by Laura Miller

Imagine that a hypothetical national non-profit organization called "Biosolids for a Solid Future" (BSF) just opened a branch in your town and is promoting the use of "biosolids" as fertilizer in your community. Having read Toxic Sludge is Good For You, you know "biosolids" is an industry term for sewage sludge and there are health and environmental risks associated with it. But in an op-ed piece in the town paper, a representative from BSF says biosolids are "an inexpensive and green solution for local farmers' and landscapers' fertilizing needs."

Being curious about BSF and Internet-savvy, you start to collect information on the group. After doing a few Internet searches you come across a Disinfopedia entry on "biosolids." You also find an article called "How to research front groups." From that, you learn how to look up BSF's IRS filings and website domain name registrations. What you discover is that BSF has links to a waste industry trade group. You write a letter-to-the-editor calling BSF a front for the waste industry, inspiring a feisty reporter at the paper to investigate. One thing leads to another, BSF's cover is blown and they quietly close up shop.

A happy ending! Or is it? BSF goes on to open an office in another town in another state. Luckily you've already thought of that and have created a Disinfopedia article for Biosolids for a Solid Future. Your research is therefore available to a much wider audience, including BSF's next target.

Front groups and other PR tactics lose their effectiveness when they are exposed. As people track and share information about disinformation campaigns, it becomes easier to pull them from backroom darkness into the harsh light of public scrutiny. CMD's Disinfopedia makes it easy for average citizens to be part of this truth seeking process.

If you want to use Disinfopedia, first check out its "Welcome, newcomers" page. (There's a link to it on the main Disinfopedia page, at www.disinfopedia.org.) Creating Disinfopedia articles is easy, so the best way to learn how is by simply doing it. We've posted a number of "help" and "frequently asked questions" pages, discussing the ins and outs of posting article and outlining style and formatting conventions.

To make it as simple as possible, Disinfopedia runs on a "wiki" software platform that minimizes the need for any special computer skills. You will want to learn a handful of wiki markups that allow you to write and edit an entry so it looks sharp in any web browser. The markups help organize your article with headings, bold and italicized words, lists with bullet points, and hyperlinks to both Disinfopedia pages and off-site resources.

New pages are created by linking from a pre-existing, topically related page. So in the above example, you would first go to the "Biosolids" page and click "edit this page." Using simple wiki mark-ups, you would create a reference with a link to "Biosolids for a Solid Future," even though that article doesn't yet exist. Clicking on the new link will then open an editor window, which allows you to enter the text for the new page. Creating new entries this way avoids creating "orphan" pages (which have no links pointing to them), helping to maintain a generally high level of connectedness within the Disinfopedia.

It is important to write articles that focus on documented facts. Please include thorough citations for the supporting facts in your articles. You should also avoid rhetorical or inflammatory language. If you are using or defining a rhetorical or inflammatory term then you should explain it in an article where it can be put in context and balance can be introduced.

An "encyclopedia of propaganda," by its very nature, is bound to attract controversy and debate. Running parallel to every Disinfopedia article is a "talk" page where users can post a critique of an article, make suggestions for improving it, or explain changes that they have made. Any discussion about topics should be mainly directed at improving articles to the point where they are useful to journalists, activists, and researchers. If you are taking a position on an issue, take it early and overtly so others can see your declared bias. In time we expect multiple points of view to fully develop and compete in a lively but civil fashion.

To work together effectively in building the encyclopedia, the Disinfopedia community has some established policies and guidelines:

• Be fair. Propagandists engage in selective presentation of evidence. Articles written for the Disinfopedia should strive for a higher standard, by summarizing all evidence and points of view accurately and thoroughly.
• Don't infringe copyrights. Disinfopedia is a free encyclopedia licenced under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. Submitting the work of others without the copyright holder's permission is illegal and threatens our goal of building a truly free encyclopedia that anyone can redistribute.
• Respect other contributors. Disinfopedia contributors may come from many different countries and cultures, and have widely different views. By treating others with respect we are able to cooperate effectively in building an encyclopedia.
• Follow conventions. By following conventions on such things as editing and naming articles, we are able to produce a more consistent and usable encyclopedia.

New contributors are always welcome to Disinfopedia, and you are encouraged to be bold in editing pages. Don't worry much about making mistakes. It is unlikely that a new user can mess up things too much. Plus, there are always other users checking on new posts and recent changes. If something is wrong, it can be corrected. If something is deleted, it can be retrieved. Look at other articles for cues on formatting and wiki markups. Check back on your work to see how others have improved it. If you're curious about the pages other people are working on, visit the "Recent changes" page.

There is no credentialing process for the Disinfopedia and you don't even need to log in to start writing articles. Nonetheless, we think registering on the Disinfopedia is a good idea. Visit the User login page to create your user ID. Practical reasons for doing this:

• It allows you to set and save Disinfopedia preferences.
• It credits your work in the article history, as well as on Disinfopedia's "recent changes" page.
• You get a personal Disinfopedia page for your user name, which you can use this as a spot to tell people about yourself or list the articles you've worked on.
• Finally, it is much easier for your fellow Disinfopedians to interact with you if you have a registered user name.

Collaborators Wanted! People like you make Disinfopedia.org a powerful resource against disinformation and propaganda. To reach its full potential, hundreds of activists, journalists, researchers, and concerned citizens need to be involved, tracking corporate and government spin, linking front groups to industry, turning the Disinfopedia into a comprehensive directory of deceptive PR. The more people are involved, the more useful information it contains and the better protected it is against vandalism and corruption. The Disinfopedia needs more articles about the disinformation campaigns being waged against environmentalists, social justice groups, public health advocates, peace activists, farmers and others. If you have experience in these areas, or if you're just curious and willing to do some research, you're heartily invited to contribute. No special background is needed to become part of the growing community of Disinfopedians. All you need is the desire to collaborate on a project dedicated to supporting increased public scrutiny of our institutions, exposing the manipulation of public opinion by government and industry, and hopefully, paving the way to more democracy and justice.