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 Welcome, Lindisfarne! 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.
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Wikipedia's puzzle-globe logo, © Wikimedia Foundation
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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.

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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.

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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.


-- Wikinews Welcome (talk) 12:16, 8 April 2012 (UTC)Reply

Your mass marriage article edit

Hi. There's a real problem, here. I'm not trying to be "difficult"; we have principles we have to operate on (not red tape, principles).

Consider our position. We publish articles claiming trustworthiness comparable to articles from BBC or Al Jazeera. It's hard enough to maintain that level of journalistic standard. But what makes it all really bizarre is that we're also an open wiki. One can equally well ask either "how can an open wiki possibly maintain high journalistic standards" or "how can a project with high journalistic standards possibly be an open wiki". The way we go about it is really quite exciting (though it presents major challenges, which are being worked on by those of us passionate about the project). But it requires we follow some strictly enforced principles — fully grokking the principles, one finds that what we're merciless about is the spirit rather than the letter.

For WN:OR, we need confidence in you —the kind and degree of confidence depends on the nature of the OR— and our primary way of knowing anything about any contributor is their history of contribution. Depending on what aspect of "confidence" one is considering, history of contribution to any of the wikimedia sister projects may suffice, or in the extreme opposite case, contribution to English Wikinews may be all that counts. And we also need documetation — a "paper trail" — for the OR. Which apparently you don't have, because you say you took 'mental notes'.

It's usual to start out at Wikinews writing WN:synthesis rather than OR, and even then, often the first article is a learning experience, that goes around multiple times with reviewers and ultimately doesn't get published (yes, we want to make that part more efficient). Our initial learning curve, it's been remarked, is 'steep but short'; once you're past it, contribution becomes much easier, though of course we hope never to stop learning. --Pi zero (talk) 14:50, 2 December 2012 (UTC)Reply

I hope to consult with someone else. Meanwhile, I'm removing the article from the review queue for now. --Pi zero (talk) 16:57, 2 December 2012 (UTC)Reply
Hi. Can I ask you, did you take the photos yourself? I haven't seem them; I'm trying to get the story published while it's still fresh, and having the images available would help, of course. I would like to ask your permission to get them restored at Commons if you don't mind. Gryllida 12:21, 5 December 2012 (UTC)Reply
Hello Gryllida, yes you can restore those pics and use them, those were taken by me on a Nikon D-60 during the event.

Mugalkhod Jeedga Mutta organizes mass marriage in Belgaum, India edit

This is now nominated for deletion, although it could perhaps have been tagged as abandoned and removed more quickly. You've demonstrated no understanding of how POV your presentation of the story is, and have the chutzpah to accuse Wikinews about being full of plagiarism. Then, you claim this story is "a raging national debate"; if it were, then there would be coverage that bore some resemblance to yours. There is no such coverage.

So, we come down to the most-obvious of questions, "What are your links to, or associations with, the group you are trying to promote?"

More pertinently, what on Earth makes you think you can write a press release on someone's half and expect us to publish it? Wikinews is most definitely not run like PR Newswire. --Brian McNeil / talk 15:02, 7 December 2012 (UTC)Reply

Can you please substantiate "write a press release on someone's half". Prove yourself. Also save the implicit pontification. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by ‎117.200.111.217 (talkcontribs)
This works the other way round. The burden of proof is not upon us, but you. --Brian McNeil / talk 15:33, 7 December 2012 (UTC)Reply

Nice excuse for incompetence and ignorance. I submitted the so called "news item" because Gyrillda requested it - not because I approve it. Also I suggest you get straight your facts about India before commenting. Goodbye. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Lindisfarne (talkcontribs)

  • I think you'll find I've commented more on you writing in the manner of a press release than on any particular country. And, I strongly suspect bringing up incompetence and ignorance is not something that would play well in your favour. --Brian McNeil / talk 06:46, 8 December 2012 (UTC)Reply