"Crisis" over Wikimedia Germany's palace revolution
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Governance terminology for following German-language sources:
Vorstand = the executive director
Präsidium = the board
Vorsitzende = the chair
Geschäftsstelle (also Büro) = the office (including all employees)
Mitgliederversammlung (MV) = the annual general assembly of chapter members
Chapter members elect 10 board members for one-year terms each November [since the MV, now two-year terms], with direct elections for the chair, two deputy chairs, the treasurer, and six ordinary members. Each member takes on a portfolio.
Last Sunday the board of Wikimedia Germany almost unanimously passed a vote of no confidence in the chapter's executive director, Pavel Richter, who has held the position since 2009. The only one of the 10 board members not to support the vote was the chair, Nikolas Becker, who abstained. With more than 50 employees, an annual budget approaching $10 million, and the right to conduct its own fundraising through the Wikimedia Foundation's site banners, Wikimedia Germany is the second-largest organisation in the movement after the WMF itself.
The decision was announced on the Wikimedia mailing list by the chair of the board, Nikolas Becker, who wrote that "for quite some time the Supervisory Board has been striving for a different strategic course for Wikimedia Deutschland, [and] has come to the conclusion that it will not be able to implement this paper with the current Executive Director. Thus, the Supervisory Board and the Executive Director have agreed on jointly shaping a well-ordered transition. ... I would like to thank Pavel for his very good work and for both the professionalism and passion with which he has shaped the development of Wikimedia Deutschland."
With all the drama of a Mozart opera, support for or opposition to Pavel Richter's leadership has become the flashpoint on a battleground of ideological dimensions that has been coming to a head over the past two years. This struggle, to determine what the chapter's role should be, has now engulfed the board itself. A day before what amounted to a dismissal of the executive director, two rival petitions had landed at the board's doorstep arguing for or against the action; each, the Signpost understands, was aligned with one of the two sides in this struggle.
Petition to retain Richter
One petition was signed by high-profile members of the chapter—including WMF chapter-selected trustee Alice Wiegand, former WMF trustee Arne Klempert, Kurt Jansson, Delphine Ménard (currently an FDC member), Raimond Spekking, and former chapter board member Sebastian Moleski. The strongly worded petition expressed "utter horror" at the proposed dismissal, arguing that under Richter's stewardship the chapter has been financially stable, a valued employer, and has enjoyed increasing membership and positive public recognition. This petition is apparently associated with the expansionary view of the chapter's scope in the offline world.
Among the proponents of this perspective is Philipp Birken, a former member of the German board. He told the Signpost:
| “ | ... supporting the existing community that creates the content financially and structurally has from the beginning been an important part of the chapter's work. But there's much more than that, e.g. political lobbying to prevent copyright law that would screw us, improving the software as was done with flagged revisions or WikiData, changing the existing community by trying to get underrepresented groups to take part more, press and generally informing the public about open content, helping like-minded projects like OpenStreetMap ... [if these things weren't] done by Wikimedia Germany, nobody would do it and the movement as a whole would suffer. | ” |
The Signpost asked Alice Wiegand to comment on whether her signing of the petition might be construed as undue intervention by a WMF trustee in the internal matters of a legally independent affiliate:
| “ | The letter represents the views of long-standing members of Wikimedia Deutschland ... who have spent blood, sweat and tears for the association. It explains quite well and clearly that I speak in my capacity as a WMDE member. The reactions demonstrate that people read it as such, and drew a distinction between my WMDE capacity and my current function. I signed the letter because I care, and because I want to see a productive, controlled transition. As a member of the WMF transition team, I know about the challenges and obstacles of such a search, selection, and onboarding process. The WMDE board may underestimate the effort. |
” |
Petition to dismiss Richter
The other petition argued the case for dismissal, broadly aligned with the belief that the chapter should primarily serve the activities of volunteer online editors. It was signed by four long-standing members of the German Wikipedia editing community: Ralf Roletschek, Robert Radke, Alice Chodura, and Marcus Cyron. The petition cited a "dramatic imbalance" within the chapter, including the "combustion" of a major education speakers' network program. While "staff in all areas are committed to the cause, [they are] without effective leadership ... not one of the departments can boast great success". And it claimed that fundraising initiatives "are simply ignored". According to the petition, there is a certain unpredictability about finances, and a "complete lack of transparency in the office" is related to "job preservation". There was complaint that Richter's recruitment practices favour bringing in young, inexperienced professionals, and the Signpost understands that the issue of micromanaging staff has been a point of friction for some time.
We are also aware that a "staff council", the German equivalent of an in-house union, was launched at the chapter some months ago. We asked Sargoth, who departed the chapter recently, whether this had been brewing for long: "Quite long. There had been several thoughts about it throughout the years, but nobody would implement it. ... One reason [for the creation of the union] was that a lot of contracts were ended after two years without convincing reasons. Continuity of employment is unsure for everyone." Was his dismissal from the chapter in reprisal for any role he had in the creation of the union? "I had no official role in forming the Betriebsrat [staff council], I just communicated a lot with colleagues who showed initiative, brought them together and spoke in favor of it."
One of the signatories, Marcus Cyron, wrote an Open letter to Wikimedia Germany last month in the German Wikipedia's news outlet, Kurier, accusing the chapter's leadership of being out of touch, of power over-centralised in the chapter's office, and of a lack of openness. Another strong supporter of this approach is the chapter's treasurer, Stepro. Signpost readers will remember our report of his publicly expressed despair that a presenter should have said, "Fuck the community, who cares", during a session at the London Chapter Boards Training Workshop. The chapter's board, Stepro wrote at the time, "must make it clear to all employees ... that the office was created in support of volunteers ... only under this condition is a partnership between all stakeholders possible—communities, members, the chapter office, the board, and the employees."
Public fighting
The saga took a new turn soon after the vote, when chair Nikolas Becker wrote to the public German-language mailing list. In his view, the board's decision had been premature: "I personally do not agree with this decision and it is a wrong step for the chapter." The matter, he said, would be taken up at the annual meeting of chapter members (scheduled for 09:30–15:00 in Frankfurt on Saturday 24 May, just after the publication of this edition of the Signpost).
Becker's message was followed by a statement from Sebastian Moleski (who had unsuccessfully stood against the current treasurer Stepro in last November's election): "I can only hope that the general assembly will end this unprofessional, carelessly considered drama on Saturday. There is still time for emergency motions and the question of whether this issue is urgent should be beyond dispute." There was a rebuttal of this position by no less than the chair of the board of Wikimedia Austria, Kurt Kulac ("thoughtless ... the scatter of strawman arguments, and unsubstantiated criticism"; "very naive ... or calculated populism").
Ramping the temperature up to new heights, a member of the German board, Robin Tech, resigned, referring to the situation as a "crisis"—a decision that had been "working in me for many weeks". He continued: "As early as my first board meeting, I perceived an aggression that I've seen nowhere else previously and could make no sense of until the end. ... The extremely personal attacks, especially from a few board members against fellow members who didn't share their views, have appalled me time and again"—behaviour, he claimed, that met "partly amused acceptance by other members of the board". Tech described what he called "constant dripping that wears away the stone" in terms of Richter and Becker, with a focus "always on new, supposedly outrageous themes". This prompted incredulous accusations by Cyron of inconsistency: "Did you not have the courage of your own opinion [when you voted to] terminate the contract?"
Unsurprisingly, these wars of words migrated seamlessly onto the mainstream press. A notable example was the high-profile German publication Der Spiegel, to whom the board's deputy chair, Anja Ebersbach, declared she was "shocked" by Becker's criticisms of the board: "the chair's behaviour is outrageous", she added, without thinking through the consequences. Other coverage was provided by Zeit, Stern, Heise, Golem, Netzpolitik, Der Tagesspiegel, and Focus.
The Signpost understands that Richter's contract still has 18 months to run, and we have been advised that his salary is "impressive, for what is only a middle-sized non-profit". One issue that might play into the scenario is that since 2012 board members are no longer personally liable for the chapter's actions (except where they are neglectful in overseeing the executive director); apparently this may have altered the severance obligations to Richter under German labour laws.
Update 10:40 UTC Saturday 24 May: the Signpost has been advised that Nikolas Becker, chair of the board of Wikimedia Germany, has tendered his resignation to the general assembly, which is still in progress. There are unconfirmed reports that the board and Richter signed a mutual agreement to terminate his contract before the assembly, but that this will not take effect immediately. Towards the end of the meeting two urgency motions failed: to recall the board and to reinstate the executive director.
In brief
- Media Viewer on English Wikipedia delayed until next week: The new Media Viewer software update, which displays images from articles in a lightbox rather than going directly to the image description page, was originally meant to arrive on the English Wikipedia on 22 May. The Signpost covered it in detail last week. It has now been pushed back to 3 June so that the Multimedia team "can assist with the deployment and feedback as best possible." The tool is currently live on around 25 wikis, and English Wikipedia users can test it before the rollout by enabling the beta version in preferences or browsing a wiki which has the viewer enabled by default.
- WMUK protests WMF decision: The Wikimedia movement's national affiliate in the UK has filed an open grievance with the Wikimedia Foundation over the decision to not renew the chapter's fundraising agreement. The agreements allowed for national chapters to collect money directly from visitors to WMF sites. WMUK had been one of four chapters allowed to do so by the WMF in a March 2012 board resolution—as long as they met a list of required criteria—but the board also asked "the Executive Director not to allow any additional chapters to payment process, until the Board revisits the framework for fundraising and payment processing in late 2015 in advance of the November 2016 fundraising campaign." Wikimedia UK has faced an ongoing series of governance issues, most notably those surrounding Gibraltarpedia. These problems were reviewed by the UK-based management consultants Compass Partnership, whose findings were published in February 2013. Pursuant to this decision, only the German and Swiss chapters will still be allowed to conduct payment processing.
- Adrianne: The Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830 has dedicated its most recent issue to Adrianne Wadewitz, the Wikipedia editor who passed away last month.
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Staggering number of featured articles
Featured articles
Thirteen featured articles were promoted this week.
- Yellowhammer (nominated by Jimfbleak) A small Eurasian bird, with males having a bright yellow head and underparts, it was once extremely common, inspiring works by Robert Burns, Beethoven and Messiaen, among others.
- D. Djajakusuma (nominated by Crisco 1492) An Indonesian filmmaker who worked in a variety of genres, but specialised in realist or semi-realist films, usually with an educational message buried therein. He later promoted traditional Indonesian art forms, and is credited with saving the lenong theatre.
- Morchella rufobrunnea (nominated by Sasata) An edible morel (a type of mushroom) from the west coast of the United States and Mexico, it was only officially described as its own species in 1998, before then being thought to be part of Morchella deliciosa.
- Caelum (nominated by StringTheory11) We are lucky to have some very good astronomy authors working on the eighty-eight constellations, mainly the ones of the southern sky at the moment. Caelum, the chisel, was introduced in the 1750s as part of the early efforts to divide up the newly documented (by Europeans) southern sky into constellations, with many implements of industry, science, and art suddenly appearing in the heavens.
- Warlugulong (nominated by hamiltonstone) A giant painting by Australian aboriginal artist Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, considered "one of the most important 20th-century Australian paintings". It illustrates several "dreamings" (aboriginal legends), with the centre one telling the tale of Lungkata, the creator of the first bushfire.
- Metalloid (nominated by Sandbh) This is one of those chemical terms that everyone thinks they've understood after studying it, but, as it is meant to cover things that have properties between metals and nonmetals, can actually be used to cover large swaths more than generally understood by some authors at some times. The article does a good job of explaining this ambiguity.
- George Robey (nominated by Cassianto) An English music-hall singer, noted for his performance of the song "If You Were the Only Girl (In the World)" during the first World War, and for his portrayal of pantomime dames (a British Christmas tradition, related to the Victorian burlesque, which includes a number of crossdressed parts).
- Sultanate of Singora (nominated by Singora) A port city in southern Thailand, founded in 1605, and destroyed in 1680, and the predecessor of the modern town of Songkhla. Founded by a Persian, Dato Mogol, flourished during the reign of his son, who declared independence from the then-rulers of Thailand, the Ayutthaya Kingdom, and was eventually crushed in the reign of Dato's grandson.
- A Contract with God (nominated by Curly Turkey) A cycle of short comics by Will Eisner set around a New York tenement in the Bronx, this book is credited with popularizing the term "graphic novel".
- Grus (constellation) (nominated by Casliber) Another southern constellation, raised to featured status by another of our excellent astronomy team, Grus, the Crane, was actually divided off from Piscis Austrinus, an ancient constellation documented by Ptolemy. This was common at the time, although many such attempts to create constellations are now ignored, such as Frederici Honores, Noctua, or Triangulum Minus.
- Russian battleship Poltava (1894) (nominated by Sturmvogel 66) One of the Imperial Russian Navy's three Petropavlovsk-class pre-dreadnought battleships, she was built in the Galernii Island shipyard between 1892 and 1894. She served in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, where she fought in the Battle of Port Arthur, was damaged in the Battle of the Yellow Sea, and sunk during the Siege of Port Arthur in December 1904. Raised by the Japanese and rechristened the Tango after the war, she fought in World War I against the Germans at the Siege of Tsingtao. She was sold back to the Russians in 1916, upon which time she was renamed the Chesma. During the Russian Civil War she was captured by the British and used as a prison hulk, was abandoned, recaptured by the Russians in 1919, and was finally scrapped in 1924.
- Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians (nominated by Dudley Miles) In the early 9th century, England was divided into several kingdoms, but these were almost all destroyed by the Vikings, and by the end of the century, Wessex was dominant under Alfred the Great. Æthelred cooperated with Alfred in fighting the Vikings, and accepted his lordship, an important step towards the unification of England in the 10th century.
- Pather Panchali (nominated by Dwaipayan) A pioneering Bengali film from 1955 which tells the tale of a family living in poverty, the problems caused by this, and the small joys snatched anyway. Shot on a limited budget with amateur actors, it premièred at New York's Museum of Modern Art and met with an enthusiastic reception in Calcutta. It won an award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival, and is considered a classic, appearing on numerous "best films" lists.
Featured pictures
Sixteen featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Pena National Palace (created by CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, nominated by Tomer T) One of the Seven Wonders of Portugal, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Pena National Palace is considered one of the best expressions of 19th-century Romanticism in architecture in the world. Based around a ruin destroyed in the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755, it was rebuilt between 1842 and 1854 at the desire of King Ferdinand II, who had become interested in the site and acquired the land before ascending the throne. The king requested vault arches, and mediæval, and Islamic elements to be incorporated into the design, and himself designed the ornate window on the main façade.
- Currencies of the Connecticut Colony, Delaware Colony, the Province of Georgia, the Province of Maryland, the Province of Massachusetts Bay, the Province of New Hampshire, the Province of New Jersey, the Province of New York, the Province of North Carolina, the Province of Pennsylvania, the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the Province of South Carolina, and the Colony of Virginia (from the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution; prepared and nominated by Godot13) A set, one from each colony, of early American currency from the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
- In the Conservatory (created by Édouard Manet, nominated by Armbrust) A beautiful, high-resolution scan of a painting by Manet considered, at the time, surprisingly conservative for him: there is no random nudity, nor any reason for it to cause a scandal. In the Conservatory depicts Manet's friends, the Guillemets, in the conservatory of the house at 70 Rue d'Amsterdam that Manet was then using as a studio. The detachment that defines the painting - husband separated from wife; foreground from background; viewer from the painting's subjects - forms the major focus of modern interpretations of the work.
- An Interior (created by Mary Ellen Best, nominated by Adam Cuerden) Mary Ellen Best (1809–1891) was a female painter noted for her detailed watercolour depictions of domestic life and interiors, that serve as very useful documentation of Yorkshire life at the time. This painting shows a room that has been converted into a study, a simple scene, but beautifully realised.
Featured topics
One featured topic was promoted this week.
- Maya Angelou autobiographies (nominated by Christine (Figureskatingfan)) Not only are all seven of acclaimed African-American author and poet Maya Angelou's autobiographies the subject of featured articles, but an article on the themes within them is also featured, and her bibliography is a featured list. Impressive work!
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Connecticut Colony (1775) -
Delaware Colony (1776) -
Province of Georgia (1778) -
Province of Maryland (1770) -
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Province of New Hampshire (1780) -
Province of New Jersey (1776) -
Province of New York (1775) -
Province of North Carolina (1729) -
Province of Pennsylvania (1771) -
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Province of South Carolina (1779) -
Colony of Virginia (1773)
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-Georgia-4_May_1778_OBV.jpg)
-Maryland-1_Mar_1770_OBV.jpg)
-Massachusetts-1_May_1741_OBV.jpg)
-New_Hampshire-29_Apr_1780_OBV.jpg)
-New_Jersey-25_Mar_1776_OBV.jpg)
-New_York-2_Aug_1775_OBV.jpg)
-North_Carolina-27_Nov_1729_OBV.jpg)
-Pennsylvania-20_Mar_1771_OBV.jpg)
-Rhode_Island-2_Jul_1780_OBV.jpg)
-South_Carolina-8_Feb_1779_OBV.jpg)
-Virginia-4_Mar_1773_OBV.jpg)
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Doodles' dawn
It's a relief to see Google Doodles having an impact again; their wide coverage means that they inspire curiosity on many subjects which, for reasons of nationality, ethnicity or gender, might not be known in the English-speaking world. It's a shame then, that Wikipedia so often fails to keep up; articles on Google Doodles are almost invariably C-class, and seldom do justice to their subjects. Still, interest in Google Doodles has been waning in recent months—Audrey Hepburn last week was the first to top the list since December—so any rise in popularity is worth celebrating.
For the full top 25 list, see WP:TOP25. See this section for an explanation for any exclusions.
For the week of May 11 to 17, the 10 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the 5,000 most viewed pages, were:
Rank Article Class Views Image Notes 1 Dorothy Hodgkin 
1,818,292 
The Nobel Prizewinning pioneer of protein crystallography got a Google Doodle on her would-have-been 104th birthday on 12 May. 2 Conchita Wurst 
1,579,871 
It wouldn't be Eurovision without some unsettling political subtexts, and while Russia's not-quite-invasion of Ukraine may have had less impact than expected (they both gave each other points, albeit not a lot) the same cannot be said for its antediluvian restrictions on the LGBT community, (Eurovision is known as the "gay Superbowl", after all) reaction to which almost certainly played a part in this gender-bending Austrian singer's triumph over bookies' favourite, Sweden's Sanna Nielsen. 3 Brown v. Board of Education 
1,314,710 
This week marked the 60th anniversary of this landmark US Supreme Court decision, that effectively ended the Jim Crow apartheid that had characterised the American South and parts of the West since the Civil War. While it should be noted that America marked the anniversary under a black President, most news articles covering it have noted how far the US still has to go. 4 Maria Gaetana Agnesi
1,140,470 
This 18th century prodigy, who spoke seven languages by the time she was 11, discovered the algebraic curve somewhat insensitively known as the "Witch of Agnesi"; a not-particularly clever pun on the Italian words versiera (sheet, the name of the curve) and avversiera, (female devil). Yes, can't have our women dabbling in all that diabolical math, now can we? Only in the modern era has the curve gained scientific applications, appearing in such phenomena as x-rays and power dissipation in resonant circuits, leading to long-overdue recognition and a Google Doodle for her 296th birthday on 16 May. 5 Godzilla (2014 film) 
833,060 
It seems that Hollywood's trust in Gareth Edwards, director of the microbudget scifi flick Monsters, was well placed, as his take on the Godzilla mythos has emulated its hero, stomping the box office to dust with $93 million in three days. Critics seem to like the movie too; it's RT rating is currently 73%. Personally, I had issues with it, but then, what do I know? 6 Amazon.com
685,552 
This article suddenly reappeared in the top 25 after a long absence, but at least it has a reason: Amazon Fire TV; a digital streaming device to watch online content on an HDTV. How it distinguishes itself from the three or four other such devices currently on the market is a matter of some dispute. 7 Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site
638,076 
Otherwise known as Monroe Elementary School in Topeka, Kansas, this was one of the segregated schools that triggered the dispute that led to the Supreme Court resolution that ultimately ended segregation in public schools. 8 Mother's Day
623,525 
The second Sunday in May (that's May 11 to all you ingrates who forgot) is far and away the most popular time of year to celebrate Mother's Day, and, even as the day fell, panicked college students in all participating countries rushed to their computers to learn they'd blown it. 9 Narendra Modi
604,300 
Thanks to an effective ad campaign and a sound economic record as Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat, Modi led his Hindu nationalist BJP to victory with a stomping 282 (52%) seats. A Hindu nationalist and a member of the RSS, Modi is considered a controversial politician and debate still surrounds the extent of his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots during his tenure as Chief Minister. The Indian National Congress, the party that has mostly led India since its independence, came in second with 44 seats, its worst showing in any election in India's history. 10 Indian general election, 2014
544,994 You'd think, given the push that Indians often give articles on this list, that their election, which concluded on 12 May, would be higher up.
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