Cover Women: A comparative study of Wikipedia’s front page content from a gender and intersectional perspective with volunteer-driven insights and their newsroom guidelines. Funding: 31,000€. Wikimedia Foundation. Calendar: June 2024-June2025
Meta page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Cover_Women
Video Presentation at WikiWorkshop 2024 (June): https://prezi.com/v/view/B3fbQUSQjEVXLkzw9PPT
This research project will look into the most popular Wikipedia page. This page, known as the main page, or front page from a communication perspective, will be analysed across the seven longest-standing Wikipedia editions: English, German, Catalan, French, Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish. Grounded in a gender and intersectional perspective, this study will delve into the daily content, newsroom guidelines (principles and standards that guide the dissemination of information), and volunteer community insights. The examination will employ communication theories like gatekeeping and agenda-setting. Beyond academic research, our goal is to actively contribute to editing communities by addressing the daily challenges and needs in the front-page content.
Research Questions:
- RQ1: What insights do interviews with volunteer gatekeepers (editors of the main page of Wikipedia) provide on decision-making, biases, and strategies affecting the visibility of gender and intersectionality-related content on Wikipediaʼs front page, particularly regarding how their preferences and interests, shape the topics featured
- RQ2: How does gatekeeping impact gender gaps in content representation on digital platforms, specifically in the peer production of knowledge (decision-making system on suitable content and what is not) within newsrooms or editorial policies, and why is understanding this phenomenon crucial for addressing gender disparities?
- RQ3:How does agenda setting influence the selection of frames and sentiment adopted by Wikipedia pages concerning specific issues or events, and how does it shape the focus and intensity of user edit activity within Wikipedia
- RQ4: How prevalent is gender and intersectional bias in the content featured on Wikipedia’s front pages? This research is necessary to draw further attention to the need for systemic change within the platform’s newsroom/editorial practices to address disparities in gender and diversity representation in online knowledge and foster a more inclusive and diverse digital information landscape.
More information: https://openreview.net/attachment?id=dPPPDvAdRE&name=stage_two_submission
Reference papers
Fernández, Laura; Ferran-Ferrer, Núria (2024). Navigating bias: gender and intersectional insights into wikipedia’s front page through gatekeeping and agenda-setting frameworks, 11th WikiWorkshop, June 20.
Ferran-Ferrer, Núria; Fernández, Laura; Centelles, Miquel (2024).
Cover women: a multilingual wikipedia main page comparative proposal of gender and intersectionalities on content, newsroom guidelines, and insights from the community of volunteers, 11th WikiWorkshop, June 20.
Research Grant Proposal for the Wikimedia Foundation’s Team and stakeholders
| Name | Wikimedia User name | Affiliation | Country | Rol in the proposal Cover Women | Wikipedia language edition |
| Núria Ferran-Ferrer | Nferranf | * Associate Professor at UB*Universitat de Barcelona Director of EDI Office UB*Director of Information and Communication PhD Programme, UB*Board Member of Amical Wikimedia *Member *Commitee WMF Grants in NW Europe | Catalonia, Spain | Co-IP | All |
| Miquel Centelles | * Lecturer at UB* Coordinator of Master’s Degree in Digital Humanities at Universitat de Barcelona* Research collaborator at Women and Wikipedia group. | Catalonia, Spain | Co-IP | All | |
| Laura Fernández | Lauferagui | *Postdoctoral researcher at Universitat de Barcelona*Researcher at Women and Wikipedia research group.*Member of the CRICC Research Centre | Spain | Co-IP | All |
| Juan-José Boté | DigitalCompas | Lecturer professor Information Science and Media Studies*Member of the CRICC Research Centre | Spain | Researcher | All |
| Florencia Claes | Florenciac | *Lecture at Rey Juan Carlos University. *Head of Free Culture at Rey Juan Carlos University. *President of Wikimedia España | Spain | Advisor Spanish Wikipedia | Spanish |
| Ester Bonet | Tiputini | Member WikimujeresUG | Spain | Advisor from WikiMujeres | Spanish//Catalan1 |
| Núria Ribas | Kowalskyn | President of the Catalan Wikimedia Board | Spain | Advisor Catalan Wikipedia | Catalan |
| Michael David MILLER | BiblioQC | Associate Librarian at McGill University Vice-President of Wikimedia Canada Board Member of WikiFranca | Québec-Canada | Advisor French Wikipedia | French |
| Natacha Rault | Natacha LSP | Director and founder of les sans pagEs | Switzerland | Advisor from Les Sans Pages | French |
| Daniela Brugger | Coordinator of who writes his_tory? | Germany | infodanielabrugger.ch | German | |
| Lilli Iliev | Lilli Iliev | Head of politics & public sector, Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. | Germany | German | |
| Laurie Bridges | Bridges2Information | Founding member and leadership team for #EveryBookItsReader. Core Committee for WikiLibCon 2022. Librarian at Oregon State University, USA | United States | Advisor English Wikipedia | English |
| Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight | rosiestep | Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees Visiting Scholar, Northeastern University (Boston) Co-founder, Women in Red | Advisor English Wikipedia Member of Women in Red | English | |
| Lilian | Lilian Viana | *Librarian at Universidade de São Paulo*Member of GLAM Bibliotecas da USP | Brazil | Advisor Portuguese Wikipedia | Portuguese |
| Ana Bragança | Ana Bragança | Co-founder and co-coordinator, Wiki Editoras Lx | Portugal | Advisor Wiki Editoras Lx | Portuguese |
| Irene | Postcrosser | long-time editor and has been an administrator in itwik | Italy | Advisor Italian Wikipedia | Italian |
| Camelia Boban | Camelia.boban | WikiDonne project in Italian Wikipedia founder WikiDonne User Group co-founder | Rome, Italy | Advisor WikiDonne | Italian |