I came accross a hilariously inept bit of tech reporting today, courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald. Apparently the Wikipedia page for Mick Keelty, Australia's Federal Police Commissioner, was vandalised last week. Hardly earth-shattering, right? Just revert the changes, and move on. To a sensation-hungry hack without the faintest clue what Wikipedia is, however, this looks like a Story. More particularly, it looks like a story entitled "Cyber bandit sabotages top cop".

The article gives a minutely detailed rundown of the rather juvenile vandalism (apparently perpetrated by a not very imaginative 13-year-old), and is accompanied by a stock photo showing a depressed-looking Keelty, evidently meditating on the deep unfairness of it all. The Wikipedia vandal is not just a "cyber bandit" - he is also referred to as a "hacker" throughout. The icing on the cake, however, is what has to be a mis-quote from Angela Beesley:

Wikimedia Foundation Advisory Board chairwoman Angela Beesley said the person who made the edits infiltrated the site from outside.

Infiltrated Wikipedia from the outside? You don't say.