Newt Gingrich’s communications director, Joe DeSantis, is taking heat for editing and requesting edits to Newt’s Wikipedia page. Wiki editors cry foul when an organization (or its representative) with a conflict of interest attempts to manage Wikipedia content. This run-in with Wikipedia culture and its editorial etiquette reminds me of some key challenges for public relations, not the least of which is the manner in which relationships with Wiki editors are handled and the willingness of Wiki editors to listen.

One thing public relations professionals have to respect is that as representatives of a business, organization, or group, we have an inherent conflict of interest whether we have the best and most ethical intentions or not.  According to Wikipedia policy, we should not make edits to Wiki pages where that conflict exists. I, for one, am comfortable with this. The value of Wikipedia is lost if pages for corporations are edited by communications departments and pages in turn end up reading like corporate websites.

Wikipedia has created built in Talk pages where discussions between editors and readers can discuss factual inaccuracies, biases, and weakly supported or unverified content. With knowledge of the organization and access to information, a PR professional can add considerable value to Wikipedia pages through the Talk pages. Wiki editors can then listen and decide for themselves the importance and credibility of information provided by corporations and PR pros. This is what it’s all about if corporations are to become more social: Engage in meaningful discussion online.

The trick is that Wiki editors have to be willing to listen to organizations and their communications reps. From my experience, most editors seem willing to listen and they appreciate being directed to valuable information. They respect transparency and openness in communication. However, I have run into editors that have conflicts of their own – one was a founder of a non-profit that had a beef with a certain class of prescription drugs. So even third party editors have biases and conflicts, and I trust that balance will come from the majority of Wiki editors that are truly outsiders.

Wikipedia has become a powerful source of information (with insanely remarkable search engine rankings) and with its own set of rules. For it to remain relevant, it must evaluate and value information from all sources, including from corporations. There is a role for public relations on Wikipedia. We just have to play by Wikipedia rules.

Have you run into a Wiki editor that seemed to have their own agenda?

Jason Spark is a senior vice president at Canale Communications and can be reached at jason@canalecomm.com.