NYTimes and Wikipedia help save reporter's life
Category: Internet, General NewsPosted: June 29, 2009 11:11AM
Author: d3bruts1d
On June 19, David Rohde an investigative journalist for the New York Times escaped from a Taliban prison in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan where had had been held hostage for the last seven months. Until the escape, most people were unaware of the ordeal, thanks to a joint effort by the New York Times and Wikipedia. The New York Times kept more than 35 news organizations from reporting on the story fearing that publicity would inflate the value of Rohde's life, and increase the difficulty in getting him released. According to Techcrunch, the hard part wasn't keeping the big media quiet, but rather keeping Wikipedia users from publishing the info.
For seven months, New York Times and Wikipedia fought a back-and-forth battle with an anonymous contributor from Florida. Because of the user anonymity, Wikipedia editors were unable to contact the user directly to explain the situation. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said in a tweet that he feels preventing the news from breaking may have saved David's life.
