Wikipedia's first sentence called it “a 1981 book written by palestinian author edward said about how the world views islam”. Today it says “a 1981 book by palestinian author edward said”.
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Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2025
1981 book by Edward Said ( Learn how and when to remove this message ) Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World is a 1981 book by Palestinian author Edward Said , in which he discusses how the Western media distorts the image of Islam . Said describes the book as the third and last in a series of books (the first two were Orientalism and The Question of Palestine ) in which he analyzes the relations between the Islamic world, Arabs and East and West, France, Great Britain and the United States. Covering Islam deals with issues during and after the Iranian hostage crisis , and how the Western media has speculated on the realities of Islamic life. Said questions the objectivity of the media, and discusses the relations between knowledge, power and the Western media. Covering Islam: how the media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1294352101.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Covering Islam is a 1981 book written by Palestinian author Edward Said about how the world views Islam . Said describes the book as the third and last in a series of books (the first two were Orientalism and The Question of Palestine ) in which he analyzes the relations between the Islamic world, Arabs and East and West, France, Great Britain and the United States. Covering Islam deals with issues during and after the Iranian hostage crisis , and how the Western media has speculated on the realities of Islamic life. Said questions the objectivity of the media, and discusses the relations between knowledge, power and the Western media.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 352275050.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Covering Islam is a 1981 book written by Palestinian author Edward Said about how the Western media distorts the image of Islam . Said describes the book as the third and last in a series of books (the first two were Orientalism and The Question of Palestine ) in which he analyzes the relations between the Islamic world, Arabs and East and West, France, Great Britain and the United States. Covering Islam deals with issues during and after the Iranian hostage crisis , and how the Western media has speculated on the realities of Islamic life. Said questions the objectivity of the media, and discusses the relations between knowledge, power and the Western media. Covering Islam: how the media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 655084583.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Covering Islam is a 1981 book by Palestinian author Edward Said , in which he discusses how the Western media distorts the image of Islam . Said describes the book as the third and last in a series of books (the first two were Orientalism and The Question of Palestine ) in which he analyzes the relations between the Islamic world, Arabs and East and West, France, Great Britain and the United States. Covering Islam deals with issues during and after the Iranian hostage crisis , and how the Western media has speculated on the realities of Islamic life. Said questions the objectivity of the media, and discusses the relations between knowledge, power and the Western media. Covering Islam: how the media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 931010871.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
1981 book by Edward Said Covering Islam is a 1981 book by Palestinian author Edward Said , in which he discusses how the Western media distorts the image of Islam . Said describes the book as the third and last in a series of books (the first two were Orientalism and The Question of Palestine ) in which he analyzes the relations between the Islamic world, Arabs and East and West, France, Great Britain and the United States. Covering Islam deals with issues during and after the Iranian hostage crisis , and how the Western media has speculated on the realities of Islamic life. Said questions the objectivity of the media, and discusses the relations between knowledge, power and the Western media. Covering Islam: how the media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1154651856.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “a 1981 book written by palestinian author edward said about how the world views islam”. Today it says “a 1981 book by palestinian author edward said”. Read the current article and compare.
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Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
a 1981 book written by palestinian author edward said about how the world views islam
Now
a 1981 book by palestinian author edward said
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