Wikipedia, being one of the most popular go-to websites for information regarding different topics, is making sure that all its article references are reliable. With that, the website's editors have voted to oust one well-known publication from Wikipedia's list of reliable sources. It was said that the online encyclopedia is finally banning Daily Mail from being a source for its website after years of discussions.
According to The Guardian, this move is kind of unusual for Wikipedia, considering that it rarely places a ban on publications. Nevertheless, its editors have a reason why they deem that a ban is in order for Daily Mail. Apparently, Wikipedia editors believe that Daily Mail has a reputation for sensationalism, poor fact checking and flat out fabrication.
It is worth noting that Wikipedia is run by the Wikimedia Foundation. However, the organization isn't the one controlling the editing processes and it's the volunteer editors for the English Wikipedia who discussed the banning of Daily Mail as an article reference. As per Wikimedia's statement, the editors of the English Wikipedia have come to a decision that Daily Mail is unreliable and its usage as a reference must be prohibited, especially when there are other reliable sources that exist.
It's also worth noting that when the proposal to ban Daily Mail was initially made, it was actually met with different responses. Some editors were in favor of it while there were also some who opposed to it. Those who disagreed with the move said that Daily Mail was also sometimes reliable and that there are also other publications that can also be deemed as unreliable.
Needless to say, the consensus has been met and Daily Mail alongside its website dailymail.co.uk are now banned from being used as a reference in Wikipedia. There will be instances where citing the publication is necessary such as when talking about the publication itself or any of its employees. However, as a whole, Daily Mail will no longer be cited in Wikipedia. The website's editors also asked for volunteers to review past links to Daily Mail and replace them with other sources if possible.
