Wikipedia:Verifiability: Difference between revisions

Some newspapers, magazines, and other news organizations host online [[WP:PRIMARY|pages, columns or rolling text]] they call [[blog]]s. For Wikipedia's purposes, breaking news stories are also considered to be primary sources (columns). These may be acceptable sources if the writers are professionals, but use them with caution because blogs may not be subject to the news organization's normal fact-checking process.{{efn|name="EXCEPTIONAL"|Note that any exceptional claim would require [[#Exceptional claims require exceptional sources|exceptional sources]].}} If a news organization publishes an [[WP:PRIMARY|opinion piece]] in a blog, attribute the statement to the writer, e.g. "Jane Smith wrote{{nbsp}}..." Never use the blog comments that are left by the readers as sources. For personal or group blogs that are {{em|not}} reliable sources, see {{section link||Self-published sources}} below.

Anyone can create a [[personal web page]], [[self-publishing|self-publish]] a book, or [[WP:Expert editors|claim to be an expert]]. That is why self-published material such as books, patents, newsletters, personal websites, open wikis, personal or [[group blog|group]]s blogs (as distinguished from [[#Newspaper and magazine blogs|newsblogs]], above), [[content farm]]s, [[Internet forum]] postings, and [[social media]] postings are largely not acceptable as sources. Self-published expert sources may be considered reliable when produced by an established [[subject-matter expert]], whose work '''in the relevant field''' has previously been published by [[WP:RS|reliable]], independent publications.{{efn|name="EXCEPTIONAL"}} Exercise caution when using such sources: if the information in question is suitable for inclusion, someone else will probably have published it in independent, reliable sources.<ref>Self-published material is characterized by the ''lack of independent reviewers'' (those without a conflict of interest) validating the reliability of the content. Further examples of self-published sources include press releases, the material contained within company websites, advertising campaigns, material published in media by the owner(s)/publisher(s) of the media group, self-released music albums, and electoral [[manifesto]]s: