New York Times Wikipedia edits raise conflict of interest questions

The New York Times has been editing its reporters' Wikipedia pages for years, possibly violating the website's "conflict of interest" policy, Web watchers say. The edits have been revealed in a search of the paper's public IP address in Wikipedia, BuzzFeed reported Monday. The IP address 170.149.100.10 is listed as "The New York Times Company." Whether the edits to the pages were done by public relations professionals at the Times, the reporters themselves or others is unknown, BuzzFeed said. Many of the edits reportedly appear to be somewhat minor, such as removing information on a reporter's personal life or modifying a reporter's job title. A New York Times spokeswoman contacted by BuzzFeed asked if it had questions about specific edits but then did not return a request for comment, BuzzFeed said.