TOLEDO, Ohio - Diana Block, co-publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, announced today that Block Communications has sold the paper for an undisclosed sum of money to Internet encyclopedia giant Wikipedia.Wikipedia said it "will maintain the highest journalistic standards of the 220-year-old daily paper," frequently touted as the oldest daily west of the Alleghenies, but announced that the entire Post-Gazette staff will be displaced within the next month, and the paper will be written "by amateur volunteers from around the tri-state area."
An amateur spokesman for Wikipedia explained that with rare exceptions, the paper's articles will be subject to editing by anyone with access to the Internet. The spokesman said that articles failing to meet Wikipedia's standards of accuracy will be prominently marked with a disclaimer, such as: "This article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality," or "This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources."
The Wikipedia spokesman said that since the public will decide the Post-Gazette's content, "in all likelihood, the Post-Gazette will be devoted exclusively to news of the Steelers."
Diana Block said that Block Communications "looked long and hard" for a buyer dedicated to bringing unbiased reporting with the highest journalistic standards to the citizens of Western Pennsylvania. "Unfortunately," she explained, "we couldn't find one."
