Let’s face facts

AND, so to reliable news sources. That Mecca, or Jerusalem, of sources, Wikipedia.

More and more of us rely on it to provide information and background and, while a sort of people’s encyclopedia is a wonderful idea, the practicality is there are no real safeguards, it’s open to anyone to add to or alter items.

So a biography can be inflated, biased views written in or achievements excised or edited.

The only real checks appear to be if the subject of the piece complains.

Editing Wiki has become an obsession, or addiction, to some people.

A guy called Philip Cross is the prime example.

It’s reckoned he has run up more than 130,000 edits, often targeting left-wing politicians and figures – like former UK Ambassador Craig Murray and Jeremy Corbyn’s strategy and communications director, my old chum Seumas Milne – and allegedly removing creditable comments or facts.

The internet was rife with speculation that Cross was a pseudonym – it isn’t – and that he might be The Times leader writer Oliver Kamm – he is not – because his edits seemed to chime with Kamm’s spoutings.

This misinformed speculation, according to Kamm in lengthy and forthright correspondence with me, came from “cranks and conspiracy theorists”.

If you check out Kamm’s own Wiki entry you’ll see that it carries a health warning.”

A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.

It may require a clean-up to comply with Wikipedia’s content policies, particularly neutral point of view.”

Who on earth could this be referring to?