Reports/2012/January

Below is the Wikimedia UK monthly report for the period 1 to 31 January 2012. If you want to keep up with the chapter's activities as they happen, please subscribe to our blog, join our mailing list, and/or follow us on Twitter. If you have any questions or comments, please drop us a line on this report's talk page.

Program activities

GLAM activities

One of the images donated by Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry

• QRpedia was shortlisted for a Smart UK award. Also see our blog post.
• Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry contributed several watercolours of Coventry and the surrounding area to Wikimedia Commons.

Education projects

Martin Poulter, along with two members of Wikipedians at Imperial College, visited Oxford University on 27th January to train fourteen graduate students in basic Wikipedia editing. This is part of the Free Speech Debate project led by Prof. Timothy Garton Ash, which is creating its own multilingual site at http://freespeechdebate.com and also improving Wikipedia articles. The target articles, which participants will improve over the coming weeks, are "Freedom of speech" in Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Urdu.

The Free Speech Debate project was launched by a public talk featuring Jimmy Wales and Timothy Garton Ash. Despite being streamed online, it filled up the lecture theatre and an overflow room. Wikipedia, and its blackout the previous day, were the main focus of discussion. One Twitter comment described the event as a "love fest for Wikipedia". Prof. Ash acknowledged this, saying that the success of the encyclopedia's was something for other crowdsourcing projects to learn from.

Expert outreach

11th Wikipedia Birthday cake

• The Girl Geek Dinner group in Bristol celebrated Wikipedia's 11th birthday with a training event/ editathon at the University of Bristol's Virtual Reality Suite. Wikimedia UK provided experienced Wiki editors and a birthday cake. Among the edits was a new stub page for the Nobel Womens Intiative.

Other activities

• Microgrants approved this month include ...

SOPA

This month's major news story was the English Wikipedia blackout against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) that took place on 18 January. The blackout was a community decision; Wikimedia UK supported the community's decision, and explained it to the media and public. Roger Bamkin, Jon Davies, David Gerard, Martin Poulter and Steve Virgin gave many interviews to the media, supporting the Wikimedia Foundation's media communications led by Jimmy Wales, Sue Gardner and Jay Walsh. WMUK also put out two blog posts: [1] [2]

Newspaper coverage

• BBC: Wikipedia joins web blackout in Sopa protest, 17 Jan, Wikipedia co-founder defends 24-hour shut down, 17 Jan, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales explains 24-hour shutdown, 17 Jan, Without Wikipedia, where can you get your facts? 18 Jan, Почему Википедия и Google видят угрозу в Sopa и Pipa?, 18 Jan, Wikipedia - after the blackout, 19 Jan, 24 hour blackout is over as Wikipedia goes online, 19 Jan (CBBC Newsround), Sopa and Pipa protests not over, says Wikipedia, 19 Jan, Support wanes in US Congress for anti-piracy bill, 19 Jan
• Telegraph: Wikipedia to shut down for 24 hours in piracy protest, 17 Jan, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales defends SOPA protest blackout, 17 Jan, Jimmy Wales's Wikipedia shutdown shows a failure of imagination over the online piracy act, 17 Jan Wikipedia and Google join anti-piracy bill protest, 18 Jan], Keep your claws out of Wikipedia’s anthill, 18 Jan, How to access Wikipedia during the 24-hour blackout, 18 Jan, Wikipedia hails blackout protest as success, 19 Jan, Yesterday's SOPA blackout proved that we're lost in a world without Wikipedia, 19 Jan (Telegraph blogs), Wikipedia blackout draws traffic boost, 21 Jan
• Guardian: Twitter boss slams Wikipedia's 'silly' Sopa protest, 16 Jan, Wikipedia's blackout looms, 17 Jan, Wikipedia blackout a 'gimmick', MPAA boss claims, 17 Jan, Sopa blackout and day of action - as it happened, 18 Jan, Wikipedia blackout: a nation of students mourn, 18 Jan, Why the Wikipedia blackout is good news for art lovers, 18 Jan, onarts blog Behind the music: What if the culture industry shut down for a day?, 19 Jan, Music blog, Defend our freedom to share (or why SOPA is a bad idea), 19 January, grrlscientist blog, Wikipedia blackout pushes traffic to mobile site, 20 Jan
• TechRadar: 24-hour Wikipedia blackout will protest SOPA/PIPA, 16 Jan, Wales: Wiki blackout will send global message, 17 Jan
• Metro: Wikipedia blackout to hit the web in protest against US anti-piracy laws, 16 Jan - Front page news, Wikipedia stages 24-hour blackout protest but loopholes remain, 18 Jan, Wikipedia users beat 24hr blackout over privacy laws (print), 19 Jan
• Reuters: Wikipedia to shut for 24 hours to stop anti-piracy act, 16 Jan, Wikipedia to shut for 24 hours to stop anti-piracy act, 17 Jan
• The Register: Wikipedia to shut down Wednesday in SOPA protest, 16 Jan
• Financial Times: Wikipedia’s anti-SOPA blackout will go ahead on Wednesday, 16 Jan
• Wired: Wikipedia will go down on 18 January, 17 Jan
• Huffington Post: Wikipedia To 'Go Dark' For 24 Hours In Protest Against US Stop Online Piracy Act, 17 Jan
• T3: Wikipedia UK goes offline in protest of SOPA, 18 Jan
• The Independent: Why I want to bring down the internet – for a day, 17 Jan, Wikipedia blackout: A reminder we shouldn’t take internet freedom for granted, 18 Jan, WWW: World Without Wikipedia, 19 Jan, Wikipedia hails 'blackout' success, 19 Jan, Is Wikipedia winning the war? US Senate slips into reverse after blackout day, 20 Jan
• The Week: Wikipedia alternatives: where to go during piracy blackout, 17 Jan
• New Statesman: Wikipedia 24-hour blackout: a reader, 17 Jan, Why we're taking Wikipedia down for a day (by Steve Virgin), 17 Jan
• The i (Independent-connected), print, 17 Jan, "Protest sees Wikipedia go offline"
• New Scientist: Wikipedia to shut for 24 hours over US anti-piracy laws, 17 Jan
• The Mirror, Wikipedia: Why it will 'black out' tomorrow - the background explained, 17 Jan, Wikipedia blackout against anti-piracy laws hailed a success, 19 Jan
• The Times: Negative opinion piece by David Aaronovitch, behind paywall
• Daily Mail: Google joins Wikipedia 'day of darkness' protest - but is it a blackout after all?, 18 Jan, Wikipedia blackout: It may inconvenience students, but will it concentrate the minds of US politicians?, 18 Jan, Wikipedia protest hits home: U.S. senators withdraw support for anti-piracy bills as 4.5 million sign petition, 19 Jan
• Bristol 24/7: Bristol Wikipedians back protest against piracy laws
• MSN UK: Wikipedia hails 'blackout' success, 19 Jan
• UK Press Association: Wikipedia hails 'blackout' success, 19 Jan
• publicservice.co.uk, Top UK government official supports Wikipedia blackout, 19 Jan
• The Sun, Bogus facts flood the net during Wikipedia blackout, 19 Jan
• The Drum, Wikipedia traffic increases during blackout, 19 Jan
• V3, European Commission digital chief backs anti-SOPA protests, 20 Jan
• The Daily Mash, The Mashipedia Emergency Fact Service, 18 Jan, Headache epidemic caused by having to think, 18 Jan
• Oxford Student, Wikipedia blacks out arts students, 19 Jan
• Yorkshire Post, Wikipedia blacked out in piracy law protest, 18 Jan
• politics.co.uk, Comment: The nuanced politics of Wikipedia's 'blackout', 18 Jan
• Londonist, Wikipedia Blackout: Here’s What You Need To Know About London, 18 Jan
• Oxford Student, The Malcontent on: The Wikipedia Blackout, 26 Jan

Radio

• BBC World Service: 12:30, 17th Jan, Roger Bamkin
• BBC Radio 4, World at One (13:30, 17th Jan, Jimmy Wales), [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b019fx9v PM, 5:45pm, David, discussion with pro and con
• BBC Radio Scotland. Newsdrive, 4-6pm Tue, David Gerard. Morning show, David, 8:15am
• BBC Radio 5 Live, Jimmy Wales. Also 8.20am, 18 Jan, Steve.
• BBC Radio London: David, Wed 18th, 7:12am
• BBC local radio stations: Devon, Foyle, Shropshire, Cornwall, Manchester, Humberside, Bristol, Guernsey, Jersey, 3CR Luton, Northampton, Lincolnshire (18 Jan, Steve)
• BBC Radio Wales/Cymru Wednesday AM - Martin P.
• Monocle: 12.30, 17th Jan, David Gerard (live + podcast, ~4 mins long)
• NPR (US), David Gerard, circa 13.30 GMT, 17th Jan
• Voice of Russia, American Edition, David Gerard, 15 mins, to be broadcast 18 Jan

TV

• BBC Newsnight, 17 Jan: interview with Jimmy Wales by live feed (36 mins in); also see [3]
• BBC News 24, 18 Jan (Steve)?
• BBC News at 10, 18 Jan - about 18 mins in, Jon Davies
• 19 Jan, New Zealand TV, Jon Davies, http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/wikipedia-blacks-in-protest-video-4693707)
• Russia Today TV, Wed, London Jon Davies, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUNi7wE5Lto
• Channel 4 News, 18 Jan, 19.25
• ITV News at 10 (Jon Davies)
• Channel 4 News - Wikipedia web blackout in piracy law protest - January 18, 2012
• BBC News - Wikipedia's blackout protest against SOPA explained - January 18, 2012

UK Wikimedian blogs

• http://davidgerard.co.uk/notes/2012/01/19/sopa-blackout-post-mortem/

More information

• http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/English_Wikipedia_anti-SOPA_blackout
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative
• http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/01/16/wikipedias-community-calls-for-anti-sopa-blackout-january-18/ (over 2,000 comments!)
• http://blog.wikimedia.org/2011/12/13/how-sopa-will-hurt-the-free-web-and-wikipedia/
• https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/how-pipa-and-sopa-violate-white-house-principles-supporting-free-speech
• http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-01/17/sopa-101 (good background guide)

UK press coverage (and coverage of UK projects & activities)

Monmouthpedia

• Wikipedia launches new QR code project to document daily life in Monmouth, UK Qrcodepress.com, 2 January
• Monmouth becomes the world’s first Wikipedia town monmouthshire.gov.uk, 2 January
• Wikipedia as travel guide (Croatia) IT Vesti, 2 January
• Wikipedia names Monmouth for new cultural project, Women in Technology, 3 January
• Wikipedia brengt dorpsleven in beeld De Morgen (Dutch) 4 January
• Wikipedia Takes Tourism Mobile business 2 community, 4 January
• Is Monmouthpedia The Future Of Wikipedia?, TechDirt, 5 January
• Monmouthpedia launched to cover all aspects of life in Welsh town 100gf | Politics and Computers, 2 January
• The Monmouthshire Beacon sparks global interest in Monmouthpedia Monmouthshire Beacon 11 January
• Council Backs Creation Of Monmouthpedia e-government bulletin, 12 January
• Monmouth to be first Wiki-town Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Review, 18 January
• Wikipedia puts Monmouth on frontier of a new kind of local history The Guardian, 26 January
• Welsh town of Monmouth gets Wikipedia treatment, ComputerActive, 26 Jan

Wikimedia fundraiser

• Wikipedia raises record $20million in fundraising as annual campaign ends, Metro, 3 January
• Wikimedia reaches funding targets, fights SOPA, Wired, 3 January
• Wikipedia attracts $20m from donors, The Times, 3 January
• Wikipedia meets $20 million fundraising target, TechRadar, 3 Jan
• Wikimedia raises record-breaking $20m, CivilSociety, 4 January

PR company and Stella Artois

• The lobbyists, the Russians, Google and “wife beater”, Tom Watson's blog, 2 January
• Lobbying company tried to wipe out 'wife beater' beer references, Independent, 4 January
• Lobby firm tries to get ‘wife beater’ nickname for Stella wiped off Wikipedia entry for beer, Daily Mail, 4 January
• Stella Artois hires PR firm to get rid of "wife beater" nickname on Wikipedia., Mirror, 5 Jan

Oxford free speech project

Related to http://freespeechdebate.com/

• Wikipedia Founder Launches Free Speech Project in Oxford Today, eNews Park Forest, 19 January
• Wikipedia boss in city debate, Oxford Mail, 20 January
• Wikipedia founder launches free speech project, Cherwell.org, 25 Jan
• Wikipedia founder in free speech debate, Oxford Student, 26 Jan

= Orange making Wikipedia available data-free in Africa and the Middle East

• Orange to provide Wikipedia free in Middle East and Africa, Guardian, 24 Jan
• Orange offers free mobile Wikipedia access in Africa and Middle East, Wired, 24 Jan
• Orange promises free Wikipedia in Africa and the Middle East, Tech Week Europe, 24 Jan

Android App

• Wikipedia Reveals Official Android App, TechWeekEurope, 20 Jan
• Apps Rush: Wikipedia, Michael Owen, Soul Calibur, Tribe, Niko, FourFourTwo, Hatchi and more, Guardian, 19 Jan
• Wikipedia Android app review, PC Advisor, 31 Jan

Miscellaneous

• The PR Transparency Project – Part #1: making an example of Tim Bell, Bloggerheads
• Emily Coyte: Act now to stop new threat to freedom of online speech, Bristol 24/7, 30 Jan (regarding ACTA)
• Zambian living in South East London, UK near Gatwick Airport edited Wikipedia, claimed President Sata assassination, UKZambians, 28 Jan

Upcoming activities in February

• (To be copied here from Events at the end of this month)

For events in March and onwards, please see Events.

Administrative activities

Board activities

Board meetings

• 3 January 2012 (Board)
• 24 January 2012 (Executive)

A particularly important decision this month was the resolution approving our statement on fundraising and funds dissemination principles.

We are currently planning a Board Interest Day, to be held in London on 11 February, ahead of the board elections in May. See our blog post for more information.

News from the Chief Exec

For information on Jon's activities this month, see News from the Office.

Fundraising

During the annual Wikimedia fundraiser, we raised over £1 million for the Wikimedia movement, thanks to over 43,000 UK donors! This was the first year when we were able to offer direct debits and Gift Aid, and we saw a considerable take-up of both.

Staff

This month the chapter began recruiting for a Communications Organiser and interviews were conducted for the Events Organiser.

---