Six Cents on Citizen Journalism

In undergrad it was always interesting which professors were pro and anti-Wikipedia. Some professors were certain that Wikipedia would lead to the end of academia. Some professors felt confident that the website was always one hundred percent factual and ended any debate. More commonly, professors would advise the use of Wikipedia only for “light reference” or brainstorming. These were my favorite professors: the ones who when asked a question, “How many times was Henry Clay Speaker of the House?” would answer with, “I don’t remember—look it up on Wikipedia.” They were my favorite because they were not naive enough to think we spent hours and hours looking for obscure sources in the library, but they also realized to ban Wikipedia from the classroom would also make us use it more.