Wikipedia:Recentism

This is an explanatory essay about the Wikipedia:Neutral point of view, Wikipedia:Notability, and Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not policies.

This page provides additional information about concepts in the page(s) it supplements. This page is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community.

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This page in a nutshell: Some Wikipedia articles tend to focus on recent events. Wikipedia has been praised for the way it deals with current news breaks. Nevertheless, it is appropriate to be aware of balance and historical perspective.

Recentism is a phenomenon on Wikipedia where an article has an inflated or imbalanced focus on recent events. It is writing without an aim toward a long-term, historical view. This can result in, among others:

Articles overburdened with documenting breaking news reports and controversy as it happens.
Articles created on flimsy, transient merits.
Articles deleted despite concerning notable trans-historical subject matter, because a recentist article has given only flimsy and transient details available in news reports without the accompanying historical perspective, and because editors proposing deletion don't bother to research.
The muddling or diffusion of the timeless facets of a subject, previously recognized by Wikipedia consensus.
Edit warring over whether to change an article's well-established title, abbreviation, date and numbering format, national variety of English and spelling, or wording in the lead section or article body on the basis of those used on breaking news sources.
Impassioned discussions on talk pages that debate not just the notability of the recent event ("Is this topic of lasting importance?") but also where (if anywhere) it should receive coverage on Wikipedia. Often conducted in ignorance of the historical facts.

Recentism is a symptom of Wikipedia's dynamic and immediate editorial process, and has positive aspects as well—up-to-date information on breaking news events, vetted and counter-vetted by enthusiastic volunteer editors, is something that no other encyclopedia can offer. Still, Wikipedia is not a newspaper and it is not an indiscriminate collection of information. Articles should be written from a neutral point of view, with attention to the long-term significance of the information included, and with awareness that, under the general notability guideline, not every topic will merit its own stand-alone article.