Dept. of Raging Disappointment

[kaffy_r]

Boosting the Signal

Just so you folks know, I sent this email to the Wikimedia Foundation earlier tonight.

To Whom It May Concern,

This year, for the first time, I donated money to support the Wikimedia Foundation, and I thought I had done a good thing in doing so.

However, the recent news that your Arbitration Committee has made a decision to permanently ban five writers and editors, in response to pressure from members of the so-called Gamergate community, has decreased my respect for, and confidence in, your organization and its policies.

I refer to these reports:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/23/wikipedia-bans-editors-from-gender-related-articles-amid-gamergate-controversy

http://internet.gawker.com/wikipedia-purged-a-group-of-feminist-editors-because-of-1681463331

I hope someday to be able to donate to your organization again. For now, however, I join other members of the Internet community in saying that, until you fix Wikipedia's systemic bias against women, you will not get another penny from me.

And please do not indulge in the traditional defense of the disingenuous and cowardly; do not say, "We are not responsible." Of course you are, because you are financing and supporting the toxic atmosphere of its administrative and cultural infrastructure.

The buck stops with you.

Most sincerely,

Kathryn J. Routliffe

With many thanks to kerravonsen 

Comments

[kaffy_r]

Thank you so much for the link to the High Schoolers' piece. It was very well done, and I agree that Fox should pay attention to people like this. Of course, they won't, but it was gratifying to listen to. God bless those kids, and I hope some of them make it to my profession; it will benefit by their addition!

And I agree with you about Wikipedia. I like starting there for information, but doing so now makes me feel queasy.

*hugs, many, many hugs*