Wikipedia Falsely Reports Sinbad's Death

By KELLI KENNEDY

Associated Press Writer

The Associated Press

Updated: 11:09 p.m. PT March 15, 2007

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MIAMI - Actor-comedian Sinbad had the last laugh after his Wikipedia entry announced he was dead, the performer said Thursday. Rumors began circulating Saturday regarding the posting, said Sinbad, who first got a telephone call from his daughter. The gossip quieted, but a few days later the 50-year-old entertainer said the phone calls, text messages and e-mails started pouring in by the hundreds.

"Saturday I rose from the dead and then died again," the Los Angeles-based entertainer told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

The St. Petersburg-based company, which describes itself as "the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit," leaves it to a vast user community to catch factual errors and other problems. Apparently, someone edited it to say Sinbad died of a heart attack. By the time the error was caught, e-mail links of the erroneous page had been forwarded to hundreds of people.

A note on Sinbad's Wikipedia page Thursday night said the site has been temporarily protected from editing to deal with vandalism.

Wikipedia was created in 2001 as a Web research tool. It has more than 1.6 million articles, contributed by members of the public.

A telephone call and an e-mail left for Wikipedia were not immediately returned Thursday night.

When asked if he was upset about the mix-up, Sinbad, whose real name is David Adkins, just laughed.

"It's gonna be more commonplace as the Internet opens up more and more. It's not that strange," the Los Angeles-based entertainer told the Associated Press in a phone interview.

Sinbad, who is currently on the road doing stand up, said he hasn't received an apology from the Internet site. He has appeared in the films, "Houseguest," and "Jingle All the Way."

© 2007 The Associated Press.

I'm not sure why this story recieved so much attention, 

I looked at the history on Wikipedia and it showed that someone had entered that Sinbad was dead, but then someone else had changed it back 10 minutes later and reported the vandalism. They banned the person that made the false entry and locked the page the prevent any more until it could be settled.

So how is that an indictment on how unreliable Wikipedia is? Sure they let anyone add to it, but it's still under constant review and thepeople that know something can correct the mistakes. Newspapers print errors that last a lot longer before they are corrected than Wikipedia does. The Encyclopedia Britianica has had erros in it that have lasted for decades.

Even Stephen Colbert couldn't get away with it, since even though he had thousands of people following his ideas on what to change all of those articles were changed back and locked until the furor died down. 

All that was changed is they made a new article on Wikiality to show the attempts but it's more of a myth then an actual practice. I suppose it's a better story that way to believe it.

At least Sinbad got a bit of publicity

Quote - At least Sinbad got a bit of publicity

That's probably why someone changed it, Since I was confused on how many people could notice it and email it to others in the short time it was changed. Sounded kinda like either a publicity stunt for Sinbad or someone with a grudge against Wikipedia. 

Even if it was one of those people like in the song "White & Nerdy" that enjoys screwing with Wikipedia articles then how did so many people find out about it and why was it so widely reported if it wasn't a publicity stunt?

I hate that damn site, so much for facts. HA! That site is the biggest joke going. And everyone just loves copying/pasting & stealing what is written on it.

Small things amuse small minds.

It was a hoax. Someone just bored with nothing better to do with their time.

Sinbad had nothing to do with that. I saw this on the news. His phone was ringing off the hook
with concerned family members asking about him.So no, Sinbad had nothing to do with this prank.

Any liberal nitwit with a keyboard can enter anything they want. It doesnt get checked.

Prob a liberal with nothing better to do with their time. We all know how much liberals love that site.
I hope it gets closed down someday. Maybe when the wrong info keeps getting put up it will. or, the site gets a lawsuit for printing someone's death when they're not dead.

(MHO)

" Any liberal nitwit with a keyboard can enter anything they want. It doesnt get checked.

Prob a liberal with nothing better to do with their time. We all know how much liberals love that site."

A feel that there's a certain tendentiousness in the above post, but I can't quite put my finger on it..

Quote - Prob a liberal with nothing better to do with their time. We all know how much liberals love that site.

Dropped on your head at birth?  Lost grandson of Strom Thurmond?

"Any liberal nitwit with a keyboard can enter anything they want. It doesnt get checked"

How awful!

The irony is that this splenetic whinge almost certainly emerged from the self-styled `land of the free'.  I blame drink (been there) :laugh: