January 25, 2015
MarkBernstein.org
 

Exodus

From Wikipedia, a transcendent note from medievalist Prof. Nathaniel M. Campbell, Union College:

As a result of Wikipedia's shameful treatment of valiant editors who tried to preserve NPOV in articles about gender-related topics from the slanted edits of gamers involved in Gamergate, I have chosen to cease contributing as an editor.

I had long hoped to improve this article as a result of my academic expertise in Hildegardiana (e.g. I am preparing to publish in English translation the Liber Divinorum Operum with the Catholic University of America Press in 2016, in their Fathers of the Church, Medieval Continuation series), but this betrayal of any concept of NPOV based simply on the fact that the arbitration board was filled with men sympathetic to the misogyny of gamers is too much.

In so doing, I am following the exodus of serious academics who had long labored to make Wikipedia a legitimate rather than laughable encyclopedia, as encouraged by User:MarkBernstein, and his off-site commentary at markbernstein.org. We had high hopes for this platform to disseminate knowledge responsibly in the digital era; Wikipedia has demonstrated this month that they have abdicated that responsibility and dashed those hopes. NathanielMCampbell (talk) 00:16, 27 January 2015 (UTC)