George Watson Grimsby, Humberside

Company Name

Wikimedia Foundation

Position Held

Journalist, Administrator, Arbitrator

Dates

0000 - Present

Details

I have been active as a freelance journalist, with my work published primarily on Wikinews, since 2008. I possess Wikinews accreditation, as well as previously holding a number of community-appointed positions on the site (such as reviewing story submissions, performing administrative tasks, resolving conflicts, and responding to email queries by readers). I left the project voluntarily in 2011, although I may resume my work there in the near future. A full list of my work published on the site can be found at https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Category:George_Watson_(Wikinewsie). Articles I am particularly proud of include "Out of space in outer space: Special report on NASA's 'space junk' plans", "Tony Blair tells Iraq Inquiry he would invade again", and "Thirteen dead, several wounded in Fort Hood, Texas shooting".

Company Name

OpenGlobe

Position Held

Journalist

Dates

0000 - Present

Details

I was a contributor to OpenGlobe for the majority of its existence (beginning within a month of its founding), and a Project Manager for much of my time there. I built much of the MediaWiki-based site's infrastructure, including (but not limited to) article submission forms, various templates, and an award system. I also performed design work for the website, both in designing WikiCode content and modifying the overall appearance of the website through site-wide CSS rules. Outside of infrastructure, I was an occasional contributor of journalistic content, although on this front my time at OpenGlobe was not as prolific as my time at Wikinews. My most significant journalistic achievement during this time was an interview with controversial US presidential candidate Merlin Miller. (The original article is now offline, but a copy of the interview text is available on the A3PP website, at http://american3rdposition.com/?p=6115). Another major responsibility was within the community, providing assistance and support for new users while resolving disputes between the project's diverse contributors. While I feel that my time with OpenGlobe was a success, I left the project when the organisation responsible for the project's servers and maintenance announced their intention to withdraw their support for the project, which had - as a not-for-profit venture - relied on their funding. The project is therefore currently offline.