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Corrupt Wikipedia No Longer Deems FOX News as “Generally Reliable” — Joins Gateway Pundit and Epoch Times as Censored Websites

Posted on 22 July 2020

T. D. Adler at Breitbart News in December 2019 reported the Wikipedia blacklists now include The Epoch Times and The Gateway Pundit for our truthful reporting on Russiagate.

Wikipedia used Gateway Pundit reporting that was true and factual and used it against us as an excuse to censor The Gateway Pundit.

China critics the Epoch Times and conservative outlet the Gateway Pundit have been banned from use as reliable sources on Wikipedia in the latest cases of news outlets that support President Trump being banned from the online encyclopedia. The Epoch Times ban proposal cited NBC’s hit piece on the site over its coverage of improprieties in the Russia investigation, commonly called Spygate, which prompted smear efforts against the outlet on Wikipedia. Gateway Pundit was proposed for a ban shortly after Epoch Times.

The Epoch Times Wikipedia ban proposal was apparently prompted by one of its articles being cited on the Wikipedia page for Joseph Mifsud, a key controversial figure in the origins of the discredited Russia investigation. Gateway Pundit’s ban was in response to the outlet being cited for past media silence over Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election.

Over the past year, Wikipedia editors have been on a banning spree targeting conservative news sources. Having previously banned the Daily Mail as a source, the following year marked the beginning of an acceleration of the process. Since then, editors have imposed similar bans on fifteen other sites aside from Epoch Times and Gateway Pundit. While some data-focused sites and state-owned outlets in Venezuela and Iran have also been banned, the bulk of the sites banned have been conservative-leaning news outlets. Breitbart News was blacklisted as a “reliable source” on Wikipedia in 2018…

…Gateway Pundit’s ban came from a proposal soon after the proposed ban for Epoch Times. The ban proposal came in response to editor “BullRangifer” removing a 2017 piece criticizing media silence on Ukraine colluding with Democrats to influence the 2016 election. The article was originally added to frame Gateway Pundit as “fueling conspiracy theories” related to the impeachment inquiry over Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In fact, the piece correctly noted Politico’s coverage of DNC contractor Alexandra Chalupa soliciting Ukrainian interference and then-Democratic minority leader of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff expressing concerns about the reported interference.

Criticism of Gateway Pundit was harsher during the ban discussion, though still predominantly from left-wing editors. Some regarded the outlet as unreliable, but argued against a full sourcing ban as they believed some legitimate uses may exist. In addition to Simonm223, who also voted for the ban, editors advocating a ban included “Snooganssnoogans” and “Volunteer Marek” who each have a history of smearing the outlet on Wikipedia.

Editor “Snoogansnoogans” previously added a description to Gateway Pundit’s Wikipedia article stating the site “is known for publishing falsehoods and spreading hoaxes.” Marek a year later labeled the outlet a “fake news website” and each description persists to this day in some way despite initially not being based on any sources considered “reliable” on Wikipedia. However, those labels and descriptions subsequently made their way to major media outlets. Those outlets were later cited to back up the material on Wikipedia, in an apparent “citogenesis” case, referring to a form of circular sourcing.

Wikipedia, a very far left outlet has been censoring, targeting and smearing The Gateway Pundit and other prominent conservative websites and voices for years.

The Gateway Pundit is one of the leading conservative publishers in America and the world. Our website averages 1.3 million page views a day. The left hates TGP because we break stories, shape narrative and are more trustworthy than any of the major liberal outlets.

Guest contributor T. D. Adler in November explained how Wikipedia works using “citogenesis” or “circular reporting” to smear and damage conservative outlets like The Gateway Pundit.

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On Wednesday T. D. Adler broke the news at Breitbart.com that Wikipedia no longer deems FOX News a “generally reliable” source for political and scientific topics.

Obviously, Wikipedia is a very corrupt organization that cannot be trusted.

Following a month of discussion involving over 150 Wikipedia editors, Fox News is no longer deemed “generally reliable” as a source on political and scientific topics, a downgrade from its prior status. The official finding by a three-person panel of administrators, users with advanced privileges on Wikipedia, was that “no consensus” existed on Fox’s reliability in those areas. The finding came in an election year despite a plurality of editors believing Fox should retain its status as a generally reliable source alongside CNN and the Guardian, one of Wikipedia’s third most-cited sources.

While not found unreliable, Wikipedia administrators discouraged using Fox News for any contentious political or scientific claims. In the past few years, numerous conservative news outlets have been outright banned as sources for facts on Wikipedia, including Breitbart News. The finding against Fox News came after numerous prior attempts to downgrade the company’s status. Given wide participation, any further change favorable or unfavorable to Fox would require a similarly wide discussion and such discussion would likely not occur for months, leaving the current decision standing past the 2020 election.

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