The CBC, Jian Ghomeshi, and Wikipedia’s ‘conflict of interest’

If you’re eager to learn more about the many accomplishments of Jian Ghomeshi and the high regard in which he holds himself, there are three presumably reliable places to go.
There’s the CBC page of his biography.
There’s Jian’s own home page.
And there’s good old Wikipedia.

And if you do go to each of these three pages, you’ll find them to be a very quick read.
That’s because the bio’s are identical on each page.
It means that the bio prepared by the CBC which is used for marketing and public relations (some might wish to say propaganda) is the same one that appears, word for word, on the Wikipedia entry for Jian.

Where advancing outside interests is more important to an editor than advancing the aims of Wikipedia, that editor stands in a conflict of interest.
A Wikipedia conflict of interest (COI) is an incompatibility between the aim of Wikipedia, which is to produce a neutral, reliably sourced encyclopedia, and the aims of an individual editor.
COI editing involves contributing to Wikipedia in order to promote your own interests or those of other individuals, companies, or groups. Where advancing outside interests is more important to an editor than advancing the aims of Wikipedia, that editor stands in a conflict of interest.

~ WIKIPEDIA

This begs a few simple questions.
Can you trust a Wikipedia entry that’s written by the individual’s employer and their promotions department?
Can you subsequently trust that employer or that individual?

Wikipedia’s entry for Jian is the most extensive, given as it is to repeating the same thing twice:

– “He is also a writer whose editorials and opinion pieces have been published in The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, and The International Herald Tribune.”
– “Ghomeshi’s opinion pieces have been published in the Sunday Washington Post, The National Post, The International Herald Tribune.”

But for anyone interested in reading the editorials that Jian wrote for The Guadian, The Washington Post or  The International Herald Tribune, they’re going to find these very difficult to locate.
We can only hope that Jian will be more helpful with his citations in future updates.

43 Comments

  • Anonymous says:

    Also interesting is that any negative commentary about the CBC is dismissed as jealousy: “You’re all just jealous, mean, bitter people.” What is there to be jealous of? Should we all just drink the kool-aid, walk around in a daze and gush about what a thing of beauty it is?

  • Jian Tweet says:

    Back from photo sessions for NUVO & Toronto Star. Kept the 3-day stubble. Never a simple shaven case, mowing a sprouting Iranian face. (about an hour ago by @jianghomeshi)

  • @jianghomeshi says:

    “Back from photo sessions for NUVO & Toronto Star. Kept the 3-day stubble. Never a simple shaven case, mowing a sprouting Iranian face. (about an hour ago by @jianghomeshi)”

  • Anonymous says:

    Interesting how on this blog, the defense of anything CBC related always amounts to nothing more than ad hominem attacks against the bloggers and commenters.

  • Anonymous says:

    Jian’s twitter friends are obviously a lot better at ass kissing than trash talking.

    • Twitterers, I salute ye says:

      You were not impressed by references to “bitten pillows” and “the Loser Convetion at the Hell Hilton”? It was his way of saying that homosexuals are losers and that they’re going to hell….and that’s what he thinks of us. You’ve got to be impressed by the level of homophobia displayed in that post. No straight man could possess such an obsessive hatred of homosexuals. He’s got the gays on the brain, the poor chap.

  • Anonymous says:

    Scorching reply. Prosecution restz. (sic)

  • Anonymous says:

    You guys just must cry into your bitten pillows every single night. This place is like the Loser Convetion at the Hell Hilton. You’re not even good at hating.

  • Scared Twitless says:

    Oh No!!! Attack Of The Twitterers!!!! They Can Put You In Your Place in 140 Characters Or Less!!!! Please Jian (Jean), Have Mercy On Us!!!!! Don’t Send The Twitterers After Us!!!!! I’m Begging You!!!!!!!!

  • Anonymous says:

    Must have touched a nerve if Jian sending Twitter buddies like Eric out to defend him and Lights.

    Tell us Eric, if someone in Owen Sound give us the “Words from Hollywood” should one of the Hollywood crowd feel obliged to give us the “Words from Owen Sound”?

    And what’s with the continued obsession with Billy Bob Thornton? The rest of the world has moved on and couldn’t care less at this point, yet Jian and his fans (you) continue to harp on about that dull interview. How sad, in March of 2010, to be constantly reliving a day in April of 2009. You and Jian both have my pity.

  • Eric Braul says:

    Oh come on people- the questions Jian asks on the radio are insightful, pointed and tactful. Jian gives hard to answer questions with a little wit and humour. I have to say, you guys must all be jealous of his show for all the senseless bashing you do.

    p.s. Words from Hollywood- Thornton was a dick on the show, and Jian handled it with respect and class. Also, pretty much every other musician as young as LIGHTS has a manager- and usually they’re not managed by 16 year old girls. Chill out.

  • Anonymous says:

    If you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.

  • "Indie" Anonymous says:

    For an “Indie Artist”, Lights had an unprecedented amount of publicity and promotion. She had comic books, an animated series, exclusive access to CBC television and radio due to the absence of ethics of a certain CBC radio host who was working on her behalf, greasing the wheels, making sure that she received coverage from practically every media outlet in the country. She certainly had all the bases covered. The end result? Her album charted for only 1 week and then fell off the Canadian charts completely. EEP!

    The only award that this mammal and her manager deserve is an award for “massive failure”.

  • Anony nony says:

    Off topic but “Lights” got the award that Jian paid for

    Known as The Indies, the Canadian Independent Music Awards honour
    Canadian and international talent who are on independent labels.
    Winners are chosen by a combination of professionals from the retail,
    recording and live performance sectors, and fans.

    Other winners include:
    * Favourite Album: Into Your Lungs, Hey Rosetta!
    * Favourite Group: USS.
    * Solo Artist: Lights. <<===========================
    * Blues Artist: Daddy Long Legs.
    * Classical Group: Canadian Brass.
    * Electronic Group: Crystal Castles.
    * Folk/Roots Artist: Kathleen Edwards.
    * Pop Group: The Midway State.
    * Punk Artist: Protest The Hero.
    * Rock Group: Matt Mays & El Torpedo.
    * International Artist: Nine Inch Nails.
    * International Album: Fearless, Taylor Swift.

    The awards, handed out at a ceremony in Toronto on Saturday night, cap
    off Canadian Music Week, which began on March 10.

    • Anonymous says:

      Is anyone else tired of hearing that Lights does it all herself when Jian has been navigating every step of his love’s career for 9 years & now uses his cbc-q connections to do so? She should be disqualified from all awards because of her unfair publicity advantage!

  • Five W's says:

    wikaghomeshi may have missed some poignant details.

  • *i prefer George any day* says:

    Ghomeshi’s publicist/agent should try very hard to create a woman by proxy for him quickly.At least George is a real man with real wants and needs,its actually nice to hear/see how he had to play musical beds to get his show.

  • Anonymous says:

    Speaking of conflict of interest, LIGHTS is performing on CBC Radio One’s “Go!”. Nepotism rules! It ain’t what you know, it’s who you know.

  • Anonymous says:

    He hangs out with young girls going thru emo phases (Lights) so of course he thinks & tweets like one.

  • George Goebbels says:

    Jian tries way too hard to be aloof and quirky, even in his stupid tweets. He’s a middle-aged man and his tweets read like a teenage girl going through an emo phase: “Dear book-loving humans: About to do live online chat” ……It’s no wonder why he gives off such strong pedo-vibes when he’s constantly displaying that he has the mental maturity of a teenager.

  • Jealous idiots No,Truthful Scholars Yes! says:

    We Teamkers scribe just as we see it and YES honesty hurts,so sorry.

  • Sketchy Ghomeshi says:

    The cbc is so cheap,they no longer care if employees have any viable credibility.

  • Sketchy History says:

    Ghomeshi’s background/c.v is very strange looking as there are long blanks in his life.It’s extremely odd for a “modern day renaissance man” to not brag about anywhere in the media world about the women/men he’s dated or dumped?Jian would have much more of a hope/positive impact if those things were shared.Doing that would give the little weasel a bit of the credibility he so craves for his persona.

  • Ghomeshi is a waste of "Precious" time says:

    Jian should be taken off the air,he probably suffers from manic depression,but there is no excuse for how he mocks and calls down anything in the entertainment industry.
    Cbc should get rid of him quickly as he criticises the very industry he promotes on q.

  • Words from Hollywood says:

    Someone should cut off those fingers of his,I’m sick of him and his trying to be clever criticisms was at the awards and I am embarrassed he considers himself Canadian as when I chatted to some celebs about him and his negativity/scrutiny on awards programs and some have said they really don’t want to ever be on his program as he has nothing good to say when any type of live programming is aired.ghomeshi is a disgrace and its too bad he insulted Thornton,B.Pitt thinks the “little Shit” should be “deep sixed”.Back to the party’s for me teamakers,and Hollywood loves you all/this page!

    • Fake Max Haines says:

      This might be the first comment on TM advocating dismemberment. Scha-weet, dude!

      Way to knock the level of discourse down a coupla pegs.

      Swastika on the forehead much?

  • Anonymous says:

    Could “Q” withstand such withering scrutiny? Maybe if Jian stepped onto a film set for once in his life, he would realize that the nature of filmmaking is “staid”, so why shouldn’t their award show be “staid”?

  • staid says:

    Jian’s new favourite word appears to be “staid” –

    “Precious” wins two in succession and injects some much-needed emotion into proceedings. Anyone finding this staid overall? #Oscars
    about 1 hours ago via web

    Your tweets coming in fast/furious – unanimous response re show: “staid,” “dry,” “awful” & “uninspired.” Many wish NPH was hosting. #Oscars
    about 1 hours ago via web

  • Anonymous says:

    …& why didn’t dave matheson join the moxy reunion last monday? Was he out of town, or not interested? Just asking…

  • Anon says:

    While we can’t do much about the CBC page, and his “own page” is probably run by a company with boilerplate, on Wiki there is a history page
    button
    http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jian_Ghomeshi&action=history

    showing who and when changes were made. Cur/prev

    There is also a Talk button which has some old discussion of a few details.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Jian_Ghomeshi

  • Allan says:

    By chance last night, I was reading the Wiki entry for Eddie Izzard, a favourite entertainer.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Izzard

    and was surprised to find this section:

    “… gags which recur in different shows. He tackles topics both contemporary and historic, including frequent re-imaginings of historical events which result in scenes like ‘Cake or Death: Church of England runs the Inquisition,’ or ‘Jesus Ministers to the Dinosaurs.’

    When asked about his comedy style by George Stroumboulopoulos, host of CBC Television’s talk show, The Hour, Izzard described his use of history by saying,

    “I just talk complete bullshit. The history, the politics, I noticed that no one was using history, so there’s a lot of history lying about the place, and it’s all free, and it’s on Wikipedia! You know, I use Wikipedia like a crazy idiot, now. Then I take all this stuff, and I regurgitate it into a weird angle”.[10]

    In 2008, in his Stripped tour, Izzard began using Wikipedia itself as part of his stand-up act, reading from a live copy of an article (via an iPhone) and mocking Wikipedia’s self-referential editorial style. To date, he has read from a variety of different articles …”

    While other quotes are used, none of them are dealt with in such an elaborate fashion. Others find it sufficient to say The Guardian as the source but this one finds it necessary to go beyond merely saying the CBC.
    It also has the markings of being planted because when you read the preceding passage and the one that follows, you see that it adds nothing to the text. The point has already been made and the quote just repeats it.
    I don’t think George sits at home late at night writing this stuff, but rather someone acting on his behalf. George, after all, has never written anything since he left school.

    But it’s a further indication that zealous people connected to the CBC and these two personalities have no qualms about trying to manipulate the public’s impression.
    When we read declarations like “one of the most respected journalists in the country” and “Canada’s #1 Late Night Talk Show” it re-inforces the conclusion that these two XYZ Generation guys are exactly like their commercial counterparts.
    Manipulating social media and Wikipedia to give the world the impression that their accomplishments loom larger than life reveals them to be nothing more than petty, low-life, liars.

  • Anonymous says:

    Interesting to see how any debate about cbc peronalities’ marketing spin or hype hits a nerve & generates bullying, expletives & accusations of insanity. Just saying…

  • Anonymous says:

    Once upon a time there was a site called The Teamakers that was written by a manager inside the CBC at the time of the lockout. Then they got bored, and turned over the site to a bunch of jealous mewling idiots, and what was once a place of criticism became misfit toy stalker central. People stopped reading, then commenting, then all that was left were the jealous and the mentally crippled. The end.

  • Utahraptor says:

    Oh my god STOP THE PRESSES! The guy wrote his own bio, gave it to CBC for their website, and posted it on Wiki. Big deal; that’s what bios are for. Half the performers in this country do the same thing. Here are the answers to your questions begging to be answered.
    1. No, you can’t trust a wikipedia entry on anyone or anything anywhere, because anyone can contribute and a bunch of them are inaccurate.
    2. What the fuck are you talking about?!

  • Anonymous says:

    It says in his Wiki that he’s been managing LIGHTS since 2001 (she was born in 1987). That is creepy. Would you trust this guy with your 14 year old daughter?

  • Anonymous says:

    …And why did his National Post gig come to an end? Was it just economic hard times at the paper?

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