Hyperallergic, August 20, 2019

August 20, 2019

Help Write the History of Radio in Grassroots Organizing
By Eric Vilas-Boas. Originally published at https://hyperallergic.com/513300/resistance-radio-wikipedia-editathon-event-pick/

You can learn a lot from taking a deep dive into Wikipedia’s 29 million-ish pages, like say its list of unusual articles or its explainer on the Twitter bot that published Wikipedia edits from within Congress. In some ways Wikipedia is a lot like pirate radio (or at least, that’s what I gather from reading Wikipedia), in that each represents a democratized form of publishing or broadcasting information. The Interference Archive, which is currently showing an exhibition on the history of radio’s use in grassroots organizing called Resistance Radio: The People’s Airwaves, is about to bring the two even closer together with a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon; the theme: pirate radio and community broadcasting.

At the evening event on Tuesday, August 27, you and a team of like-minded editors can join the Interference Archive’s “Experienced Wikipedians” to disseminate relevant information from its collection across Wikipedia’s articles. “We’ll work to improve representation of the individuals and organizations involved in radio projects worldwide — including those represented in our exhibition, and those that are not,” the Archive has announced. All you need to do is bring your own laptop; the Archive will provide snacks, as well as childcare for those who RSVP and request it. (Note that for childcare, you have to do it by today, August 20.) Those with questions are invited to email the archive at info@interferencearchive.org.