"It is widely known that Wikipedia smears and lies about many conservatives (including The Gateway Pundit) and promotes leftist dogma. [...] Only legal action will prevent these far left hacks from censoring truthful news to the public", retorted the owner of The Gateway Pundit, a far-right blog that was deprecated by the Wikipedia community as an unreliable source in 2019, one month before his message. "Wikipedia has been and always will be fake news, and they know it. They believe facts are subject to a democratic process, and the only people with a vote are the bubbled leftists who edit Wikipedia", insisted the editor-in-chief of the far-right website Breitbart News shortly after the Wikipedia community deprecated it in 2018.

Is there any merit to these allegations?

A quick search reveals that media outlets tend to respond negatively when they are deprecated, regardless of their political orientation:

• MintPress News, a left-leaning, anti-Israel website that was deprecated in 2019, purported: "For over ten years, Wikipedia has been a key focus of right-leaning, pro-Israel groups that have effectively weaponized the online encyclopedia as a means of controlling the narrative when it comes to the state of Israel's more than 50-year-long military occupation of Palestine."
• The Grayzone, a far-left, pro-authoritarian blog that was deprecated earlier this year, complained: "The campaign to blacklist The Grayzone was initiated by Wikipedia editors who identify as Venezuelans and openly support the country's right-wing, US-backed opposition. These users obsessively monitor Venezuela-related articles, aggressively pushing a regime-change line and working to excise any piece of information or opinion that interferes with their agenda."

All of these deprecated media outlets accuse the Wikipedia community of having a bias that is opposite to the websites' own political orientations. But there is only one English-language Wikipedia. Deprecation is like a mirror: a source's response to being deprecated reflects its own bias more than it says anything about Wikipedia itself.

Recently, The Critic, a "contrarian conservative" magazine, published an article in October titled "The left-wing bias of Wikipedia", in which two pseudonymous authors who identify as American academics criticized Wikipedia editors for deprecating more right-wing sources than left-wing sources. What does this tell us about Wikipedia and its treatment of American media?

America's media landscape

In a highly-cited 2017 report from Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, "Partisanship, Propaganda, and Disinformation", researchers Robert M. Faris, Hal Roberts, Bruce Etling, Nikki Bourassa, Ethan Zuckerman, and Yochai Benkler examined the United States media landscape in the context of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Using a corpus of 4.5 million Twitter posts, these researchers measured the "candidate valence" of popular websites, which was determined by comparing the likelihood an article was shared by users who also retweeted posts by either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. (Less than 1% of users in the data set retweeted both Trump and Clinton.) On a scale of -1.0 to 1.0, the candidate valence of a website shows how likely the website was to be aligned with Clinton or Trump supporters in 2016, with a score of -1.0 (left) indicating that it was almost exclusively shared by Clinton supporters, and a score of 1.0 (right) indicating that it was almost exclusively shared by Trump supporters.

The Berkman Klein Center report identified Wikipedia as a "center-right" website on the candidate valence scale throughout the 2016 U.S. elections. Wikipedia was quite lonely – among the top 75 websites, there were only 3 sources with a center-right valence in the American media landscape during this time period: Wikipedia, RealClearPolitics, and the National Review. Based on the number of link shares generated by sources across the left–right valence spectrum, far-right and center-left valence sources dominated public discourse, with far-right valence sources obtaining the highest number of link shares, while center-right valence sources received the lowest amount of attention. In particular, The Wall Street Journal, an acclaimed conservative newspaper with a centrist valence, was usurped in popularity by Breitbart News, an Internet-native far-right publication with a far-right valence.

The dearth of center-right sources is confirmed in the current version of Ad Fontes Media's Media Bias Chart, a graph that shows the political bias and reliability of popular English-language publications as reviewed by Ad Fontes analysts. The Media Bias Chart portrays the American media landscape as a bell curve in which centrist sources tend to be most reliable, while an increase in a source's bias is correlated with a decrease in the source's reliability. In the chart, there is a discontinuity in the center-right region, which has a mere sprinkle of sources, while the center-left and far-right regions are much more densely populated.

The Critic uses the Media Bias Chart to point out that Wikipedia deprecates more right-wing sources than left-wing sources in community discussions. This is true, and results from a feature of the American media landscape: among low-quality sources, the most popular websites are right-wing sources. In December 2018, I compiled a table of all sources rated by Ad Fontes as "Nonsense damaging to public discourse", and compared their political bias ratings to their Alexa ranks. Although there were low-quality sources on both ends of the left–right political spectrum, there was no comparison in terms of popularity. Hyper-partisan right-wing sources were considerably more popular than hyper-partisan left-wing sources, with no left-wing equivalent to sources such as Breitbart News, which had an Alexa rank of 253. The most popular hyper-partisan left-wing source with a low reliability score was AlterNet, which was less popular with an Alexa rank of 14,007.

Popularity and political bias of low-quality sources

Almost two years have passed since I posted the December 2018 list, so it is time for an update. The following table details all of the sources with a reliability score under 24.0 on the Media Bias Chart, which includes the following categories: "Contains Inaccurate / Fabricated Info", "Propaganda / Contains Misleading Info", and "Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion":

Sources with a reliability score under 24.0 on the Media Bias Chart

Source	Status	Overall source reliability		Political bias		Alexa rank
The Gateway Pundit		14.5	Propaganda / Contains Misleading Info	27.8	Hyper-partisan Right	521
InfoWars		12.0	Propaganda / Contains Misleading Info	27.5	Hyper-partisan Right	2,413
Newsmax		18.0	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	24.4	Hyper-partisan Right	2,621
PJ Media	N/A	19.6	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	24.4	Hyper-partisan Right	6,459
RedState	N/A	21.3	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	25.1	Hyper-partisan Right	6,577
WorldNetDaily		18.8	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	24.1	Hyper-partisan Right	6,680
The Federalist	N/A	23.7	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	23.1	Hyper-partisan Right	7,308
One America News Network		20.1	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	22.1	Hyper-partisan Right	8,430
American Thinker	N/A	19.3	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	29.4	Hyper-partisan Right	11,845
Twitchy	N/A	15.4	Propaganda / Contains Misleading Info	22.6	Hyper-partisan Right	12,267
Palmer Report	N/A	16.9	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	-27.6	Hyper-partisan Left	13,119
Before It's News		4.7	Contains Inaccurate / Fabricated Info	25.8	Hyper-partisan Right	15,728
Natural News		8.3	Propaganda / Contains Misleading Info	31.8	Most Extreme Right	17,368
American Greatness	N/A	18.7	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	27.2	Hyper-partisan Right	26,521
AlterNet		23.2	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	-20.1	Hyper-partisan Left	31,744
The American Spectator	N/A	20.0	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	25.6	Hyper-partisan Right	37,759
The Right Scoop	N/A	20.2	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	23.7	Hyper-partisan Right	42,248
The Daily Signal	N/A	20.0	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	22.0	Hyper-partisan Right	50,975
Big League Politics	N/A	19.3	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	29.4	Hyper-partisan Right	51,674
NewsPunch	N/A	13.9	Propaganda / Contains Misleading Info	27.2	Hyper-partisan Right	54,839
Bill O'Reilly	N/A	21.4	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	26.9	Hyper-partisan Right	55,910
LifeZette	N/A	19.0	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	26.1	Hyper-partisan Right	58,147
Glenn Beck	N/A	21.7	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	24.9	Hyper-partisan Right	65,138
Occupy Democrats		21.6	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	-25.7	Hyper-partisan Left	74,059
Wonkette	N/A	15.0	Propaganda / Contains Misleading Info	-29.1	Hyper-partisan Left	77,446
WorldTruth.TV	N/A	7.0	Contains Inaccurate / Fabricated Info	11.7	Skews Right	78,653
Life News	N/A	23.6	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	23.6	Hyper-partisan Right	96,231
Bipartisan Report	N/A	19.0	Selective or Incomplete Story / Unfair Persuasion	-24.6	Hyper-partisan Left	218,772
National Enquirer		8.8	Propaganda / Contains Misleading Info	10.8	Skews Right	362,156

• Generally unreliable: Editors show consensus that the source is questionable in most cases. See details.
• Deprecated: There is community consensus from a request for comment to deprecate the source. The source is considered generally unreliable, and use of the source is generally prohibited. See details.
• Blacklisted: Due to persistent abuse, usually in the form of external link spamming, external links to this source are blocked unless an exception is made. See details.

Among the 29 lowest-reliability sources rated by Ad Fontes Media, 5 are "Hyper-partisan Left", 2 "Skew Right", 21 are "Hyper-partisan Right", and 1 is in the "Most Extreme Right". The Critic disapproves of how Wikipedia has not yet deprecated AlterNet, a website classified as "Hyper-partisan Left", but fails to note that there are six "Hyper-partisan Right" sources that are more popular than AlterNet which have also not yet been deprecated or blacklisted. Over the past decade, the prominence of hyper-partisan right-wing sources has been a key feature of the American media landscape. Considering the lack of popular low-reliability sources in the left, it is hardly surprising that a significant proportion of deprecated sources on Wikipedia are right-wing sources.

Re-righting America

Wikipedia editors try to apply the verifiability policy and the reliable sources guideline evenly to all sources, regardless of the sources' political orientation. Although a significant subset of political discourse in American politics centers around content published in low-quality, hyper-partisan right-wing sources, Wikipedia cannot use those sources in most cases because they do not meet the encyclopedia's reliability standards. Wikipedia is a reality-based encyclopedia, which means that false and fabricated information is correctly excluded from Wikipedia, even when it is disproportionally published by media outlets with a particular direction of bias.

As the neutral point of view policy states, "Neutrality requires that each article or other page in the mainspace fairly represent all significant viewpoints that have been published by reliable sources, in proportion to the prominence of each viewpoint in the published, reliable sources. ^[a] Giving due weight and avoiding giving undue weight means articles should not give minority views or aspects as much of or as detailed a description as more widely held views or widely supported aspects."

The lack of high-quality center-right sources is a problem in the American media landscape, and you may be wondering how you can fix this issue. Currently, conservative media outlets have a stronger financial incentive to publish content that is less reliable. Look no further than Newsmax, which recently increased its viewership by a factor of nine after it started publishing baseless claims of fraud regarding the 2020 U.S. elections, with most of the new viewers migrating from the more reliable and less partisan Fox News. This apparent preference for disreputable media is sparking a crisis in American journalism.

To correct the situation, the American public can return to prioritizing high-quality information over partisan misinformation. Specifically, Americans who want to see a more balanced media landscape need to:

1. Reject low-quality, hyper-partisan right-wing media. These sources currently dominate conservative discourse in American politics on the Internet, and are gradually siphoning attention from more moderate conservative sources in traditional media. To reverse this trend, conservative media outlets that reduce the quality of their content need to suffer a decrease in their audience.
2. Embrace high-quality center-right media. These sources are few and far between in the American media landscape, and their influence is declining. Market conditions have been too hostile for more center-right outlets to flourish, and this will not change unless the general American public becomes more receptive to high-quality conservative news reporting.

As an individual, whether you are a Wikipedia editor or reader, it is unlikely that anything you personally do would make a significant difference to the state of the American media landscape. However, all demographic changes are dependent on individuals taking action to support the changes they want to see. What Wikipedia desperately needs is a larger selection of high-quality conservative sources that represent the underserved population of Americans who align with the center-right. Once those sources are available, Wikipedia editors will be able to use them to rebalance articles that could benefit from more content that reflects a conservative perspective.

And only then can we re-right Wikipedia.

Featured articles

20 featured articles were promoted this period. Text is from the articles, but often abridged for length.

Réunion swamphen, nominated by FunkMonk

The Réunion swamphen (Porphyrio caerulescens), also known as the Réunion gallinule or oiseau bleu, is a hypothetical extinct species of rail that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Réunion. While only known from 17th and 18th century accounts by visitors to the island, it was scientifically named in 1848, based on the 1674 account by Sieur Dubois. A considerable literature was subsequently devoted to its possible affinities, with current researchers agreeing it was derived from the swamphen genus Porphyrio. It has been considered mysterious and enigmatic due to the lack of any physical evidence of its existence.

This bird was described as entirely blue in plumage with a red beak and legs. It was said to be the size of a Réunion ibis or chicken, which could mean 65–70 cm (26–28 in) in length, and it may have been similar to the takahe. While easily hunted, it was a fast runner and able to fly, though it did so reluctantly. It may have fed on plant matter and invertebrates, as do other swamphens, and was said to nest among grasses and aquatic ferns. It was only found on the Plaine des Cafres plateau, to which it may have retreated during the latter part of its existence, whereas other swamphens inhabit lowland swamps. While the last unequivocal account is from 1730, it may have survived until 1763, but overhunting and the introduction of cats probably drove it to extinction.

1984 World Snooker Championship, nominated by Lee Vilenski

The 1984 World Snooker Championship was a ranking professional snooker tournament that took place between 21 April and 7 May 1984 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The event featured 94 participants, of which 78 players competed in a qualifying event held in Bristol from 1 to 13 April. Of these, 16 players qualified for the main stage in Sheffield, where they met 16 invited seeds. The total prize fund for the event was £200,000, the highest total pool for any snooker tournament at that time; the winner received £44,000. The defending champion was English player Steve Davis, who had won the title twice previously. He met fellow-countryman Jimmy White in the final, which was played as a best-of-35- frames match. Davis took a significant lead of 12–4 after the first two sessions; although White battled back into the match, Davis eventually won 18–16, becoming the first player to retain the title at the Crucible.

Trading Places, nominated by Darkwarriorblake

Trading Places is a 1983 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod. It stars Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The film tells the story of an upper-class commodities broker (Aykroyd) and a poor street hustler (Murphy) whose lives cross when they are unwittingly made the subject of an elaborate bet to test how each man will perform when their life circumstances are swapped.

Harris conceived the outline for Trading Places in the early 1980s after encountering two wealthy brothers who were engaged in an ongoing rivalry with each other. It was considered a box-office success on its release, earning over $90.4 million to become the fourth-highest-grossing film of 1983 in North America. It also received generally positive reviews. Reviewers were consistent in their praise for the central cast, and they appreciated the film's revival of the screwball comedy genre prevalent in the 1930s and 1940s.

French battleship Suffren, nominated by Sturmvogel 66

Suffren was a predreadnought battleship built for the French Navy and completed in 1902. She twice collided with French ships and twice had propeller shafts break before the start of World War I in 1914. Suffren was assigned to the naval operations off the Dardanelles, participating in a series of attacks on Ottoman fortifications. The ship provided gunfire support for the Allied forces during the Gallipoli campaign; as the Allies withdrew she accidentally sank one of the evacuation ships. While en route to Lorient for a refit, Suffren was torpedoed off Lisbon by a German submarine on 26 November 1916 and sunk with all hands.

Muhammad IV of Granada, nominated by HaEr48

Muhammad IV was the ruler of the Emirate of Granada on the Iberian Peninsula from 1325 to 1333. The initial years of his reign were marked by civil war between his ministers, which ended in 1328 when Muhammad began taking a more active role in government. Castile and Aragon, Granada's Christian neighbours, invaded in 1330. Muhammad requested help from the Marinid Sultanate in North Africa, which sent 5,000 troops to capture Gibraltar in 1333. The Castilians in turn besieged Gibraltar, but after confused fighting a truce was agreed. One day later Muhammad was assassinated, aged 18.

SMS Preussischer Adler, nominated by Parsecboy

SMS Preussischer Adler was a paddle steamer built in the mid-1840s for commercial use. Requisitioned by the Prussian Navy during the First Schleswig War in 1848, she took part in the first naval battle of the Prussian fleet. During the Second Schleswig War, in company with four other vessels, Preussischer Adler attacked a Danish force blockading the German North Sea ports. The resulting Battle of Heligoland in May 1864 was tactically inconclusive, but the Danes abandoned their blockade. She was decommissioned and sunk as a target ship during experiments with torpedoes in 1879.

Arthur Sullivan (Australian soldier), nominated by Peacemaker67

Arthur Sullivan was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross. He joined the Australian Imperial Force during World War I but had not completed training when the war ended. He enlisted in the British Army for service with the North Russia Relief Force. In North Russia in 1919 he was a member of a rearguard as his platoon crossed the river on a one-plank bridge. Under intense fire from Bolshevik troops, four men fell into the river. Sullivan jumped in and rescued all four, one by one; and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions.

Hurricane Hector (2018), nominated by Hurricane Noah

Hector was a powerful and long-lasting tropical cyclone that traversed the Pacific Ocean during late July and August 2018. Hector was the eighth named storm, fourth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the 2018 Pacific hurricane season. It originated from a disturbance located north of South America on July 22. The disturbance tracked westward and gradually organized over the next several days, becoming a tropical depression at 12:00 UTC on July 3, being upgraded into a tropical storm about 12 hours later and received the name Hector. Throughout most of its existence, the cyclone traveled due west or slightly north of west. A favorable environment allowed the fledgling tropical storm to rapidly intensify to its initial peak as a Category 2 hurricane by 18:00 UTC on August 2. Hector reached Category 3 status by 00:00 UTC on August 4 and went through an eyewall replacement cycle soon after, which caused the intensification to halt. After the replacement cycle, the cyclone continued to organize, developing a well-defined eye surrounded by cold cloud tops. It reached its peak intensity around 18:00 UTC August 6, with winds of 155 mph (250 km/h) and a pressure of 936 mbar (27.64 inHg). Hector's intensity fluctuated between Category 3 and Category 4 over the next several days before it fell below major hurricane intensity around 18:00 UTC on August 11. Hector had spent 186 hours at that intensity – longer than any other hurricane on record in the eastern Pacific basin. The impact on land from the storm was minimal.

2010 Football League Championship play-off Final, nominated by Kosack and The Rambling Man

The 2010 Football League Championship play-off Final was an association football match played at Wembley Stadium, London, on 22 May 2010 between Blackpool and Cardiff City. The match was to determine the third and final team to win promotion from the Championship, the second tier of English football, to the Premier League for the 2010–11 season. The culmination of the 2010 Football League Championship play-offs, the match saw Blackpool beat Cardiff City to earn promotion alongside the Championship winners Newcastle United and runners-up West Bromwich Albion. As a consequence of winning promotion, Blackpool's Bloomfield Road stadium, which had a capacity of 16,750, became one of the smallest stadiums to host Premier League football. It also meant Blackpool returned to the top flight of English League football for the first time since the 1970–71 season, when they spent one season in the old First Division, finishing bottom. In the season following their 2010 play-off final victory, they were relegated back to the Championship. Cardiff reached the play-offs again the following season but were defeated in the semi-finals.

Peter Raw, nominated by Nick-D

Peter Raw was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilot and officer. He served as a flight instructor, bomber pilot and the commander of a communications unit during World War II. He was appointed the commander of No. 2 Squadron in 1953 and subsequently served in staff and diplomatic roles until taking command of No. 82 Wing in 1965. Between May 1966 and April 1967, he served as the air support co-ordinator for the Australian forces in South Vietnam; his initial refusal to commit RAAF helicopters to assist the Australian Army during the Battle of Long Tan in August 1966 generated lasting controversy. Raw retired from the RAAF in 1978.

2018 FA Cup Final, nominated by The Rambling Man

The 2018 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Manchester United and Chelsea on 19 May 2018 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. It was the 137th FA Cup final overall and was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup ( FA Cup), organised by the Football Association. It was the second successive final for Chelsea following their defeat by Arsenal the previous year. The match was played in sunny conditions in front of a Wembley crowd of 87,647. After a relatively even start to the match, on 21 minutes, Chelsea's Eden Hazard was brought down in the Manchester United box and Oliver awarded a penalty. Hazard scored from the spot to make it 1–0 to Chelsea, a lead they maintained to half time. Manchester United dominated the second half, and saw a 63rd-minute goal from Alexis Sánchez ruled out for offside after being referred to VAR. The match ended 1–0 to Chelsea who won the FA Cup for the eighth time.

"Favorite Son" (Star Trek: Voyager), nominated by Aoba47

"Favorite Son" is an episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager, a show which follows the adventures of the Starfleet and Maquis crew of the starship USS Voyager after they are stranded in the Delta Quadrant, far from the rest of the Federation. In the episode, Ensign Harry Kim ( Garrett Wang) experiences déjà vu and develops a rash when the Voyager enters a new sector of the Delta Quadrant. Mostly female aliens known as Taresians tell him that he is not human but is a member of their species. On discovering this is a ruse by the female aliens to attract and kill their men during reproduction, the crew rescues Kim and restores him to his original state.

1982 Formula One World Championship, nominated by Zwerg Nase

The 1982 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 36th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It included two competitions run over the course of the year, the 33rd Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 25th Formula One World Championship for Constructors. The Drivers' Championship was won by Keke Rosberg and the Constructors' Championship by Scuderia Ferrari. Eventual champion Rosberg won only one race all season – the Swiss Grand Prix – but consistency gave him the Drivers' Championship

Motorsport journalist Nigel Roebuck later wrote that 1982 was "an ugly year, pock-marked by tragedy, by dissension, by greed, and yet, paradoxically, it produced some of the most memorable racing ever seen".

Squirm, nominated by GamerPro64

Squirm is a 1976 American horror film written and directed by Jeff Lieberman, starring Don Scardino, Patricia Pearcy, R.A. Dow, Jean Sullivan, Peter MacLean, Fran Higgins, and William Newman. The film takes place in the fictional town of Fly Creek, Georgia, which becomes infested with carnivorous worms after a storm. Lieberman's script is based on a childhood incident in which his brother fed electricity into a patch of earth causing earthworms to rise to the surface. Millions of worms were used over the five-week filming in Port Wentworth, Georgia; worms were brought in from Maine to augment local supplies. Makeup artist Rick Baker provided special effects using prosthetics for the first time in his career. The film was a commercial success, but opened to lukewarm reviews. It has since become a critical favourite, and cult classic.

1789 Virginia's 5th congressional district election, nominated by Wehwalt

The first election for Virginia's 5th congressional district took place on February 2, 1789, for a two-year term to commence March 4 of that year. In a race that turned on the candidates' positions on the need for amendments (the Bill of Rights) to the recently ratified U.S. Constitution, James Madison defeated James Monroe for a place in the House of Representatives of the First Congress. It is the only congressional election in U.S. history in which two future presidents opposed each other.

Third Punic War, nominated by Gog the Mild

The Third Punic War was the third and last of the Punic Wars fought between Carthage and Rome; it lasted from 149 to 146 BC. The war was fought in what is now north-east Tunisia. The Romans besieged the city of Carthage but suffered repeated setbacks. A new Roman commander took over in 148 BC, and fared equally badly. Scipio Aemilianus was appointed commander in Africa in 147 BC and in spring 146 BC launched a final assault, systematically destroying the city and killing its inhabitants; 50,000 survivors were sold into slavery. The formerly Carthaginian territories became the Roman province of Africa

2020 World Snooker Championship, nominated by Lee Vilenski

The 2020 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 31 July to 16 August 2020 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 44th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was held at the Crucible. The final ranking event of the 2019–20 snooker season, the tournament was originally scheduled to take place from 18 April to 4 May 2020, but both the qualifying stage and the main rounds were postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was one of the first to allow live audiences since the onset of the pandemic, but on the first day it was announced that the event would be played behind closed doors for subsequent days. A limited number of spectators were allowed in for the final two days of the championship. Ronnie O'Sullivan won his sixth world title, defeating Wilson 18–8 in the final, the 37th ranking event win of his career, the highest of any player.

Gurian Republic, nominated by Kaiser matias

The Gurian Republic refers to an insurrection and protest movement that took place in the western Georgian region of Guria (known at the time as the Ozurget Uyezd) against the Russian Empire between 1902 and 1906. This rose from a revolt over land grazing rights in 1902. Several issues over the previous decades affecting the peasant population including taxation, land ownership and economic factors also factored into the start of the insurrection. It gained further traction through the efforts of Georgian social democrats, despite some reservations within their party over supporting a peasant movement, and grew further during the 1905 Russian Revolution.

During its existence the Gurian Republic ignored Russian authority and established its own system of government, which consisted of assemblies of villagers meeting and discussing issues. A unique form of justice, where trial attendees voted on sentences, was introduced. While the movement broke from imperial administration, it was not anti-Russian, desiring to remain within the Empire.

Heaven Upside Down, nominated by Homeostasis07

Heaven Upside Down is the tenth studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on October 6, 2017 by Loma Vista Recordings and Caroline International. The record had the working title Say10 and was initially due to be issued on Valentine's Day. However, the release was delayed by numerous events, most notably the death of Marilyn Manson's father Hugh Warner, who died during production and to whom the album was later dedicated. The record features many of the same musicians who performed on the band's previous album, 2015's The Pale Emperor, including producer Tyler Bates and drummer Gil Sharone. Despite Manson's early implications, long-time bassist Twiggy did not participate on the album. He left the group following a sexual assault allegation by a former girlfriend.

The album received positive reviews from music critics upon release, with multiple publications saying it continued a creative resurgence which began with their previous album. It was also a commercial success, debuting at number eight on the Billboard 200 and charting in the top ten in most of the major markets.

Australian Journal of Herpetology, nominated by Collin

The Australian Journal of Herpetology was a scientific journal specialising in the study of amphibians and reptiles ( herpetology) published from 1981 until 1983 with an additional supplemental series released in 1985. Richard W. Wells, a first-year biology student, served as the journal's editor-in-chief, supporting an editorial board of three Australian researchers. In what became known as the "Wells and Wellington affair", Wells stopped communicating with the journal's editorial board for around two years before suddenly publishing three papers without peer review in the Australian Journal of Herpetology between 1983 and 1985. Co-authored by himself and high school teacher C. Ross Wellington, the papers reorganized the taxonomy of all of Australia's and New Zealand's amphibians and reptiles and proposed over 700 changes to the binomial nomenclature of the region's herpetofauna. The herpetological community reacted strongly to the pair's actions and eventually brought a case to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to suppress the scientific names they proposed. After four years of arguments, the commission opted not to vote on the case, leaving some of Wells and Wellington's names available. The outcome highlighted the vulnerability to the established rules of biological nomenclature that desktop publishing presented. As of 2020, 24 of the names assigned by Wells and Wellington remained valid senior synonyms.

Featured pictures

20 featured pictures (including the ones used for this article's header and footer) were promoted this period.

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  Inuit harpoons by Didier Descouens
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  Jeanette Scissum by NASA/ MSFC, restored by Adam Cuerden
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  Set design for Act I of Niccola Spinelli's A basso porto by Riccardo Salvadori
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  Hummingbird hawk moth by Charles J. Sharp
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  Street Musicians at the Door by Jacob Ochtervelt
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  Wrocław Town Hall by Kolossos
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  Set design for the second part of Victor Hugo's Les Burgraves by Humanité René Philastre and Charles-Antoine Cambon, restored by Adam Cuerden
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  The Tomb of Mian Ghulam Kalhoro in Pakistan by A.Savin
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  Pauline Gracia Beery Mack by Underwood & Underwood, restored by Adam Cuerden
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  Centennial Hall in Wrocław, Poland, by Jar.ciurus
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  Katherine Johnson by NASA
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  Composer Amilcare Ponchielli by Icilio Calzolari, restored by Adam Cuerden
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  Indian sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman by Mullookkaaran
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  Kaleva Church, Finland, by kallerna
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  U.S. Army Nurse Pauline Kirby by the United States Army, restored by Adam Cuerden
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  Flower of Persicaria maculosa by The Cosmonaut
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  Montana businessman and author Granville Stuart by L. A. Huffman, restored by Adam Cuerden
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  Steppe buzzard by Charles J. Sharp

Featured topic

The Punic Wars, originally nominated as a Good topic by Gog the Mild, has been upgraded into Wikipedia's newest featured topic.

The Punic Wars were a series of three wars between 264 and 146 BC fought by the states of Rome and Carthage. All three were won by Rome. The First Punic War broke out in Sicily in 264 BC and lasted 23 years, until 241 BC, when after immense materiel and human losses on both sides the Carthaginians were defeated. The end of the war sparked a major but unsuccessful four-year-long revolt within the Carthaginian Empire known as the Mercenary War. The Second Punic War began in 218 BC and witnessed Hannibal's crossing of the Alps and invasion of mainland Italy. The successful Roman invasion of the Carthaginian homeland in Africa in 204 BC led to Hannibal's recall and to Carthage suing for peace after 17 years of war. Carthage ceased to be a military threat but Rome contrived a justification to declare war again in 149 BC in the Third Punic War. The Romans stormed the city of Carthage in 146 BC, sacked it, slaughtered most of its population and completely demolished it.

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Punic Wars

5 articles

First Punic War

Mercenary War

Second Punic War

Third Punic War

Featured lists

15 featured lists were promoted this period.

List of World Heritage Sites in Sweden, nominated by Tone

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. As of 2020, there are fifteen World Heritage Sites in Sweden, including thirteen cultural sites, one natural site and one mixed site. The first Swedish site added to the list was the Royal Domain of Drottningholm in 1991, and the most recently listed was the Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland, in 2012.

List of awards and nominations received by RuPaul, nominated by Leo Mercury

RuPaul Charles is an American drag queen, actor, model, singer, songwriter, and television personality. He is considered to be the most famous drag queen ever, and in 2017 he was included in the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. Since 2009, he has produced and hosted the reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race and its various spin-offs, which have earned Charles eight Primetime Emmy Awards, making him the person with the most wins in the category of Outstanding Host for a Competition Program, amongst other awards. He had already achieved international fame as a drag queen with the release of his single " Supermodel (You Better Work)", from the album Supermodel of the World (1993), for which he received two Billboard Music Awards and an MTV Video Music Award nomination. He was also honored with the GLAAD Vito Russo Award in 1999, presented to an openly LGBT media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality for the LGBT community, and in 2018 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television industry, making him the first drag queen to be given such an award.

Grammy Award for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album, nominated by Javier Espinoza

The Grammy Award for Best Mexican/Mexican-American Album was an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the Mexican music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Since its inception, the award category has had several name changes, until, in 2009, the category was split into two new fields: Best Norteño Album and Best Regional Mexican Album. Mexican-American artist Pepe Aguilar is the most-awarded performer in the category with three wins. He is followed by American singers Vikki Carr and Linda Ronstadt, American artist Flaco Jiménez, Mexican singers Luis Miguel and Joan Sebastian, and bands La Mafia and Los Lobos, with two wins each.

Ray Bradbury Award, nominated by PresN

The Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation (formerly the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation) is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy dramatic works such as movies or television episodes. To be eligible for Nebula Award consideration a work must be published in English in the United States. Works published in English elsewhere in the world are also eligible provided they are released either on a website or in an electronic edition. Only individual works are eligible, not serials such as television series, though miniseries of three or fewer parts are allowed. The award, named to honor prolific author and screenwriter Ray Bradbury, was begun in 1992 as the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation.

List of medieval churches on Gotland, nominated by Yakikaki

There are 92 well-preserved churches from the Middle Ages on the Swedish island Gotland, which is more than in any other part of Sweden and unusual compared with other parts of Europe. Benefiting from its location in the middle of the Baltic Sea, the island enjoyed an increase in trade and wealth thanks to increasing trade between Western and Eastern Europe, giving the inhabitants the means to build large and prestigious churches. The preserved churches date from between the early 12th century and the middle of the 14th century. The first churches were stave churches, but of these only fragments remain. The oldest substantially preserved churches on Gotland are simple Romanesque churches. Church architecture remained conservative on Gotland, and while Gothic forms eventually replaced Romanesque, it never acquired the structurally light character it did elsewhere in Europe. The churches built during the first half of the 14th century on Gotland are sometimes referred to as "counter-Gothic" in Swedish literature (kontragotik).

The churches were often decorated with paintings on walls and vaults and stained glass windows inside, as well as decorative sculptures both inside and outside. In the Gothic period particularly the portals of the churches were adorned with stone sculptures. Workshops specialising in the production of decorated baptismal fonts established themselves on Gotland during the 12th century and supplied the churches with fonts which in many cases still exist in the churches. Wooden sculptures were also produced from an early time, including rood crosses and sculptures of saints like the Viklau Madonna.

Asin filmography, nominated by 25 Cents FC

Asin is a former Indian actress who is known for her work in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi-language films. She made her acting debut at the age of 15 in the Malayalam-language satirical comedy-drama Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka in 2001. Asin had her first commercial success with the Telugu film Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi (2003). For her performance as a Tamil girl in the film, she received the Filmfare Best Telugu Actress Award. In the same year she won the Santosham Best Actress Award for her role in Telugu film Sivamani. She would go on to further success from there.

List of World Heritage Sites in the Netherlands, nominated by Tone

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage. As of 2020 ^[update], there are ten properties in the Kingdom of the Netherlands inscribed on the World Heritage List. Nine of those sites are in the Netherlands and one is in Curaçao, in the Caribbean, as both the Netherlands and Curaçao are constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Nine sites are cultural properties and one is a natural property. The first site added to the list was Schokland and Surroundings in 1995, and the most recent was the Van Nelle Factory in 2014. The transnational site Wadden Sea is shared with Denmark and Germany.

List of Most Played Juke Box Folk Records number ones of 1945, nominated by ChrisTheDude

From 1944 until 1957, Billboard magazine published a chart that ranked the top-performing country music songs in the United States, based on the number of times a song had been played in jukeboxes; until 1948 it was the magazine's only country music chart. In 1945, 14 different songs topped the chart, then published under the title Most Played Juke Box Folk Records, in 52 issues of the magazine. The term "country music" would not come into standard usage until the late 1940s and "folk music" was one of a number of terms used for the genre in earlier years. The chart ranked "the most popular Folk records on automatic phonographs thruout [ sic] the nation", based on "reports from all the country's leading operating centers", which were averaged to produce the final placings. This methodology allowed for the possibility of records tying for a position, and on several occasions during 1945 two or more songs tied for the number one spot, including the issue of Billboard dated November 24, when four songs tied for the number-one position. The Juke Box Folk chart is considered part of the lineage of the current Hot Country Songs chart, which was first published in 1958.

List of herpestids, nominated by PresN

Herpestidae is a family of mammals in the order Carnivora, composed of the mongooses and the meerkat. A member of this family is called a mongoose or a herpestid. They are widespread primarily throughout Africa and south Asia, and are found primarily in forests, savannas, shrublands, and grasslands, though some species can be found in wetlands or deserts. The 34 species of Herpestidae are split into 14 genera within 2 subfamilies, Herpestinae and Mungotinae, comprising 11 extant species native to Africa. Herpestidae is believed to have diverged from the existing Feliformia suborder around 21.8 million years ago in the Early Miocene.

List of Broadway theaters, nominated by Found5dollar

There are 41 active Broadway theaters listed by The Broadway League in New York City, as well as 9 existing structures that previously hosted Broadway theatre. Beginning with the first large long-term theater in the city, the Park Theatre built in 1798 on Park Row just off Broadway, the definition of what constitutes a Broadway theater has changed multiple times. The current legal definition is based on a 1949 Actors' Equity agreement with smaller theaters in New York to allow union members to perform, dividing theater spaces in the city into the system of Broadway and Off-Broadway seen today. Current union contracts clearly spell out if a production is "Broadway" or not, but the general rule is that any venue that mostly hosts legitimate theater productions, is generally within Manhattan's Theater District, and has a capacity over 500 seats is considered a Broadway theater. Previous to this legal demarcation a Broadway production simply referred to a professional theatrical production performed in a theater in Manhattan, and the theaters that housed them were called Broadway theaters. While Broadway theaters are colloquially considered to be "on Broadway", only three active Broadway theaters are physically on Broadway (the Broadway Theatre, Palace Theatre, and Winter Garden Theatre).

List of stupas in Nepal, nominated by CAPTAIN MEDUSA

Stupas in Nepal date back to the Licchavi period; a stupa is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as śarīra – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. Swayambhunath is one of the oldest known buildings in the country and was likely built in the 5th century. It was built in Swayambhu, Kathmandu, where the land was declared as sacred to Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), by the 3rd Emperor of the Maurya Dynasty Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BCE. According to the legends, the stupa came out of a sacred lotus at the centre of Kathmandu when the city was a lake.

Wales national football team results 1920–1939, nominated by Kosack

The Wales national football team represents Wales in international association football and is governed by the Football Association of Wales (FAW). Between 1920 and 1939 the side played 62 matches, the majority against the other national teams of the Home Nations in the British Home Championship. The side played their first official match after the end of World War I in February 1920 on the resumption of the Home Championship, drawing 2–2 with Ireland. A draw with Scotland and a win over England, their first since 1882, in the 1919–20 tournament secured the second Home Championship in Wales' history. Wales won the Home Championship again in the 1927–28 tournament but, as Football League sides became increasingly reluctant to release Welsh players for international competition, results dropped as the decade drew to a close. When the Football League added further restrictions on releasing players ahead of the following tournament to avoid fixture clashes, Wales were forced to call-up a mixture of non-league and lower division players which led to the side being dubbed by media outlets as "Keenor and the ten unknowns", in reference to team captain Fred Keenor and the relative obscurity of his teammates. The side secured a draw with Scotland but suffered a 4–0 defeat to England before being replaced by the returning first team players. When Wales relented on hosting fixtures alongside those of the Football League, they were able to call upon their first team more frequently. This coincided with one of the most successful periods in the team's history as they won four Home Championships between 1933 and 1939. The 1938–39 British Home Championship was the final hosting of the tournament before World War II.

Philo T. Farnsworth Award, nominated by MWright96

The Philo T. Farnsworth Award (also called the Philo T. Farnsworth Corporate Achievement Award) is an non-competitive award presented as part of the Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards to "an agency, company or institution whose contributions over time have significantly impacted television technology and engineering." Named for Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of the first fully working all-electronic television system and receiver, the winner is selected by a jury of television engineers from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ (ATAS) Engineering Emmy Awards Committee who consider "all engineering developments which have proven their efficacy during the awards year and determines which, if any, merit recognition with an Engineering Emmy statuette." The accolade was first awarded in 2003 as a result of about a year of lobbying to ATAS by Farnsworth's wife Pam Farnsworth and Hawaii-based Skinner Entertainment management and production firm owner Georja Skinner.

List of Most Played Juke Box Folk Records number ones of 1946, nominated by ChrisTheDude

From 1944 until 1957, Billboard magazine published a chart that ranked the top-performing country music songs in the United States, based on the number of times a song had been played in jukeboxes; until 1948 it was the magazine's only country music chart. In 1946, nine different songs topped the chart, which was published under the title Most Played Juke Box Folk Records. The chart was compiled based on a survey of jukebox operators nationwide, and its methodology allowed for the possibility of records tying for a position. On several occasions during 1946 two or more songs tied for the number-one spot, including the issue of Billboard dated February 2, when four songs tied for the peak position. The Juke Box Folk chart is considered part of the lineage of the current Hot Country Songs chart, which was first published in 1958.

List of awards and nominations received by Joaquin Phoenix, nominated by CAPTAIN MEDUSA

Joaquin Phoenix is an American actor who has received various awards and nominations, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award for his starring role in Joker (2019), two Golden Globe Awards for Joker and Walk the Line (2005), and one Grammy Award, also for Walk the Line). Besides those he won, he was additionally nominated for three Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. That's not a comprehensive list of awards, though, which is why this article exists.

This traffic report is adapted from the Top 25 Report, prepared with commentary by Igordebraga , Kingsif, Benmite and TheConflux.

The pandemic cancelled Halloween, so instead an even scarier event dominates this report: the American election!

Rank	Article	Class	Views	Image	Notes/about
1	Donald Trump		15,162,676		Where to begin? At the start of the week that redeemed 2020, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were elected President and VP of the United States of America. This is a big deal. One of the most notable people who doesn't like that fact is Donald Trump – also the outgoing President, joining a very short list of one-term presidents and starting a new list of one-term presidents who have been impeached – who still, as of writing, refuses to concede (not a necessary step in removal of a president, but a polite one) and demands his legal challenges against nearly every state that voted for Biden be taken seriously. That's hard to do when the man announcing the lawsuits is making his big speech by some flyers out the back of a garage of a landscaping company next to a porn shop in an industrial unit in northeast Philly. Trump has been popular on Wikipedia for a long time; though he hasn't hit #1 in awhile (after all, nearly everyone knows who he is). He topped the list once in 2015, a whopping nine times in 2016, and twice in 2017. His article is also the second-most popular of all time, trailing only United States.
2	Kamala Harris		9,602,086
3	Joe Biden		6,496,836
4	2020 United States presidential election		3,200,218
5	Alex Trebek		2,626,849		Trebek, the longstanding host of Jeopardy!, passed away November 8 from pancreatic cancer. Trebek was one of the most popular people on television. On almost any other week, he would almost certainly have been #1 on this list.
6	Jill Biden		2,562,638		Members of the incoming First and Second Families. Doug becomes the first Second Gentleman. (and his first wife would be #28 if this was a Top 30)
7	Beau Biden		2,474,577
8	Douglas Emhoff		1,962,545
9	The Queen's Gambit (miniseries)		1,804,738		Netflix still captivates enough to break up the election families.
10	Shyamala Gopalan		1,733,395		VP-Elect Kamala Harris's mother, who she spoke of in her acceptance speech, about how she who immigrated from India at the age of 19, and sent powerful messages about dreaming to young minority girls around the world.

But that's how voting works ! (November 15 to 21, 2020)

Rank	Article	Class	Views	Image	Notes/about
1	Donald Trump		6,387,834		Donald Trump, in a preposterous fourteenth time getting #1 on this list, has officially become the child we never asked for who throws a temper tantrum whenever he’s told it’s time to put his toys away and go to bed. You'd think people would already know who Trump is and not bother reading his Wikipedia article, but nope. How wonderful. For those who were comatose for the past few weeks (or for those who don’t live in the United States and can afford not to hear about American politics) Trump still refuses to concede to the real winner (#24) of the recent presidential election (#12). However, for a moment, it seemed as though Our Man in Mar-a-Lago was finally getting past the first stage of grief when he tweeted out a semi-concession to his rival ("He won..."), albeit with yet another baseless accusation of voter fraud ("...because the Election was Rigged,"), only to, for once in his life, actually think about the implications of what he was saying and immediately take it back. The Trump legal team worked overtime last week filing tons of useless lawsuits to try to invalidate as many Biden votes as they could, and, in a turn of events that everyone saw coming, most of them were dismissed from the get-go. As evidenced by the numbers on this list, Trump is doing exactly what he knows how to do best, which is keep his name in the headlines. As tiresome as his shenanigans may be, it’s doubtful that he’ll cease until Joe Biden is inaugurated, but there’s uncertainty surrounding his willingness to even let that happen without things getting ugly. Anyway, here’s a particularly rousing moment from one of his speeches in 2018.
2	Margaret Thatcher		2,929,180		The Crown released its fourth season, now in the late 1970s/early 1980s, and thus boosting the views of some important British women: the ever-controversial Prime Minister known as "Iron Lady" (when she died, " Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" entered the charts!), played there by Gillian Anderson, and the ever-beloved Princess known as "People's Princess" (when she died, " Candle in the Wind 1997" dominated the charts), played there by Emma Corrin .
3	Diana, Princess of Wales		2,839,941
4	Megan is Missing		2,340,447		Well, I guess they Found her. This 2011 found footage horror film about the titular Megan and her friend going titular-ly missing after being (SPOILER!) abducted and killed by a creeper that Megan meets on the internet hasn’t seen much buzz since its release. Even then, its discussion was mostly kept to the internet, where it was lambasted for being rife with continuity errors, exploitation, and clumsy acting, writing, directing, you name it. It was so bad, it even got banned in New Zealand! Then again, so did Mad Max... But recently, like many a forgotten franchise (looking at you, Clone High), the film has been given new life by TikTok users, most of whom seem particularly shaken by its final act. It was enough for the movie’s writer-director-editor Michael Goi to venture onto the platform, where he issued a "warning" telling viewers not to watch it alone or in the dark, which is clearly meant to be an advertisement for the film rather than a deterrent. (He also says that this is the "customary warning" he used to give people before they watched the film despite the warning showing up nowhere in the film itself. As one TikTok comment puts it, "ITS A LITTLE LATE FOR THIS MICHAEL".) All I’ll say is this: if you’re looking for a found footage movie about a teenage girl gone missing, stick to Searching.
5	Elizabeth II		2,241,692		The Crown again, only this time with people born in the royal family. Let's see, there's the show's main character ( the Queen from The Favourite), the uncle of her husband who was killed by the IRA ( the Hand of the King from Game of Thrones), her sister ( the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland), and her son who remains waiting for the throne at the age of 72 (...OK, Josh O'Connor hasn't played another royal yet).
6	Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma		2,169,279
7	Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon		2,018,293
8	Charles, Prince of Wales		1,747,672
9	The Queen's Gambit (miniseries)		1,526,501		It seems like the world won’t stop telling me to watch this show, and as much as I say I don’t have time, I definitely do, I just lack motivation. But I have faith that, once I get around to it, watching it will be worth it. It’s already become one of the top 100 highest-rated shows of all time on IMDb with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and has maintained a spot on the Top 25 for 4 weeks. Who knew people loved chess that much? Well, it might just be that they like watching a show about people playing it. In any case, I would genuinely love to see a series about the guys who play chess at McDonald’s (and trust me, there are plenty).
10	Anne, Princess Royal		1,381,775		British royals again! To wit, #5's only daughter, played in The Crown by Erin Doherty.

Exclusions

• These lists exclude the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (5–6% or less) or almost all mobile views (94–95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the Top 25 Report talk page if you wish.

After winding up the project described here, Mike will start work at the Westland District Library as a digital librarian. He'll be continuing the work he began as a Wikipedian, including recruiting editors and supporting meetup groups and edit-a-thons. The role will involve digitisation of museum collections, a Wikisource project with an early explorer's notebooks, Wikicite work with library collections, and improving the coverage of threatened species. He'll also help organise the New Zealand user group's first Wikimedia conference in Hokitika in March. This article was first published in the GLAM Newsletter this month.

From 5 September to 26 October 2020 I was a Wikipedian at Large on the remote West Coast region of New Zealand. In September I was based in Hokitika, Greymouth, and Westport, and in October in Ōkārito, Franz Josef, Fox Glacier, Reefton, and Arthur's Pass. The project was largely funded by Development West Coast, with additional support or accommodation supplied by Westland District Library, Grey District Library, and Glacier Country Tourism. The brief was to do the following:

• Working with heritage organisations such as museums and libraries to organise uploads of public-domain photos into Wikimedia Commons.
• Improving articles on iconic West Coast features, places, and people using the resources of non-profits, tourism agencies, and individual tourism operators.
• Running a public Wikipedia event in each location, where people could learn the basics of editing Wikipedia and donating photos to Commons.
• Running training for gallery, library, museum, and archives (GLAM) staff in each location – introducing them to Wikipedia, Commons, and Wikidata, and helping each develop a Wikimedia strategy for their collections.
• Giving presentations to tourism organisations and operators in each area on improving Wikivoyage, making print media coverage available to Wikipedians, and donating high-quality photos to Commons.

Achievements

I ran over a dozen talks, workshops, and meetups over the six weeks; the Grey District Library has organised two edit-a-thons as a follow-up to these. Seventeen volunteers signed up to assist with the project. Most were working remotely; both from Australia, and from Wellington, Dunedin, and Christchurch in New Zealand. They reported their achievements each day. Prizes were donated by Development West Coast and Friends of Waiuta and given out for the most and best contributions in different areas. Dozens of articles and Wikidata items were created, dozens of articles improved, and numerous Commons categories were cleaned up. For more on the participants and what they achieved, see the final report on the project.

Over 1,000 photos were added to the category Uploads by West Coast Wikipedian at Large in the course of the project. Here are a selection:

• Walking trails
• 
  Cockayne Nature Walk
• 
  Lake Gault track
• 
  Lake Matheson Walk
• 
  Point Elizabeth Walkway
• 
  Canoe Cove Walk

• Stewart Nimmo photos for Tourism West Coast
• 
  Reefton
• 
  Lake Brunner
• 
  Hokitika Gorge
• 
  Tuatara at West Coast Wildlife Centre

• Historic Buildings of Greymouth
• 
  Clock Tower
• 
  Grey Country Chambers
• 
  Dispatch & Garlick
• 
  High Street Barber
• 
  Waitaiki House
• 
  High Street Auto Centre

• Images from History House Museum
• 
  Amalgamated Association of Reliable Drivers, 1925
• 
  Greymouth Opera House, 1958
• 
  The Opera House burning down 9 Feb 1958
• 
  Union Hotel flooded, c. 1900

In an interview with the Christchurch Press, I mentioned that the Wikipedia coverage of some towns and localities on the West Coast was so incomplete that tourists would be dissuaded from visiting. This led to a TV interview, and my comments were quoted in international reporting of the Hinnosaar et al. 2019 study on the effect of Wikipedia article improvement on visitor numbers. I've subsequently been approached by two NZ tourist organisations wanting to know what they can do to work with Wikipedia.

• Jesse Mulligan interview (4 September 2020). " The West Coast is next on the Wikipedian's mission". RNZ Afternoons (audio, 8:07).
• Carroll, Joanne (12 September 2020). " NZ tourism's Wikipedia problem: Fox Glacier page dominated by deaths, rural NZ non-existent". Stuff.
• Seven Sharp interview (16 September 2020). " Why does Wikipedia paint such a bad picture of New Zealand’s top towns?". (TV, 4:03). Best line: "Surely there's more to East Cape than the bridge upgrade of 2017."
• Johnstone, Charlotte (18 September 2020). " How sprucing up your town's Wikipedia page can boost tourism." The Telegraph.
• Sherman, Janna (30 September 2020). "Wikipedia focuses on West Coast articles". Hokitika Guardian. p1–2
• Ledsom, Alex (3 October 2020). " Improving Wikipedia Pages Can Wildly Increase Revenue For Cities". Forbes.
• Mills, Laura (11 November 2020). " 50 new Coast pages added to Wikipedia." Otago Daily Times.

2020 has seen many difficulties and challenges around the world, but for the WikiCup, it has been an excellent year, with several new entrants to the contest doing exceptionally well. The earlier rounds were dominated by Epicgenius, who achieved 113 good articles during the course of the competition, and the coverage of New York's buildings and other locations improved dramatically! However, the score is reset to zero at the end of each round, and the final round was very productive, with 15 high-scoring featured articles being achieved. The eight finalists also performed 75 reviews of FA candidates, achieved 88 good articles and performed 108 reviews of GA nominations during the last round. The scores achieved by Lee Vilenski and by Gog the Mild this year were nearly three times higher than the score that gave last year's winner first place. Altogether, Wikipedia has benefited greatly from the activities of WikiCup competitors all through the contest. Well done everyone!

Signups have opened for the 2021 competition. To join, click here.

A sampling of the finalists' work...

We can't cover everything (and if we did, it'd probably have an awful lot of overlap with the Featured Content report), but just to give a quick sampler of the finalists' contributions in the last round....

• 
  First-place Lee Vilenski managed an incredible four featured articles in the last round alone, all related to snooker. In addition, he had a featured list, a good topic, and thirty good articles (also mostly snooker related). If only other sports had such dedicated Wikipedians!
• 
  Hannibal took war elephants across the Rhône and through the Alps to invade Rome in the Second Punic War. By his efforts to bring all the articles on the constituent wars of the Punic Wars up to Featured or Good Article status, Gog the Mild created a new featured topic. A newcomer to the WikiCup, Gog was in a close second place and certainly made a memorable showing!
• 
  ...On the subject of other sports having dedicated Wikipedians, third-place The Rambling Man had four featured and eight good articles related to football in England, covering key matches from various seasons.
• 
  Fourth-place Epicgenius had nineteen good articles on places in New York, such as Coney Island (pictured), 1 Wall Street Court, the former New York Times Building, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge Number 878.
• 
  Fifth-place Hog Farm did a lot of work related to Missouri in the American Civil War. Several of the battles he brought to good article status in the last round of the WikiCup can be seen on this map.
• 
  The rulers of the Emirate of Granada, the last independent Muslim state in the Iberian Peninsula were the focus of sixth-place HaEr48, with two featured and three good articles. Pictured is a dinar from the reign of Yusuf I of Granada, one of HaEr48's featured articles.
• 
  While seventh-place Harrias worked mainly on articles related to sports, which sport varied: he collaborated with The Rambling Man on one of the aforementioned football featured articles, had three good articles related to marathons, and had a featured list on the goals scored by Alfredo Di Stéfano (pictured), who played on two different national teams officially, and one unofficially.
• 
  In the News has a reputation as being one of the most selective and difficult sections of the main page to get into. Which is why eighth-place finalist Bloom6132 having thirty-one "In the News" credits in the last round (one hundred thirty-six in the competition as a whole!) is so impressive. Many of them are for recent deaths, such as the death of David Graeber (pictured), who died on the 2nd of September this year.

This Wikipedia essay was first published on February 26, 2015 and written by 53 other editors. Essays are not project guidelines, policies, or part of the Wikipedia's Manual of Style. They may or may not have broad support among the Wikipedia commuity. You may edit this essay if you wish, but please do it at the original essay page.

When writing about women on Wikipedia, make sure articles do not use sexist language, perpetuate sexist stereotypes or otherwise demonstrate a prejudice against women.

As of June 2019, 16.7% of editors on the English Wikipedia who have declared a gender say they are female. ^[1] The gender disparity, together with the need for reliable sources, contributes to the gender imbalance of our content; as of March 2020, only 18.27% of our biographies are about women. ^[2] This page may help to identify the subtle and more obvious ways in which titles, language, images, and linking practices can discriminate against women.

Among editors of the English Wikipedia who specify a gender in their preferences, 115,941 (16.7%) were female and 576,106 male as of 13 June 2019. ^{[1] [a]}

As of 10 March 2020, the English Wikipedia hosted 1,693,225 biographies, 291,649 (18.27%) of which were about women. ^[2] As a result of sourcing issues, almost all biographies before 1900 are of men. ^[5]

In 2009 the percentage of biographies of living persons (BLPs) about women was under 20%, but the numbers have been rising steadily since 2012–2013. As of 5 May 2019, the English Wikipedia hosted 906,720 BLPs, according to figures produced by Andrew Gray using Wikidata. Wikidata identified 697,402 of these as male and 205,117 as female. ^[b] The percentages of those that specified a gender were 77.06% male and 22.67% female; 0.27% had another gender. ^[6]

Avoid language that makes female the Other to a male Self. ^[7]

Researchers have found that Wikipedia articles about women are more likely to contain words such as woman, female and lady, than articles about men are to contain man, male, or gentleman. This suggests that editors write with an assumption of male as the default gender and expect that individuals are assumed to be male unless otherwise stated. ^{[8] [9]} This tendency is easily countered by removing unnecessary specification of sex or gender. Avoid labelling a Margaret Atwood as a female author or Margaret Thatcher as female politician except in specific sentences or paragraphs in which their gender is explicitly relevant.

Categories are equally susceptible to asymmetric treatment of genders. In April 2013 several media stories noted that editors of the English Wikipedia had begun moving women from Category:American novelists to Category:American women novelists, while leaving men in the main category. ^{[10] [11]} Labelling a male author as a "writer" and a female author as a "woman writer" presents women as marked—requiring an adjective to differentiate them from a male default. ^[12] Symmetry of categories has improved since 2013, but where editors encounter an imbalance they should correct it by moving male subjects to explicitly male categories (for as long as the current consensus regarding gendered categories holds).

In most situations, avoid referring to a woman by her first name, which can serve to infantilize her. ^[c] As a rule, after the initial introduction ("Susan Smith is an Australian anthropologist"), refer to women by their surnames ("Smith is the author of ..."). Here is an example of an editor correcting the inappropriate use of a woman's first name.

First names are sometimes needed for clarity. For example, when writing about a family with the same surname, after the initial introductions they can all be referred to by first names. A first name might also be used when a surname is long and double-barreled, and its repetition would be awkward to read and write. When a decision is made to use first names for editorial reasons, use them for both women and men.

Importance of the lead

According to Graells-Garrido et al. (2015), the lead is a "good proxy for any potential biases expressed by Wikipedia contributors". ^[14] The lead may be the only part of an article that is read—especially on mobile devices—so pay close attention to how women are described there. Again, giving women "marked" treatment can convey subtle assumptions to readers.

First woman

Avoid language that places being a woman ahead of the subject's achievements. Opening the lead with "Smith was the first woman to do X", or "Smith was the first female X", immediately defines her in terms of men who have done the same thing, and it can inadvertently imply: "She may not have been a very good X, but at least she was the first woman." ^[15] When prioritizing that the subject is a "first woman", make sure it really is the only notable thing about her. Otherwise start with her own position or accomplishments, and mention the fact that she is a woman afterwards if it is notable.

For example, as of 10 March 2015, Wikipedia described Russian chemist Anna Volkova solely in terms of four first-woman benchmarks. ^[16] But the biographies of Indira Gandhi and Margaret Thatcher, as of the same date, began with the positions they held, and only then said that they were the first or only women to have held them. ^[17]

Infoboxes

Infoboxes are an important source of metadata (see DBpedia) and a source of discrimination against women. For example, the word spouse is more likely to appear in a woman's infobox than in a man's. ^[18]

When writing about a woman who works or has worked as, but is not primarily known for being a model, avoid {{ Infobox model}}. It includes parameters for hair and eye colour and previously contained parameters for bust, hip, waist size and weight. The latter were removed in March 2016 following this discussion. If you add an infobox (they are not required), consider using {{ Infobox person}} instead.

Defining women by their relationships

Wherever possible, avoid defining a notable woman, particularly in the title or first sentence, in terms of her relationships (wife/mother/daughter of). Do not begin a biography with: "Susan Smith is the daughter of historian Frank Smith and wife of actor John Jones. She is known for her work on game theory." An example of the kind of title the Wikipedia community has rejected is Sarah Brown (wife of Gordon Brown).

Researchers have found that Wikipedia articles about women are more likely to discuss their family, romantic relationships, and sexuality, while articles about men are more likely to contain words about cognitive processes and work. This suggests that Wikipedia articles are objectifying women. ^{[19] [d]} Women's biographies mention marriage and divorce more often than men's biographies do. ^[21] Biographies that refer to the subject's divorce are 4.4 times more likely to be about a woman on the English Wikipedia. The figures are similar on the German, Russian, Spanish, Italian and French Wikipedias. ^[e]

[T]he greater frequency and burstiness of words related to cognitive mechanisms in men, as well as the more frequent words related to sexuality in women, may indicate a tendency to objectify women in Wikipedia. ... [M]en are more frequently described with words related to their cognitive processes, while women are more frequently described with words related to sexuality. In the full biography text, the cognitive processes and work concerns categories are more bursty in men biographies, meaning that those aspects of men's lives are more important than others at the individual level." ^[15]

A woman's relationships are inevitably discussed prominently when essential to her notability, but try to focus on her own notable roles or accomplishments first. For example, consider starting articles about women who were First Lady of the United States, which is a significant role, with "served as First Lady of the United States from [year] to [year]", followed by a brief summary of her achievements, rather than "is/was the wife of President X".

Marriage

When discussing a woman who is married to a man, write "A is married to B" instead of "A is the wife of B", which casts the male as possessor. Avoid the expression "man and wife", which generalizes the husband and marks the wife. Do not refer to a woman as Mrs. John Smith; when using an old citation that does this, try to find and use the woman's own name, as in: "Susan Smith (cited as Mrs. J. Smith)".

When introducing a woman as the parent of an article subject, avoid the common construction, "Smith was born in 1960 to John Smith and his wife, Susan." Consider whether there is an editorial reason to begin with the father's name. If not, try "Susan Jones and her husband, John Smith" or, if the woman has taken her husband's name, "Susan Smith, née Jones, and her husband, John", or "Susan and John Smith". Where there are several examples of "X and spouse" in an article, alternate the order of male and female names.

Internal links

The focus on relationships in articles about women affects internal linking and therefore search-engine results. One study found that women on Wikipedia are more linked to men than men are linked to women. When writing an article about a woman, if you include an internal link to an article about a man, consider visiting the latter to check that it includes reciprocal information about the relationship; if it merits mention in the woman's article, it is likely germane to his. Failure to mention the relationship in both can affect search algorithms in a way that discriminates against women. ^[f]

Gender-neutral language

Use gender-neutral nouns when describing professions and positions: actor, author, aviator, bartender, chair, comedian, firefighter, flight attendant, hero, poet, police officer. Avoid adding gender (female pilot, male nurse) unless the topic requires it.

Do not refer to human beings as a group as man or mankind. Sentences such as "man has difficulty in childbirth" illustrate that these are not inclusive generic terms. ^[24] Depending on the context, use humanity, humankind, human beings, women and men, or men and women.

Word order

The order in which groups are introduced—man and woman, male and female, Mr. and Mrs., husband and wife, brother and sister, ladies and gentlemen—has implications for their status, so consider alternating the order as you write. ^[26]

Girls, ladies

Do not refer to adult women as girls or ladies, ^[27] unless using common expressions, proper nouns, or titles that cannot be avoided (e.g., leading lady, lady-in-waiting, ladies' singles, Ladies' Gaelic Football Association, First Lady). The inappropriate use of ladies can be seen in Miss Universe 1956, which on 12 March 2015 said there had been "30 young ladies in the competition", and in Mixer dance, which discussed "the different numbers of men and ladies". ^[28]

Pronouns: Avoid generic he

The use of the generic he (masculine pronouns such as he, him, his) is increasingly avoided in sentences that might refer to women and men or girls and boys. ^[29] Instead of "each student must hand in his assignment", try one of the following.

• Rewrite the sentence in the plural: "students must hand in their assignments."
• Use feminine pronouns: "each student must hand in her assignment." This is often done to signal the writer's rejection of the generic he, ^[30] the "linguistic equivalent of affirmative action". ^[31] See WP:HER.
• Alternate between the masculine and feminine in different paragraphs or sections. ^[31]
• Rewrite the sentence to remove the pronoun: "student assignments must be handed in."
• Write out the alternatives—he or she, him or her, his or her; him/her, his/her.
• Use a composite form for the nominative—s/he or (s)he. ^[32]
• Use the singular they: "each student must hand in their assignment". It is most often used with someone, anyone, everyone, no one. ^[33]

Avoid using openly sexist sources unless there is a strong editorial reason to use them. For example, do not use pornographic or men's websites and magazines (such as AskMen, Playboy, and Maxim) in the biographies of female actors. Be careful not to include trivia that appeals predominantly to men. A source need not be overtly sexist to set a bad example. For example, most women are underrepresented in certain institutions that are slow to change. Often such institutions can be fine to use as a source for men, but for women, not so much.

Avoid images that objectify women. In particular, do not use pornography images in articles that are not about pornography. Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Images states that "photographs taken in a pornography context would normally be inappropriate for articles about human anatomy".

Except when the topic is necessarily tied to it (examples: downblouse and upskirt), avoid examples of male-gaze imagery, where women are presented as objects of heterosexual male appreciation. ^[34] When adding an image of part of a woman's body, consider cropping the image to focus on that body part.

When illustrating articles about women's health and bodies, use authoritative medical images wherever possible.

When writing about women's health, make sure medical claims are sourced according to the medical sourcing guideline, WP:MEDRS. As a rule this means avoiding primary sources, which in this context refers to studies in which the authors participated. Rely instead on peer-reviewed secondary sources that offer an overview of several studies. Secondary sources acceptable for medical claims include review articles ( systematic reviews and literature reviews), meta-analyses and medical guidelines.

To find these sources, enter the search term (e.g., "mammography") into the National Institutes of Health search engine PubMed at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/, and select "reviews" from the "article types" menu. A search for review articles on "mammography" brings up this list. Or select "customize", then the article type (e.g., meta-analysis or guideline). To check an article type (e.g., P. M. Otto, C. B. Blecher, "Controversies surrounding screening mammography", Missouri Medicine, 111(5), Sep–Oct 2014), open the drop-down menu "Publication type" under the abstract. In this case, the classification is "Review". When in doubt, ask for help at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Medicine.

• WP:GGTF, Gender gap task force
• WP:HER, an essay encouraging the use of feminine pronouns
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Women in Red, addressing the content gender gap
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Women in Red/Essays/Writing women into the encyclopedia

General

Books, papers

(chronological)