Estranged TTAC Editor Busted For Wikipedia Vandalism, Then Again For Conflict Of Interest

The article you are about to read was written by former Editor-In-Chief Bertel Schmitt during the course of a long and somewhat personal disagreement he had with former contributor Steven Lang. This article does not represent the views of The Truth About Cars, its staff, its contributors, or its ownership. We’re leaving it up because we don’t censor the past — but we no longer stand behind the piece or recommend that you read it — JB

Like many larger websites , TTAC has its own Wikipedia entry. For many years, the entry has been pretty blah as far as Wikipedia articles go. The only memorable items were the infamous GM Death Watch, and the flying vagina of lore. A week ago, the bucolic peace was disrupted. Suddenly, TTAC’s WP article turned into the battlefield of a bloody edit war. Reverts waged back and forth, robots leveled automated accusations of vandalism.

Sifting through the rubble, it looks very much like the alleged vandal came with a big axe to grind.

On July 2nd, an anonymous editor, or, “an IP” in Wikipedia parlance, added a rambling diatribe about the Dyke incident. The diatribe was light on facts, and heavy on “allegations of gay bashing and the resignation of Steven Lang,” along with accusations of bashing of “the former writer along with Jalopnik. “ A few hours later, the edit was removed by a member of Wikipedia’s Counter-Vandalism Unit. A few days thereafter, the edit was back, in slightly modified form. That edit lasted only a minute. It was removed by a robot that didn’t like Steven Lang’s Facebook page to be used as a reference.

Undeterred, “the IP” kept posting. Pretty much once a day, the diatribe was back, only to be undone by Wikipedia editors shortly thereafter. On July 10, “the IP” detected the undo function, a “revert” in WP lingo: The IP undid a previous undo. In a situation like this, a revert is tantamount to a declaration of war.

A helpful editor improved the article a lot, only to see the anonymous writer again add the quite apparently unwanted crud.

This edit was immediately removed by a bot “that tries to detect and revert vandalism quickly and automatically.” Currently, this is where things stand, but we won’t be surprised if the edit war continues.

There is one thing that Wikipedia likes even less than vandalism of its pages, and that is edits by people with a conflict of interest. Comparing the records of Wikipedia with those of TTAC, it turns out that “the IP” was that of Steven Lang’s computer. Which makes it a clear case of Conflict of Interest, or “COI” in the WP vernacular.

Wikipedia rules say:

“You should not create or edit articles about yourself, your family or your close friends. If you or they are notable enough, someone else will create the article. You should also avoid writing about yourself or people you know in articles on other topics. This includes people with whom you could reasonably be said to have an antagonistic relationship in real life.”

After trying to receive a promotion, Steve Lang had left TTAC in a huff, only to make public statements about his alleged moral outrage. Which would fit the description of an “antagonistic relationship in real life.”

The edits did not have the intended effect on Wikipedia, and did not reach the wider audience that was sought. As a make-good and a public service, we document them here verbatim.

Edit made on 2 July 2013‎ by 76.20.240.115. Removed on 2 July 2013 by user Fraggle81

The Truth About Cars was recently criticized for an article titled, “Small SUV Crashopalooza: Detroit Loses, Dykes Win” where the editor-in-chief stated the following.

“Boo, hiss, Detroit – pussy-whipped by a Japanese transgender crossover that is also known as a “vag-wag?”

PS: Before you start to tar and feather me for Detroit bashing LGBT discrimination, please be notified that according to the all-knowing Wikipedia, the term “dyke” originated “as a derogatory label for a masculine woman, and this usage still exists.” Shame on them. “However, some persons attempt to use it in a manner that they see as positive, or as a neutral synonym for lesbian,” and those persons include the Schmitts.”

This article lead to allegations of gay bashing and the resignation of Steven Lang. One of the long-time editors for the site. After threats were made to encourage specific companies to boycott the blog, Bertel Schmitt offered an apology in an article titled, “Editor Switches Dildos” where he continued to bash the former writer along with Jalopnik, a far larger and more successful automotive blog.

“People have varying thresholds for disgust, I understand. What I have a hard time understanding is that someone with such well-developed sensitivities is proud to write for Jalopnik, a site, which we all know, knows no shame. This is no value judgment. A good journalist should not be bashful.”

Due to the recent editorial direction of the site, and the frequent banning of commenters who disagree with the arbitrary enforcement of TTAC’s editorial policy, the site has continued to struggle against a very long list of online automotive publications including Autoblog, Jalopnik, Hooniverse, The Car Connection, Autonews.com, Motoramic, Roadandtrack.com, Kickingtires, Hemmings, caranddriver.com, Automobilemag.com and, of course, Motor Trend.

According to one former editor TTAC’s google stats are down, some 15-20% from a year ago.

Edit made on 6 July 2013‎ by 76.20.240.115. Removed on 6 July 2013 by XLinkBot:

The Truth About Cars was recently criticized for an article titled, “S mall SUV Crashopalooza: Detroit Loses, Dykes Win where the editor-in-chief, Bertel Schmitt, stated the following.

“Boo, hiss, Detroit – pussy-whipped by a Japanese transgender crossover that is also known as a “vag-wag?”

PS: Before you start to tar and feather me for Detroit bashing LGBT discrimination, please be notified that according to the all-knowing Wikipedia, the term “dyke” originated “as a derogatory label for a masculine woman, and this usage still exists.” Shame on them. “However, some persons attempt to use it in a manner that they see as positive, or as a neutral synonym for lesbian,” and those persons include the Schmitts.”

This article lead to allegations of gay bashing and the resignation of Steven Lang. One of the long-time editors for the site. After threats were made to encourage specific companies to boycott the blog, Bertel Schmitt offered an apology in an article titled, “Editor Switches Dildos” where he continued to bash the former writer along with the automotive site Jalopnik.

“People have varying thresholds for disgust, I understand. What I have a hard time understanding is that someone with such well-developed sensitivities is proud to write for Jalopnik, a site, which we all know, knows no shame. This is no value judgment. A good journalist should not be bashful.”

At this time Verticalscope, the current owner of The Truth About Cars, has not handed out any form of consequences or disciplinary action.

Edit made on 7 July 2013‎ by 76.20.240.115. Removed on 8 July 2013 by user Bzr:

The Truth About Cars was recently criticized for an article titled, “Small SUV Crashopalooza: Detroit Loses, Dykes Win” where the editor-in-chief stated the following.

“Boo, hiss, Detroit – pussy-whipped by a Japanese transgender crossover that is also known as a “vag-wag?”

PS: Before you start to tar and feather me for Detroit bashing LGBT discrimination, please be notified that according to the all-knowing Wikipedia, the term “dyke” originated “as a derogatory label for a masculine woman, and this usage still exists.” Shame on them. “However, some persons attempt to use it in a manner that they see as positive, or as a neutral synonym for lesbian,” and those persons include the Schmitts.”

This article lead to allegations of gay bashing and the resignation of Steven Lang. One of the long-time editors for the site. After threats were made to encourage specific companies to boycott the blog, Bertel Schmitt offered an apology in an article titled, “Editor Switches Dildos” where he continued to bash the former writer along with Jalopnik. A site that competes in part with The Truth About Cars.

“People have varying thresholds for disgust, I understand. What I have a hard time understanding is that someone with such well-developed sensitivities is proud to write for Jalopnik, a site, which we all know, knows no shame. This is no value judgment. A good journalist should not be bashful.”

Edit made on 9 July 2013‎ by 76.20.240.115. Undone on 9 July 2013 by 63.92.255.201. Reverted on 10 July 2013‎ by 76.20.240.115 (while deleting one intermediate edit:)

The Truth About Cars was recently criticized for an article titled, “Small SUV Crashopalooza: Detroit Loses, Dykes Win” where the editor-in-chief stated the following. “Boo, hiss, Detroit – pussy-whipped by a Japanese transgender crossover that is also known as a “vag-wag?”

PS: Before you start to tar and feather me for Detroit bashing LGBT discrimination, please be notified that according to the all-knowing Wikipedia, the term “dyke” originated “as a derogatory label for a masculine woman, and this usage still exists.” Shame on them. “However, some persons attempt to use it in a manner that they see as positive, or as a neutral synonym for lesbian,” and those persons include the Schmitts.”

This article lead to allegations of gay bashing and the resignation of Steven Lang. One of the long-time editors for the site. After threats were made to encourage specific companies to boycott the blog, Bertel Schmitt offered an apology in an article titled, “Editor Switches Dildos” where he continued to bash the former writer along with Jalopnik. A site that competes in part with The Truth About Cars.

“People have varying thresholds for disgust, I understand. What I have a hard time understanding is that someone with such well-developed sensitivities is proud to write for Jalopnik, a site, which we all know, knows no shame. This is no value judgement. A good journalist should not be bashful.”

Edit made on 11 July 2013‎ by 76.20.240.115. Removed on 11 July 2013 by ClueBot with a vandalism warning:

The Truth About Cars was recently criticized for an article titled, “Small SUV Crashopalooza: Detroit Loses, Dykes Win” where the editor-in-chief stated the following. “Boo, hiss, Detroit – pussy-whipped by a Japanese transgender crossover that is also known as a “vag-wag?”

PS: Before you start to tar and feather me for Detroit bashing LGBT discrimination, please be notified that according to the all-knowing Wikipedia, the term “dyke” originated “as a derogatory label for a masculine woman, and this usage still exists.” Shame on them. “However, some persons attempt to use it in a manner that they see as positive, or as a neutral synonym for lesbian,” and those persons include the Schmitts.”

This article lead to allegations of gay bashing and the resignation of Steven Lang. One of the long-time editors for the site. After threats were made to encourage specific companies to boycott the blog, Bertel Schmitt offered an apology in an article titled, “Editor Switches Dildos” where he continued to bash the former writer along with Jalopnik. A site that competes in part with The Truth About Cars.

“People have varying thresholds for disgust, I understand. What I have a hard time understanding is that someone with such well-developed sensitivities is proud to write for Jalopnik, a site, which we all know, knows no shame. This is no value judgment. A good journalist should not be bashful.”

For the record, in the past, the author of this article made a few non-controversial, routine edits to TTAC’s Wikipedia entry. These routine edits are expressly allowed by Wikipedia. The author did not make any edits to the WP pages since he took over as editor in chief on January 1 2012. All edits are in the editing history under a quite obvious alias.

Also for the record, Steven Lang was notified by the author of this article via email on July 5 2013 as follows: “Wikipedia has clear and strongly enforced rules that forbid edits by people with a conflict of interest. There is a long list of scandals involving people who ignored this rule. Conflicted persons should NEVER edit an article about a topic in which they are involved. This goes especially for anonymous edits, which rarely are as anonymous as assumed.”

After receipt of the email (which remained unanswered,) Lang knew that he was breaking the rules, and he did so with apparent intent. According to Wikipedia’s rules, conflict of interest editing “risks causing public embarrassment to the individuals and groups being promoted.” The email was sent to spare Mr. Lang the embarrassment. Sadly, it did not work.