Richard Giles 2.0

I heard the other day over Twitter that someone had again added inaccurate information to Cameron Reilly’s wikipedia entry. Ok, so inaccurate information probably isn’t that surprising, what was really surprising was the slanderous nature, and also that it has become obvious that someone is trying their hardest to defame Cameron on the wiki.

A few months ago I checked out his entry, and was surprised, amused, and mildly disappointed to see this statement in the “Controversy” section:

“In May 2007, Reilly described his 2006 co-host on G’day World, Richard Giles as “My ungrateful protege”. They have since made up and Giles returned as a special co-host on the Gday World podcast on June 23rd 2007.”

Cameron and I have never fallen out, and as such, never needed to make up.

Since meeting Cam in 2005, I have had the utmost respect for him. He’s one of those guys that becomes a loyal friend pretty quickly, and I’ve chatted with him about all sorts of things that have happened in my life since. Even though we live at the opposite ends of Australia, I consider him one of my best mates. He’s always made the time to talk with me, and when I’ve needed it, he’s given me support.

I laughed off the entry in wikipedia, because to be honest I figured most people wouldn’t read it, and those that did probably wouldn’t think much of it. He did make the statement, but any time he has said it, it was obviously in jest, and no one has ever asked me to clarify the situation, but I’ve mentioned it on a couple of podcasts.

However, the recent addition to Cam’s wikipedia entry went too far. And unfortunately the offender, who has since come clean in the comments on Cam’s entry, excuses himself by saying “I wasn’t in the right place mentally when I added to the entry.” They’re still defending what they wrote, even though they admit the main thrust of the comment “wasn’t needed or is provable.”

I listen to most of Cam’s podcasts, and at no time have I questioned his transparency or integrity. It’s seemed pretty obvious what’s been happening the last few months, and I don’t see how anyone could question him on this, other than to try and make him look bad.

I think it’s time for the person to apologize. They’ve admitted it was wrong, in a round about fashion, and should never have been adding to wikipedia if they weren’t in the right place mentally.

Update: Probably the quickest update I’ve ever needed to do, there is now an apology on Cam’s blog post.