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The Editors (novel)

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The Editors
AuthorStephen Harrison
Published13 August 2024
PublisherInkshares
ISBN1950301672
OCLC1452858980

The Editors is a 2024 suspense novel by American author Stephen Harrison, inspired by Wikipedia.

Plot

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The novel is set in a fictional world where an online encyclopedia called Infopendium exists.[1] Set in the early days of a pandemic, the novel examines the challenges of describing what is happening in the world in a neutral, non-biased, fashion in the online encyclopedia that is read by millions of people daily.[2] Infopedium has three core tenets: "We Need Better Sources", "Anonymity Is Fundamental", and "Aim for Neutrality".[3]

The characters include a freelance journalist, Morgan Wentworth, trying to forge a career in quality journalism, and an assortment of Infopedium editors.[3] There are some bad actors, involved in paying for inserting particular points of view in the encyclopedia.[2]

Publication

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The Editors was published by Inkshares on 13 August 2024.[4][5]

Reception

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Taylor Lorenz, technology columnist at The Washington Post called the book "A strikingly relevant and compelling suspense novel". Richard Cooke wrote in The Monthly that it is "an enthralling, ambitious and sharply observed contemporary thriller – no citation needed", while The BookLife Prize described it as "a timely and entertaining thriller that confronts the perils of misinformation on the eve of a pandemic."[6]

Walt Hickey of Numlock wrote that the novel is a "really, really fun read".[1] Katy Trail Weekly noted that "online information" is a rare "foundation of a novel" and reported that reviews have been "extremely positive" since its release.[7] Sharing the sentiment of Hickey and Katy Trail Weekly, GeekDad praised the book in its review, considering it a "gripping" read that is "really fascinating" and "makes for a revealing peek behind the curtain" of how the real-life Wikipedia works in terms of the "revision history" tab and behind-the-scenes discussions that shape how the site runs.[8]

Genre

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The novel is a suspense or thriller novel,[4] and has also been described as literary fiction.[9]

Author

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Stephen Harrison (2024)

Stephen Harrison attended Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and was the recipient of a Howard Nemerov writing scholarship.[2]

He is a tech journalist and tech lawyer from Texas.[10] The Editors is his first novel,[11] but he has also written non-fiction pieces on other topics[10] as well as short fiction. His work has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and WIRED.[4] From 2019[12] he has written the column "Source Notes"[13] for Slate magazine about Wikipedia, and the novel is based in part on his experience covering Wikipedia.[12]

In a chapter written for the essay collection Wikipedia @ 20 (2020), Harrison wrote of a "need for media to play a larger role in improving the general public's 'Wikipedia literacy'... Encouraging critical readership of Wikipedia and helping to increase diversity among its editorship will ensure greater public oversight over the digital age's preeminent source of knowledge".[14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Harrison, Stephen (August 18, 2024). "Numlock Sunday: Stephen Harrison on The Editors". Numlock News (Interview). Interviewed by Hickey, Walt. Substack. Archived from the original on September 26, 2024. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Harrison, Stephen (July 8, 2024). "Ctrl+Alt+Delete: Q&A with author Stephen Harrison about his upcoming novel "The Editors" and the digital landscape". Student Life - The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis (Interview). Interviewed by Holzman, Avi. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Holzman, Avi (August 13, 2024). "Stephen Harrison's debut novel says Wikipedia matters (regardless of what your middle-school teachers might say)". Student Life - The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "The Editors". Inkshares. August 18, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  5. ^ Harrison, S. (2024). The Editors. Inkshares. ISBN 978-1-950301-68-3. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  6. ^ "The Editors by Stephen Harrison: Wikipedia, internet communities, and the battle for truth in the digital age". New America. August 22, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  7. ^ Mullen, David (October 18, 2024). "Mystery uncovers web of online information". Katy Trail Weekly. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  8. ^ Liu, Jonathan H. (November 11, 2024). "Stack Overflow: Changing the World". GeekDad. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  9. ^ "The Editors by Stephen Harrison". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Proctor, Sheryl (August 30, 2024). "Texas Author Publishes "High-Tech" Thriller About Wikipedia" (streaming video). Amarillo, Texas: KAMR. Archived from the original on September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  11. ^ Harrison, Stephen (September 12, 2024). "Wikipedia is facing an existential crisis. Can gen Z save it?". the Guardian. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  12. ^ a b Harrison, Stephen (July 16, 2024). ""Wikipedia says no individual has a monopoly on truth": an interview with author Stephen Harrison" (Interview). Interviewed by Dewey, Caitlin. Yahoo! Life. Archived from the original on July 18, 2024. Retrieved July 18, 2024. Harrison's forthcoming novel, "The Editors," is a timely techno-thriller based in its author's experience reporting on Wikipedia.
  13. ^ "Source Notes". Slate Magazine. January 15, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  14. ^ Benjakob, Omer; Harrison, Stephen (October 13, 2020). "2: From Anarchy to Wikiality, Glaring Bias to Good Cop: Press Coverage of Wikipedia's First Two Decades". In Reagle, Joseph; Koerner, Jackie (eds.). Wikipedia @ 20. MIT Press. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
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