The contest is now closed... MessedRocker congratulates Nzgabriel for winning!.



James Hare Wikinews Contest!
Be able to win cash for helping Wikinews

If Wikipedia can have Danny's Contest, then Wikinews can have Messy's Contest.

While this can be construed as similar to the International Wikinews Writing Contest that has been successfully held twice, this is something different. There is indeed a point system, however the way you can win points is different. Note the name of the contest: this is the Wikinews contest, not particularly the writing contest. As noted below, you can now earn extra points depending on what kind of article you write, as well as generic Wikinews duties. At the end of this contest (January 1, 2007), the person with the most amount of points will win US $100 courtesy of the following users, and a gmail and an Orkut invitation:

Totals
Nzgabriel (New Zealand) Shyam (India) FellowWikiNews (Canada)
308 168 99

Earning points

Here are things that can earn you points:

  • 1 point - Copyediting, finding additional sources, saving an article from Abandoned status or other maintenance tasks that ends up getting published thanks to your efforts
  • 2 points - Bringing an article to neutral point of view which ends up getting published
  • 2 points - Reading an article for Spoken Wikinews, or doing one of the daily News Briefs
  • 3 points - Contributing substantially (in terms of content) to what results in being a comprehensive article (about three paragraphs) that ends up getting published
    • One additional point if it's on a region which you are not from
      • Another two points if it's on a region which is almost never covered, e.g. Africa, or a topic which has low coverage
    • Two additional points if it's original reporting
      • Another two points if your original reporting incurred at least US$25 in expenses (be ready to scan and e-mail receipts to prove it)
  • 1 point each - Finding a public domain or copyleft image for an article that does not exist on Wikinews or Wikimedia Commons yet (cap: three per article)
  • 2 points - Translating the article into another language, putting the article on that language's Wikinews, and having that article there published
  • 1 point - Inviting a new person that contributes to Wikinews
    • Two bonus points if they become actively contributing members
      • One additional bonus points if they join the contest

Last updated: 16:28, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

If you have suggestions for things you could earn points for, as well as recommended revisions to the system, please contact me. I, Messedrocker, reserve the right to modify the points system, however any changes will not applied retroactively.

In the events of needed clarifications, I also reserve the right to mediate such issues and award points accordingly.

Contestants

In order to be eligible, you must have a profile on this page where you will index things that can earn you points. While you can keep your own personal log, the one on this page is the only one that counts. Note that "Country" can refer to both the country you are originally from as well as the country you live in now (in that circumstance, please list both). See below as an example as to how to format your own profile.

  • Name: Nzgabriel
  • Country: New Zealand
  • Language: English
  • Current number of points: 308

  • Name: Shyam
  • Country: India
  • Language: en-3, hi
  • Current number of points: 168

  • Name: FellowWikiNews
  • Country: Canada
  • Language: English
  • Current number of points: 99
  • Name: Brian New Zealand
  • Country: New Zealand
  • Language: English
  • Current number of points: 97

  • Name: Jason Safoutin
  • Country: United States
  • Languages: english
  • Current number of points: 65
  • Name: Richard "Doc" Kinne
  • Country: United States
  • Language: English, Esperanto
  • Current number of points: 42


  • October 31, 2006: translate en -> pl
  • Name: Laleena
  • Country: Grayslake, Illinois, USA
  • Languages: English, German, Spanish
  • Name: towsonu2003
  • Country: Istanbul, Turkey
  • Languages: English, French, Turkish

User has withdrawn from the contest at 20:50, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

  • Name: Skenmy
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Language: en, eo-1
  • Current number of points: 21

Withdrawn from Contest

  • Name: Thunderhead
  • Country: United States
  • Languages: en, sp-1
  • Current number of points: 5

Disputes

If there are any disputes or needed clarifications related to the contest, please post them below.