The news media often does a poor job of covering or even understanding the internal workings of Wikipedia, the Wikimedia movement, and the Wikimedia Foundation. However, the recent appointment of Arnnon Geshuri to the WMF Board of Trustees and the growing community complaints regarding his involvement in the High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation cases resulted in some substantial and accurate news coverage.
The first publications to cover the matter were ZDNet in France and Ars Technica in the United States. On January 25, Joe Mullin, Tech Policy Editor at Ars Technica, published "Wikipedia editors revolt, vote 'no confidence' in newest board member", in which he noted:
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Nearly 200 Wikipedia editors have taken the unprecedented step of calling for a member of the Wikimedia Foundation board of directors to be tossed out.
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A flurry of similar stories in other news outlets followed – among them the BBC and Le Monde – in languages including English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese. Many of these linked to the no-confidence vote itself as well as to The Signpost's prior coverage; a number of them, including the BBC, Ars Technica, and Fortune, noted that Jimmy Wales, Arnnon Geshuri, and/or the Wikimedia Foundation did not respond to requests for comment.
The media narrative, as told in snippets
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More than 200 Wikipedia editors have backed a vote of no confidence in a trustee of the site's governing body. Arnnon Geshuri, a former human resources manager at Google, was appointed to the board of the Wikimedia Foundation this month. —BBC
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Members are calling for his termination after discovering that Geshuri had been involved in the collusion between Apple, Google, and other tech companies that resulted in a $415 million class action lawsuit. According to a Department of Justice investigation, the companies had illegally agreed to not poach each others' employees, depressing workers’ salaries and career mobility. Released e-mails from the case show Geshuri playing a key role in the collusion, at one point e-mailing Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt that a Google recruiter who had contacted an Apple employee would be "terminated within the hour." —Fortune
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One editor unhappy about the appointment wrote: "I'm appalled: Why this kind of person, with this kind of background, at all?" Another added: "I have no more confidence for the whole board, especially also to name Mr Wales himself. The board presents itself in a tragic condition, all faith lost that it could work for the best of the projects." —BBC
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Quite apart from the current controversy, one wonders what need the current nine-member Foundation board would have for such a high-calibre human resources manager. Although the Foundation's staff numbers have risen to around 300, it's still a small organisation compared to the IT companies of Silicon Valley. Furthermore, Wikipedia is currently suffering a more pressing need for volunteers. Geshuri's appointment is unlikely to help with that. —Golem
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The "no-confidence vote" launched by Wikipedia editors is unprecedented, although it has no official status – the organisation's bylaws don't envisage this type of vote. —Le Monde
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The fact that Geshuri's appointment to the Board is proving so controversial is mainly due to the fact that the Foundation has so far not made any response to the massive criticism from the community. Many of those who have signed the no-confidence vote are expressing a loss of faith in the organisation. —t3n
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Three former chairs of the WMF Board of Trustees have expressed dismay at the appointment: Florence Devouard, Kat Walsh and Michael Snow. —The Register
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The current conflict is part of a larger fight over the Wikipedia parent's strategic direction. Critics are accusing the foundation of acting increasingly like a Silicon Valley company and ignoring the community. —Heise
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Wikipedians have deplored the influence of Google in the Board (5 out of 10 members have a present or past link to Google) after this appointment, as well as that of Tesla – which also has links to Google. —ZDNet (France)
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James Heilman, meanwhile, who was removed from the Board in late 2015 for unspecified reasons, is accusing the Board of a general lack of transparency. —Heise
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Jimmy Wales has since dismissed Heilman's claims as "utter fucking bullshit". —The Register
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In February, Heilman intends to publish e-mails from his time on the Board, provided that the Board is unable to provide reasons justifying secrecy. —Heise
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Today, Geshuri addressed the community that's up in arms against him. In a message posted to the Wikimedia-l mailing list, Geshuri began by saying it was "truly inspirational" to witness the "commitment and energy of the community." —Ars Technica
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Tesla's controversial HR chief has pleaded with Wikipedians for their trust, in a style so unctuous it could make Dickens' Uriah Heep blush. —The Register
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Geshuri's message was followed with a note to the same list from Alice Wiegand, who is presently the Vice-Chair of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. She told editors that the board "has read your messages and is discussing the concerns you have raised about Arnnon Geshuri's appointment." She described Geshuri as an "excellent candidate" who had earned the board's support. "We understand this conversation will continue, and we will continue to monitor it," she wrote. "However, we want to be clear that the Board approved Arnnon unanimously and still believes he is a valuable member of the team." —Ars Technica
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The newest addition to the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, Tesla VP of Human Resources Arnnon Geshuri, has stepped down just a few weeks after he was appointed. Geshuri's appointment was immediately controversial with editors of the site. The controversy grew this weekend when Ashley Van Haeften, who goes by the username Fae on Wikipedia, initiated a non-binding "vote of no confidence", in which Wikipedia's volunteer editors asked the board to remove Geshuri. The vote was ultimately 290-22 in favor of Geshuri's removal. —Ars Technica
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The WMF is not a membership organisation, leading one supporter to ask if the removal of members from the organisation’s bylaws in 2006 was entirely legal. —The Register
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List of media articles, in rough order of publication
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Discuss this story
Re:The Corbin Bleu article's many translated versions. The leading editor of the English version (both in number of edits and the amount of content added) has been blocked for sockpuppeting, so the most obvious reason for all the translations is that paid editors were responsible. Many of the versions are just straight translations of most of the English version, many are just straight translations of the first line only. I'd guess many are just from Google Translate, without further translation. His popularity doesn't explain anything - if he had 10 times more pageviews in English, the article wouldn't even make the top 1000. His popularity with teenagers or Saudis doesn't explain anything - I don't think these folks are known for their ability or willingness to translate articles. Smallbones(smalltalk) 13:27, 28 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]