Welcome to Wikinews

A nice cup of coffee for you while you get started

Getting started as a contributor
How to write an article
  1. Pick something current?
  2. Use two independent sources?
  3. Read your sources before writing the story in your own words?. Do choose a unique title? before you start.
  4. Follow Wikinews' structure? for articles, answering as many of who what when where why and how? as you can; summarised in a short, two- or three-sentence opening paragraph. Once complete, your article must be three or more paragraphs.
  5. If you need help, you can add {{helpme}} to your talkpage, along with a question, or alternatively, just ask?

  • Use this tab to enter your title and get a basic article template.
    [RECOMMENDED. Starts your article through the semi-automated {{develop}}—>{{review}}—>{{publish}} collaboration process.]

 Welcome! Thank you for joining Wikinews; we'd love for you to stick around and get more involved. To help you get started we have an essay that will guide you through the process of writing your first full article. There are many other things you can do on the project, but its lifeblood is new, current, stories written neutrally.
As you get more involved, you will need to look into key project policies and other discussions you can participate in; so, keep this message on this page and refer to the other links in it when you want to learn more, or have any problems.

Wikipedia's puzzle-globe logo, © Wikimedia Foundation
Wikipedia's puzzle-globe logo, © Wikimedia Foundation
  Used to contributing to Wikipedia? See here.
All Wikimedia projects have rules. Here are ours.

Listed here are the official policies of the project, you may be referred to some of them if your early attempts at writing articles don't follow them. Don't let this discourage you, we all had to start somewhere.

The rules and guides laid out here are intended to keep content to high standards and meet certain rules the Wikimedia Foundation applies to all projects. It may seem like a lot to read, but you do not have to go through it all in one sitting, or know them all before you can start contributing.

Remember, you should enjoy contributing to the project. If you're really stuck come chat with the regulars. There's usually someone in chat who will be happy to help, but they may not respond instantly.

The core policies
Places to go, people to meet

Wiki projects work because a sense of community forms around the project. Although writing news is far more individualistic than contributing to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, people often need minor help with things like spelling and copyediting. If a story isn't too old you might be able to expand it, or if it is disputed you may be able to find some more sources and rescue it before it is listed for deletion.

There are always discussions going on about how the site could be improved, and your input is of value. Check the links here to see where you can give input to the running of the Wikinews project.

Find help and get involved
Write your first article for Wikinews!

Use the following box to help you create your first article. Simply type in a title to your story and press "Create page". Then start typing text to your story into the new box that will come up. When you're done, press "save page". That's all there is to it!



It is recommended you read the article guide before starting. Also make sure to check the list of recently created articles to see if your story hasn't already been reported upon.

--Pi zero (talk) 13:27, 14 July 2012 (UTC)Reply

Paralympic Fitness Centre

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Comments at Talk:Paralympic Fitness Centre#Focus. --Pi zero (talk) 19:10, 26 August 2012 (UTC)Reply

IPC inducts new members into its Hall of Fame

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Found not-ready; see review comments. Fixed some problems, notably some re WN:NPOV; see history of edits during review. --Pi zero (talk) 03:11, 31 August 2012 (UTC)Reply

Found not-ready; see review comments. See also history of edits during review.

Frank Ponta inducted into the Paralympic Hall of Fame

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Copied from Laura's talkpage.

"His spirit lives on in a new generation of athletes and coaches."

I think you can probably guess why I've pulled the above sentence; it qualifies as shameless editorializing. However, if someone at the induction ceremony said it, then it can be included as a quote. --Brian McNeil / talk 08:36, 31 August 2012 (UTC)Reply

Didn't write it. Go tell Hawkey7. :) He needs to get better at knowing how to write. Getting better and more competent and we're still working on notes. --LauraHale (talk) 08:42, 31 August 2012 (UTC)Reply
    • Leave it out. Sir Philip did say something like that, but I might have the words slightly wrong. He also expressed great pleasure in rattling off the sports Ponta competed in and then adding how pleased he was that the picture showed him on holding a basketball. Hawkeye7 (talk) 09:37, 31 August 2012 (UTC)Reply

File:APC Prince Harry with Maddison Elliott.jpg

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There is your image.  :) Article does not need to be that long. Three paragraphs. Journalist notes need to be done but can help with them. (In wheelchair fencing right now, which starts at 6:30.) --LauraHale (talk) 17:09, 4 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

Hi. Headline needed to be much more specific, and various other things came up during review; see review comments, detailed history of edits during review. --Pi zero (talk) 02:22, 5 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

Shortened infobox on Paralympics articles

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  • I've added an optional 'short=yes' parameter to the {{2012 Olympic Paralympics}} template. Useful where the article is a little shorter, and the infobox otherwise-overpowers it.
Using the parameter, {{2012 Olympic Paralympics|short=yes}}, sees the picture dropped, the logo placed at the top, and not shown at the bottom. --Brian McNeil / talk 08:41, 5 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

"from the paint"

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I cannot find a succinct explanation of this term, just lots of use of it as "basketball jargon". --Brian McNeil / talk 15:28, 5 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

Duncan Campbell

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Wikinews interviews Duncan Campbell, one of the creators of wheelchair rugby is where I have started the draft. :) No worries about it being on the main space. Just easier for me to create there. Sorry about not getting the picture. :( Moment of fail. --LauraHale (talk) 18:27, 5 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

Greg Smith

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Hi. E-mailed you the interview as it was short. --LauraHale (talk) 21:21, 5 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

Gliders V USA

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User:LauraHale/Gliders player USA is where draft. The sitting volleyball interviews are in the sports dropbox folder. --LauraHale (talk) 11:41, 6 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

See my edits both to the article and to its talk page, and my review comments. --Pi zero (talk) 01:40, 7 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

There are lots of ways to cope with a misstatement in what was said, without falsifying the record of what was said. I'm sorry to hear that Hansard falsifies its record, but we have better journalistic ethics than that at Wikinews. I have implemented one of several obvious techniques for providing accurate information without falsifying the record, and frankly you should have looked for some such technique rather than even considering lying about what was said.
Evidently your article was not based only on the materials provided by the reporter's notes. The reporter's notes are supposed to be an accurate record of where the information came from; the article is derived from the notes. You should have recorded in the notes an explanation of the three-versus-a-couple issue — where you got your information about "three", and how you were handling the discrepancy (which, as I said, you could have handled in a number of acceptable ways rather than resorting to revisionism). --Pi zero (talk) 13:38, 7 September 2012 (UTC)Reply
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I mean to fix these myself for the current article, but please keep in mind, images should have copyright information on them before being used in an article that is submitted for publication. The idea in submitting for publication is that the writer believes they've done everything they know how to, to prepare the article and reduce the reviewer's burden as much as possible. --Pi zero (talk) 00:10, 8 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

Interview transcription help

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Published. See review comments, detailed history of edits during review. (Also leaving a note for Laura since she emailed the scans, which are addressed in the review comments.) --Pi zero (talk) 16:07, 13 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

Wikinews interviews Australian Glider Amanda Carter

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Needs some attention. See article talk. --Pi zero (talk) 01:12, 28 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

Article starts

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--LauraHale (talk) 02:55, 10 December 2012 (UTC)Reply

Email/JWS access

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Hi! Can you confirm you received those details? And, that they're all working for you? --Brian McNeil / talk 08:26, 7 January 2013 (UTC)Reply

Yes! They are. I have logged on and changed the password. Hawkeye7 (talk) 08:50, 7 January 2013 (UTC)Reply

Adminship

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Congratulations, your RFA has been closed as successful and you now have the admin bit. Please review the blocking policy, deletion policy, the protection policy and enjoy your new tools :). If you have any questions please let me know. --Cspurrier (talk) 00:15, 27 January 2013 (UTC)Reply

Thank you!!! <<hugs>> Hawkeye7 (talk) 02:05, 29 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
Btw, Wikinews has the most sane, imho, of all blocking policies I've seen: "It is up to admins to use their discretion to decide when to block" — and then everything else on the page is advice. You act judiciously, maturely, and if you become a problem the community de-sysops you.
Congratulations on receiving your mop and bucket. --Pi zero (talk) 02:54, 29 January 2013 (UTC)Reply
Thank you. Hawkeye7 (talk) 05:20, 29 January 2013 (UTC)Reply

Category:Goalball

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Oh, good. That one's wanted creation for some time. :-)  --Pi zero (talk) 05:46, 29 January 2013 (UTC)Reply

It doesn't appear that the text, notes, or pictures were yours. Why would you add your personal category to it? --Pi zero (talk) 01:03, 1 February 2013 (UTC)Reply

I was there. We watched the game together and took notes together. I gathered the handouts, which were scanned and uploaded. We then decided to write up the game two ways, from the POV of both sides. The result was two articles: Gliders win against Brazil in their 2012 Paralympic opening match from the Australian POV, and Brazil women's national wheelchair basketball team loses first game in its 2012 Paralympic campaign from Brazil's POV. I'm not going to make a fuss about it if you want to strike me from credit for the two articles. Hawkeye7 (talk) 02:42, 1 February 2013 (UTC)Reply

Hi. I still see a sourcing problem; review comments, edits during review. --Pi zero (talk) 20:54, 6 May 2013 (UTC)Reply

Canberrans flood Cotter Dam on open day

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Hi. When I (finally) looked this over, I immediately encountered a difficulty (or two) needing some work by the reporter; see my review comments. --Pi zero (talk) 19:15, 25 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

privs

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This user has resigned accreditation and adminship. --Pi zero (talk) 14:27, 12 August 2013 (UTC)Reply

Hi. I had some difficulties reviewing the article, though I did verify most of it. See my review comments. --Pi zero (talk) 04:35, 23 October 2013 (UTC)Reply

Wikinews is not a theatre of war

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That's a direct quote from WN:What Wikinews is not. I've hidden the content of the revisions containing the comment. --Pi zero (talk) 19:09, 11 November 2013 (UTC)Reply

A general thought on planning OR

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It would be useful all-around were you to regularly post in advance (well in advance when possible) to the water cooler (perhaps to proposals?) when you plan to attend an event and do OR on it, saying what sort of coverage you hope to do, what sort of documentation you hope to provide (audio, video, scans of handwritten, whatever). It's more likely reviewers can arrange to be available if they know when review labor will be wanted, and it'll likely help you with planning and give others a chance to make suggestions. --Pi zero (talk) 16:41, 26 November 2013 (UTC)Reply

Well, the next one will be the World Championships in Toronto, Canada, on 19–29 June 2014. I am very wary of posting anything at all to the water cooler. Hawkeye7 (talk) 01:12, 27 November 2013 (UTC)Reply
Hmmmm, I'm be curious as to why such wariness exists. Maybe you've had a bad experience there....I dunno.....? --Bddpaux (talk) 05:00, 27 November 2013 (UTC)Reply
I was stripped of my Wikinews accreditation remember? So I will be there for Wikipedia, not Wikinews. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:39, 27 November 2013 (UTC)Reply

Thailand protests/occupation of government offices

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For a start, I'd not class the occupation as breaking news. It is a new development in something that's been going on for about(?) five years. none of the mainstream media are picking up on this, or even mentioning it! The current PM, Yingluck Shinawatra is a younger sister to Thaksin Shinawatra who was run out of office for shady dealings and had his diplomatic passport taken off him in London whilst 'on the run'.

There's an opportunity here to do an awesome, in-depth, piece. I wish I'd the time to do so, but having gotten myself involved in the Scottish Independence issue (as well as having to learn more about 'bleeding-edge' telecoms stuff), I've not got the time to do so.

I am, however, going to drop an email to David Blackall and ask him to point his students at this. I'd far-rather see his students try their hand at something more-complex than 'basic synthesis'; to try collaborating on a big, complex and ugly, story.

What I'd also like to add is a "Thank you". That being for continuing to contribute, despite the 'issues' over accreditation. Journalism can be a pretty unpleasant 'trade'; being required to dig into the 'ugly' side of human nature can make people pretty vindictive. Wikinews can be worse than Wikipedia in some ways, but is a million times better in others; but, as I learned with this article, we're likely the only project that is 'appropriately critical' of who we listen to. --Brian McNeil / talk 12:30, 28 November 2013 (UTC)Reply

I'm afraid my article is no better than the Guardian's article, but when I started, none of the mainstream media even had any pictures, and I did. (Since then they have bought better ones than mine.) Back in 2008, all the mainstream media told anyone was that there was a dispute between people wearing red, and people wearing yellow. While here I have found that the dispute is very, very complicated, and it will probably require a few people working together to really put it into an in-depth piece that explains all its details to the outsiders. Hawkeye7 (talk) 01:13, 29 November 2013 (UTC)Reply

Well, published, but to do so I cut out a whole bunch of stuff I didn't successfully verify in source-check. I'm really struggling to work out why things aren't going more smoothly; see my review comments and detailed history of edits during review. --Pi zero (talk) 20:47, 1 December 2013 (UTC)Reply

Image licensing

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Hi there. You have uploaded one or more images to Wikinews in the past, but it is missing important information. All images uploaded to Wikinews require both a source (who made the file) and licensing information: anything that doesn't have both is assumed to be copyrighted and therefore ineligible for usage on Wikinews. Please check your files and ensure that your files fit the image use policyFile:Notes from Capitals game 2013-02-01.pdf has neither. Thanks, Microchip08 (talk) 10:09, 4 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Please consider using a license that does not force non-commercial usage, as that isn't a free license and therefore requires a fair use rationale for each instance. Microchip08 (talk) 23:45, 9 May 2014 (UTC)Reply
No, it does not require a fair use rationale. Ever. Hawkeye7 (talk) 03:47, 10 May 2014 (UTC)Reply

Could you please add a sentence or two on the article collaboration page about the circumstances of the interview? It won't hold up review (at least, not if I do the review, since I know a reasonable amount about the circumstances; I can likely review it in the next few hours), but even post-publication (supposing there isn't some strange problem during review), it's highly desirable to have the context information there, from you, for the record. --Pi zero (talk) 11:17, 1 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Can you be more specific about what information is required on each interview? I can't find the relevant section in the Style Guide. Hawkeye7 (talk) 21:54, 1 July 2014 (UTC)Reply
What you've put there is fine, thanks. I think I wrote something about this... somewhere... It wouldn't be in the style guide; if it were somewhere obvious it'd be at WN:OR, but I don't see it there really. WN:PILLARS, which works very hard to be short, says "OR notes publicly document where the information comes from for both verification and authentication; aim for substantially more than needed, rather than for sufficiency"; I still think there might be something a bit more than that, though. Then again, perhaps I'm only remembering something I wrong in a review comment somewhere, which would not be effectively findable; documenting the project has been a very slow and difficult process, and there's lots and lots still to do. --Pi zero (talk) 22:56, 1 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Hi Ross

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I put some comments/questions at your RFAccred. I'd like to see your response(s) soon, if possible. --Bddpaux (talk) 21:45, 21 September 2015 (UTC)Reply

Twitter automation not working

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Any clue who handles the Twitter account? It is inactive for months. If automation can not be set up, I am ready to volunteer for updating it regularly.
acagastya 20:42, 28 June 2017 (UTC)Reply

Relicense

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Hi! You just relicensed a file. Would you also be willing to relicense:

  1. File:2012-08-31 12.32.28.jpg
  2. File:2012-08-31 12.35.50.jpg
  3. File:2012-08-31 12.47.09.jpg
  4. File:2012-08-31 12.47.34.jpg

Thank you! --MGA73 (talk) 15:40, 23 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

Sure. Back then there were concerns about the licensing of images taken using my media accreditation, but this is no longer an issue. Hawkeye7 (talk) 18:59, 23 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
Awesome, thank you! --MGA73 (talk) 07:49, 26 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
Perhaps also File:Notes from Capitals game 2013-02-01.pdf. If the notes are NC and is used in the article then the article would include NC-work. --MGA73 (talk) 08:03, 26 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
My handwritten notes? They were just the source material for the article. So that would not be the case. I can re-license them too though. Hawkeye7 (talk) 08:20, 26 January 2024 (UTC)Reply
Thank you! It may not be needed but it will look better if the notes are licensed freely. If you are not too tired of me yet perhaps you could scan Category:Imported from Dropbox and see if there are any more of your notes or photos. Some notes do not have a source. --MGA73 (talk) 16:05, 26 January 2024 (UTC)Reply