Wikipedia in Macedonian requests from VMRO-DPMNE not to embellish itself with volunteers’ work

By Vistinomer On Dec 2, 2016 0

Old stone house in Malo Ilino village, near Demir Hisar, on Wikipedia in Macedonian. Photo: @petrovskyzphotography, Wikimedia Commons

In its Accomplishments Report “ACCOUNTABLE – PROJECTS, MEASURES AND ACTS FOR THE CITIZENS AND STATE!”, presented on March 20 this year, the ruling party VMRO-DPMNE asserts that thanks to its initiatives, the Macedonian chapter of the free encyclopedia Wikipedia is working on new content that is being translated into foreign languages. The team of the Macedonian version of the online encyclopedia reacted (on 30 November 2016) by saying that it is untruе.

Here’s exactly what’s written in VMRO-DPMNE’s Account:

We continue with initiatives for creation of Macedonian content on Wikipedia and translation into the most used languages in the world: English, Spanish, German, French and Chinese. In 2009, this popular service had 37.000 articles written in Macedonian, and currently has around 84.500.

[Source: „ОТЧЕТНO – ПРОЕКТИ, МЕРКИ И ДЕЛА ЗА ГРАЃАНИТЕ И ДРЖАВАТА!“, Date: 20 March 2016]

EXPLANATION

VMRO-DPMNE’s assertion that thanks to its initiatives new content is being created on Wikipedia, and it is being translated into the most used languages in the world – English, Spanish, German, French, i.e. are uploaded to the appropriate language versions on Wikipedia, has been disproven by the team of the Macedonian version of this online encyclopedia. Via post on their Facebook page, Wikipedia in Macedonian has reacted that it is a matter of untruth.

(The post, that has been deleted in the meantime, is available below)

Wikipedia in Macedonian would like to react publicly on the occasion of the published Accomplishments Report of the party VMRO-DPMNE, VMRO – DEMOCRATIC PARTY FOR MACEDONIAN NATIONAL UNITY that depicts the achievement and work of our volunteers and members as party work and achievement of a certain organization, party, which is completely opposite to Wikipedia’s principles.

Party’s account emphasizes that “we continue with initiatives for creation of Macedonian content on Wikipedia…” and “… in 2009… had 37.000 articles written in Macedonian, and currently has around 84.500”, and by doing so, the volunteers’ work is depicted as somebody else’s, as party’s, and that the number of articles is reached thanks to the initiative of this party, which is completely untrue.

Besides the note that VMRO-DPMNE’s assertion causes injustice to the volunteers that participate in the writing and editing on Wikipedia, i.e. their engagement is depicted as party’s, the post additionally explains that the principle of the work is neutrality, regardless of who would express readiness to help and to be included.

Wikipedia in Macedonian, just as all other language editions of Wikipedia, is an encyclopedia that can be edited by everyone. We are ready and willing to cooperate with interested individuals, organizations, institutions and everyone that wants to support project’s enrichment with quality content in Macedonian, but we emphasize that the basic principles, especially the neutrality principle, ought to be obeyed.

Initiatives for creation of new and improvement of existing articles on Wikipedia in Macedonian, arise principally from the efforts of the active project users, therefore, we back up the attitude that their voluntary work and free time must not be misused under any circumstances. On the contrary, we risk the active users to abandon the projects, which would seriously impede its further development.

Besides the reaction of Wikipedia in Macedonia regarding VMRO-DPMNE’s attempt to appropriate the credits for the increase of number of articles, another disputable thing in the party’s assertion is that, unlike great deal of other items in the Accomplishments Report, in the specific case with Wikipedia, there are no basic parameters, i.e. the means, the period and the scope of VMRO-DPMNE’s contribution towards the enrichment of the online encyclopedia.

Nevertheless, the fact that the most competent factor disproved the party’s assertion, unambiguously emphasizes that VMRO-DPMNE has stated an untruth in its Accomplishments Report.

SOURCES

(20 March 2016) VMRO-DPMNE – „ОТЧЕТНO – ПРОЕКТИ, МЕРКИ И ДЕЛА ЗА ГРАЃАНИТЕ И ДРЖАВАТА!“ [Accessed on 30 November 2016]
(30 November 2016) Wikipedia in Macedonian Facebook page – Reaction [Accessed on 30 November 2016]

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