RMSchuette

Bio

My name is Ryan, and I'm a contributing Wikipedia writer and editor. A journalist by trade, I've written for National Public Radio, Al Jazeera America, Mic, and other news sources. I hold a master's in journalism from American University in Washington, D.C., where I learned to appreciate exactly what goes into making Wikipedia work for the reading public. I've also been a donor to the Wikimedia Foundation in the past.

For more about me, visit ryanschuette.com.

Interests

My background in journalism informs what I do here on Wikipedia. As such, I take an interest in editing and reviewing pages that fall within the following categories:

• Politics
• History
• Public figures
• Current events
• Entertainment

Goals and Beliefs

As a contributing member to Wikipedia, I seek to help:

• Streamline the content on Wikipedia so the public can easily access and understand what is said
• Promote and assure a sense of neutrality in the subject matter
• Fact-check reference sources as I find them
• Respect the goals and mission of Wikipedia
• Collaborate with other Wikipedia editors, contributors, and users where disputes arise

The Power of Active Voice

I also believe in the power of active voice. The decision to write actively or passively influences how we understand what we read. Active voice shares precisely what is happening, and why. Passive voice all too often obscures and misleads. In this way, grammar shapes perception--and the reader's ultimate takeaway.

For example, in writing about how McGraw-Hill Education somewhat errantly and insensitively described slavery, New York Times columnist Ellen Bresler Rockmore explained that some history textbooks "distort[ed] history not through word choices but through a tool we often think of as apolitical: grammar."

The columnist, a lecturer in writing and editing, used the controversy to differentiate between active voice and passive voice. She provided examples accordingly. Here's the first one:

Families were often broken apart when a family member was sold to another owner.

— Ellen Bresler Rockmore, 2015.

"Note the use of the passive voice in the verbs 'were broken apart' and 'was sold,'" she said. Now, here's the second:

Slave owners often broke slave families apart by selling a family member to another owner.

— Ellen Bresler Rockmore, 2015.

"A bit more powerful, no?" she added. "Through grammatical manipulation, the textbook authors obscure the role of slave owners in the institution of slavery."

I'd agree: It is more powerful. It's the difference between saying, "JFK was assassinated in 1963," and "Someone assassinated JFK in 1963." That latter example begs the question: Who did the assassinating? It seeks to answer a question important to the public, and charges that question head-on.

This is how I feel Wikipedia should look and sound.