4.0
The Editors
ByPublisher Description
“Strikingly relevant" [Taylor Lorenz], The Editors is a thriller that reveals the battles behind the internet's most contested information source: Wikipedia.
Aim for Neutrality. We Need Better Sources. Anonymity is Fundamental. Keep Developing.
The editors know these principles. The editors follow them every day – usually. The editors may not be recognized on the street, but they craft the information that is seen on nearly every internet search. Through Infopendium, a global, crowd-sourced internet encyclopedia, the editors influence the world.
Freelance journalist Morgan Wentworth, recently laid off from PopFeed News, attends the Global Infopendium Conference in New York expecting a straightforward story to help pay the rent. But the so-called “pendium people” are full of surprises. PhDs rub shoulders with high school students, all quoting the project’s rules and regulations like a second language. Sure, millions of people see the facts curated by these editors, but who really cares about the free encyclopedia?
When a hacker attacks the conference and posts a cryptic message, it becomes clear that somebody does. And Morgan decides to find out who. But the path through an online information war is far from clear. Foreign governments, billionaires, and a global virus threaten to sway the truth on Infopendium.
And far from Morgan’s sight, in places as different as Beijing and Kansas, some of the editors have plans of their own . . .
Aim for Neutrality. We Need Better Sources. Anonymity is Fundamental. Keep Developing.
The editors know these principles. The editors follow them every day – usually. The editors may not be recognized on the street, but they craft the information that is seen on nearly every internet search. Through Infopendium, a global, crowd-sourced internet encyclopedia, the editors influence the world.
Freelance journalist Morgan Wentworth, recently laid off from PopFeed News, attends the Global Infopendium Conference in New York expecting a straightforward story to help pay the rent. But the so-called “pendium people” are full of surprises. PhDs rub shoulders with high school students, all quoting the project’s rules and regulations like a second language. Sure, millions of people see the facts curated by these editors, but who really cares about the free encyclopedia?
When a hacker attacks the conference and posts a cryptic message, it becomes clear that somebody does. And Morgan decides to find out who. But the path through an online information war is far from clear. Foreign governments, billionaires, and a global virus threaten to sway the truth on Infopendium.
And far from Morgan’s sight, in places as different as Beijing and Kansas, some of the editors have plans of their own . . .
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Editors Reviews
4.0
““It was as if his body and mind had snapped into peak form, all cylinders firing in perfect synchrony. The way that it’s supposed to feel. Because he was editing in the right way, for the right reasons. Constructing knowledge without a social agenda; pushing pure, objective facts onto the site.”
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When I first started this, I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy it. But the more I read the more I wanted to read. Partly this came from how close this was to all of our lived experiences of misinformation campaigns during the pandemic. Partly because Harrison provided a truly diverse cast of characters with different motivations, personal histories, and narrative voices.
I found myself really rooting for their success in the face of pretty awful odds and seemingly intractable money and power in opposition to truth and “good“. There were a few reveals and twists that I didn’t see coming, which I always appreciate.
I think this is a good reminder to practice caution and critical thinking when consuming information from *any* source. I kept thinking back to the critical thinking classes in college that taught us how to evaluate authors and works for intended audience/outcomes, and how important those skills have become today.
This was a very immersive, well paced, and engaging debut novel that I’m glad was put in my path!”
“I was given my copy of the book at Wikipedia Day 2025 and had a chance to chat with the author. As a longtime Wikipedian who was in high school trawling the “List of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada” page for vandalism, The Editors hits close to home. While dramatized, I hope others who read the book will appreciate the efforts of the thousands of volunteers who fight against vandals, bias, paid editing, state-sponsored disinformation, and everything else.”
About Stephen Harrison
Stephen Harrison is a writer and tech lawyer. His fiction and nonfiction pieces have appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, and Slate magazine. For the past five years, he has penned the column "Source Notes" about Wikipedia and the world of facts on the internet. He lives in Dallas.
Other books by Stephen Harrison
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