have said ... that she thought Commander Castro was pretty cool. In short, nothing very serious. This is too much. In a few days, the world's largest encyclopedia judges that Fox News is no longer a reliable source, that is to say a green source. Fox News turns "yellow" when it comes to politics but not only. For scientific questions too!
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With three months to go before the presidential election, Fox News is the primary news source for 4 in 10 Americans.