Apr 16, 2008 05:40 PM
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Last year, Wikipedia hired an executive-search firm to find someone to run its nonprofit parent, the Wikimedia Foundation. Thousands of dollars later, it concluded that Wikipedia was "too immature" as an organization to hire a boss. It nonetheless landed Sue Gardner, head of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's website, as executive director. Her primary qualification, insiders say, was a lip-locking session with WIkipedia founder Jimmy Wales in Amsterdam. That's perhaps unkind. Gardner, after all, graduated from Ryerson with a degree in journalism, specializing in pop culture. With such a keen understanding of the ways of reporters, Gardner tried to get Wikipedia's restive board members to sign a nondisparagement and nondisclosure agreement.
The board, led by Florence Devouard, refused to sign. Among other things, the poorly written agreement made board members sound like employees who reported to Wikipedia staff, rather than the other way around. Gardner surely dodged a bullet when they refused to sign, though. Imagine if Jimmy Wales answered to Gardner. Wouldn't he have a sexual harassment case?
More on Gardner's qualifications, from her LinkedIn bio:
As a journalist, she specialized in pop culture, social issues and media analysis, covering stories such as manipulation of the news media during the first Gulf War, the rise of gated communities in California, the racial implications of the return of the death penalty to New York, changing feminist attitudes towards pornography, the dawn of interactive media, and the rise and fall of rave culture in the UK.Sounds perfect for Wikipedia!
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