User:Mbm002/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Red Scare

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article because it is a topic in which I have some knowledge, so I would be able to pick up on any major errors. It is relevant to our course on the global history of communism, since it pertains to major waves of anti-communist sentiment. Upon first glance the article seems to be well organized with multiple sources.

Lead section
The lead is concise and outlines the two major sections of the article clearly. It gives a good, short summary of the overall topic as well as each section. It does not include any excess informations and gives a brief overview of the rest of the article.

Content
The article content is all relevant to the topic. There is a good proportion between the sections according to which one was more significant within history. The content seems to be up to date and there does not seem to be any superfluous or missing information. It might be helpful to consider the scope of the Red Scare beyond the scope of the years of the classically defined First and Second Red Scares, especially with the single mention of the Venona Project of 1995 but nothing else.

Tone and Balance
The article seems to be fairly neutral. It consists of the facts and events that the Red Scare consists of, rather than public opinion or the different ways it is seen. It is not biased towards any particular position, whether justifying or vilifying the actions of individuals during that time. I think the findings of actual acts of espionage might be overrepresented compared to the amount of counts that were claimed but never proven. Minority opinions are generally described as such and claims that were proven unfounded as well.

Sources and References
There are multiple sources and references throughout the article, referencing encyclopedias, articles, and papers. They seem to be reliable and by a diverse spectrum of authors. The links I checked worked.

Organization and Writing Quality
The article is well-written. It has good vocabulary that is still clear and easily accessible. There are no major grammatical or spelling errors. It is mostly well organized. The only section that seems out of place is "Internal causes of the anti-communist fear".

Images and Media
The images are well-captioned, with the captions clarifying the parts of the pictures that might not be clear. They images themselves add to the sections they are laid out in conjunction to, giving examples of the political propaganda that shaped the Red Scares.

Talk Page Discussion
The article is rated as C-Class, with Mid level importance to the United States History and Socialism WikiProjects. The discussions on the talk page mostly concern expanding the article to include different parts of the First and Second Red Scares as well as more recent events that might fall into the scope of the article. Others center on tone and balance, since the history of communism and anti-communism in the United States can often cause emotional arguments. Finally, there are appeals based on the fact that the article is solely focused on the United States, while there have been Red Scares in multiple other countries as well.

Overall Impressions
Overall, the article is quite good. It is pretty complete, with relevant information that is well organized and well written. There is a bit of focus lacking from the lack of legitimacy of claims made during this time. Though the page needs a bit of work, it is mostly effective.