| Revision as of 16:37, 27 December 2005 editDan100 (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users29,067 edits runs← Previous edit | Revision as of 17:17, 27 December 2005 edit undoNetesq (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users2,865 edits Reinserted content about Brian Chase's role as an emerging public figure along with a quote from Daniel Brandt.Next edit → | ||
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| Chase learned of the effect of his post through the news. Meanwhile, the IP address he had used was traced back to his company by ], a commentator regarding privacy issues and the World Wide Web. Chase resigned from Rush Delivery on ] and delivered a handwritten apology that day to Seigenthaler. Chase said he had done it as a joke to shock a colleague, after he had found out anyone could edit Misplaced Pages; he thought that it was a "gag" web site. {{ref label|NYTSeigenthaler|1|a}} Seigenthaler encouraged Chase's boss to not accept his resignation. | Chase learned of the effect of his post through the news. Meanwhile, the IP address he had used was traced back to his company by ], a commentator regarding privacy issues and the World Wide Web. Chase resigned from Rush Delivery on ] and delivered a handwritten apology that day to Seigenthaler. Chase said he had done it as a joke to shock a colleague, after he had found out anyone could edit Misplaced Pages; he thought that it was a "gag" web site. {{ref label|NYTSeigenthaler|1|a}} Seigenthaler encouraged Chase's boss to not accept his resignation. | ||
| Because of his central role in the larger controversy involving Seigenthaler, Chase had a profound impact on Misplaced Pages and became the center of a controversy involving the issue of what qualifies ]s as ]s. Few would argue that Chase is not newsworthy. However, but for his role as a "fifteen minute newsmaker" who made the Misplaced Pages edit heard round the world, Chase would still be a private person. At the same time, this assertion could be made for once private persons like ] and ] (better known by her ] ]), now famous as litigants in landmark ] decisions. | |||
| In an interview with CNET News, Daniel Brandt stated: | |||
| " . . . Misplaced Pages's criteria for whether someone merits a biography has an extremely low standard. For example, there's a page on Brian Chase, and I don't feel comfortable about that. Right now, newspapers should print his name because it's topical. But a few months from now, his name will sort of disappear from the Internet because newspapers don't rate that high on the search engines, and it's only up in Google news for a month. But Misplaced Pages articles rank very, very highly on all search engines and Brian Chase will shoot right up to the top with the Misplaced Pages. | |||
| "And when this poor guy is trying to send out his resume, and he never gets called back from interviews, how do you know that the people aren't Googling him when they get his resume and saying, 'Well, he did this thing.' The permanence becomes invasion of privacy even more so than getting your name in the newspaper." | |||
| == Notes == | == Notes == | ||
Revision as of 17:17, 27 December 2005
 | It has been suggested that this article be merged with John Seigenthaler Sr. Misplaced Pages biography controversy. (Discuss) |
Brian Chase (born circa 1967) is a United States citizen who posted false information on Misplaced Pages, which led to the John Seigenthaler Sr. Misplaced Pages biography controversy.
Chase was the operations manager of Rush Delivery in Nashville, Tennessee when he anonymously posted to Misplaced Pages from his employer's IP address on May 26, 2005. His post suggested that John Seigenthaler Sr., a former editor of The Tennessean in Nashville, was believed to have been involved in the assassinations of both John and Robert Kennedy and had lived in the Soviet Union for several years. The article remained unedited for several months until Seigenthaler was made aware of the article and subsequently criticized Misplaced Pages in several media outlets.
Chase learned of the effect of his post through the news. Meanwhile, the IP address he had used was traced back to his company by Daniel Brandt, a commentator regarding privacy issues and the World Wide Web. Chase resigned from Rush Delivery on 9 December and delivered a handwritten apology that day to Seigenthaler. Chase said he had done it as a joke to shock a colleague, after he had found out anyone could edit Misplaced Pages; he thought that it was a "gag" web site. Seigenthaler encouraged Chase's boss to not accept his resignation.
Because of his central role in the larger controversy involving Seigenthaler, Chase had a profound impact on Misplaced Pages and became the center of a controversy involving the issue of what qualifies private persons as public figures. Few would argue that Chase is not newsworthy. However, but for his role as a "fifteen minute newsmaker" who made the Misplaced Pages edit heard round the world, Chase would still be a private person. At the same time, this assertion could be made for once private persons like Rosa Parks and Norma McCorvey (better known by her pseudonym Jane Roe), now famous as litigants in landmark United States Supreme Court decisions.
In an interview with CNET News, Daniel Brandt stated:
" . . . Misplaced Pages's criteria for whether someone merits a biography has an extremely low standard. For example, there's a page on Brian Chase, and I don't feel comfortable about that. Right now, newspapers should print his name because it's topical. But a few months from now, his name will sort of disappear from the Internet because newspapers don't rate that high on the search engines, and it's only up in Google news for a month. But Misplaced Pages articles rank very, very highly on all search engines and Brian Chase will shoot right up to the top with the Misplaced Pages.
"And when this poor guy is trying to send out his resume, and he never gets called back from interviews, how do you know that the people aren't Googling him when they get his resume and saying, 'Well, he did this thing.' The permanence becomes invasion of privacy even more so than getting your name in the newspaper."
Notes
- Seelye, Katharine Q (December 11, 2005). A Little Sleuthing Unmasks Writer of Misplaced Pages Prank. The New York Times.
Sources
- Page, Susan (December 11 2005). "Author apologizes for fake Misplaced Pages biography", USA Today. Retrieved December 12 2005.
- Mielczarek, Natalia (December 11 2005). Fake online biography created as 'joke' The Tennessean.
- Brandt, Daniel (December 5 2005). Reports of the incident and discovery of Brian Chase via wikipedia-watch.org. Retrieved December 11 2005.
- Terdiman, Daniel (December 15 2005). "Newsmaker: In search of the Misplaced Pages prankster" C|Net News.com. Retrieved December 15 2005.
- BBC, (December 12 2005) "Misplaced Pages joker eats humble pie".