User:Dcj800/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
MS-13 - Wikipedia

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I choose this article since it relates to the New York Times article about Honduras which we read. The article brought up the involvement of gangs, especially during times of crisis, and I wanted to learn more about their existence. My first impression of the article is that it offers a fair amount of information regarding the criminal organization. This is largely because the organization has quite an international presence so there's a multitude of sources to extract information from. The layout of the page also seems fairly organized with an initial description section, a history section and a final section detailing the notable crimes committed.

Evaluate the article
(Compose a detailed evaluation of the article here, considering each of the key aspects listed above. Consider the guiding questions and check out the examples of what a useful Wikipedia article evaluation looks like.)

The lead section of the article is fairly concise offering important information to users who are interested in only doing a bit of research. The first sentence clearly describes who MS-13 are and where they came from. For a single sentence introduction this is informative enough and doesn't compile unnecessary information into a tight space. The rest of the lead section begins to delve into what the rest of the article is going to consist of. It notes on the emergence of the gang within the Los Angeles area, their general movement between Latin America and the U.S., and the gang's relationship to U.S. foreign relations. One major section that isn't mentioned is the extensive list of publicized crimes within the article. This section of the page thoroughly shows just how harmful the gang's presence is and is an integral part of the article. Considering the information that was shared in the lead section, I believe it's necessary to add a couple sentences regarding the cases section of the page. Overall, the lead section is concise and offers a useful amount of information, but I think it's important to prioritize certain sections of the page over others.

The overall content of the article is quite extensive considering MS-13 may not be a criminal organization that the general public has heard of. The history section offers a fairly thorough examination about the start of and continued growth of the gang. However, the history section seems to cut off around the late 1990's and the remainder of the section is just general details. Adding more recent history regarding MS-13's movement around the U.S. and Central America would certainly enhance the history section. Also, any information regarding current key players/members would help make the section more relevant to today. The Attempts at Suppression section of the page does a nice job looking at the gang's relationship with authorities in the U.S. and Central America. The section is dense with information but also doesn't feel repetitive or inclusive of unessential facts. Finally, this section offers a chronological progression which is easy to follow and contains information all the way up to 2022. The political discourse section does a nice job of fact checking any information that is put into the article. It notes claims made by politicians and is able to refute or accept the statements through legitimate research. It also touches on subjects from recent history, so it definitely adds to the relevance of the page. The article overall talks heavily about U.S immigration and the effects of deportation. The main area of this is how the MS-13 gang originated in the U.S. but has since grown in Central America due to deportation. The analyses of this is legitimate and fact based and doesn't try to push opinions onto the viewer of the content.

In this article I would say the viewpoints of the author are not noticeable and everything is read as fairly neutral. It is difficult when discussing gangs and gang violence to remain completely neutral due to the horrifying acts discussed. However, the article does take into consideration the formation of MS-13 which was as protection against any threats to El Salvadorean immigrants in Los Angeles. The article also recognizes the gangs shift from its position on protection into the more traditional criminal organization. The article also discusses many of the cases involving MS-13 with a neutral tone. It offers simply the facts about the crimes and refrains from involving any information that is from an opinionated point of view. There are also certain crimes with little information and others with well over a paragraph of facts. This shows the authors of the page didn't try to add writing where they had little information which strengthens the tone. The article is well written and is structured in a way that is easy to follow. One area I would change is having the publicized crimes section in the middle of the page. This section goes through each of the known crimes chronologically. Having this section at the end makes more sense to me since, unlike most other sections, it ranges over an extensive period and handles a vast amount of information. So, I would recommend moving that section to the end and overall making the rest of the page chronological. This will make the page slightly easier to follow and will avoid jumping from random periods in time, which it does near the end of the article.

The images within the article are adequate especially considering how sensitive the pictures can be when dealing with this subject. One image breaks down the Sinaloa Cartel and MS-13s involvement within the criminal organization. This is the only figure on the page depicting any type of graph or statistics. So, I believe adding another image or two with some statistics about the gang i.e., areas MS-13 is active, timeline, etc. would enhance the visual appeal of the page. The other images show gang members and graffiti. These are used to add visuals to the gang tattoos and art that is mentioned in the article, and I believe these are adequate. Finally, the images don't protrude on the page and fit nicely into the text and layout.

The talk page consists largely of information to add to the article regarding recent news updates. Most talk about the situation in the U.S. regarding immigration and deportation and how that section of the article can be expanded and refined. There is only one correction in the talk page which has to do with wording that may sound opinionated. Since this is a C-Class article I think this talk page definitely doesn't have enough volume. There must be new information regarding MS-13 making headlines whether in the U.S. or Central America. Possibly by expanding research into Central America more valuable information on this topic will arise and gaps can be filled within the page.

While I believe the article has the bones of a good page it is still lacking in essential information regarding MS-13. I believe this may come from a failure to look into the gang's violence in Central America where it is much more involved in the government and citizen's lives. The page offers solid sections with relevant information it just needs to expand the scope of the research in order to fully capture MS-13 and their presence. The strengths of this article are definitely the lead section, images used and cases section. These three sections may still need some work but overall do a nice job at enhancing the content of the page. The MS-13 article is listed as a level-5 vital article recognizing the importance of expanding the information that is contained within the page.