User:Shackpoet/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Grizzly Man

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I'm interested because this is an article related to WikiProject: Alaska, has significance to the people in the state as a popular culture artifact depicting a human and animal encounter. There is also local relevance to Southeast Alaska to the work of another bear man, Stan Price and the development of the Pack Creek bear viewing area on Admiralty Island which could be referenced in this article or shared as a related article. I'll need to review but believe Treadwell was influenced by the work of Price.

Evaluate the article
Lead Section

A succinct summary is provided with links to external relevant articles. There are no citations present for any of the material in the lead which made me wonder if that was a concern. The introductory sentence is adequate, though I think this opening section doesn't quite suggest all of the article's major sections (exhibition, reception).

Content:

A good Wikipedia article should cover all the important aspects of a topic, without putting too much weight on one part while neglecting another.


 * Yes, the primary coverage is of the film and reception though with some additional personal information that occurred outside of the events documented in the documentary, the end of the synopsis (this info could be cut or added to the article on Timothy Treadwell.)
 * Content is up to date with many edits in current year. Most recent content based addition mentions film's inclusion 2010 list from Slant Magazine, best 100 films of the 2000.
 * content that does not belong? The end of the synopsis (this info could be cut or added to the article on Timothy Treadwell.
 * Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics? Not exactly. However, the inclusion of this article in the Wikiproject Alaska does

Tone and balance:


 * It maintains neutrality while including some reference in the film synopsis to some of the controversies or differing attitudes toward the film's subject (Timothy Treadwell). There's some discussion related to these issues on the talk page.
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Are minority or fringe viewpoints accurately described as such?
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Sources and References:


 * many broken links (at least 4) in references, worth a review.
 * I wonder if the synopsis section could benefit from some citations, though I'm unclear on how best to accomplish this. If the synopsis is an attempt to summarize the content or commentary presented in the film it feels that one would need to cite the script or transcript of the documentary itself.  One example, I believe some external sources could be used to validate this sentence, "Park rangers noted that there had never been a recorded incident of poaching at Katmai National Park."  A quick search didn't identify any reports from park channels for this info but here's a potentially relevant document,  Bear-Human Conflict Management Plan, Katmai National Park. Timothy Treadwell's page includes some information on his conflicts with the US Park Service.
 * Article could benefit from some additional academic references now that enough time has passed for adequate critical discourse and study. Here are some results for ebooks and journal articles on the film [results via Google Scholar]

Organization and Writing Quality


 * bias free and neutral with the inclusion of a few direct quotes from critics reviews and Herzog suggesting the varying attitudes of viewers towards Treadwell and his work.
 * article appears to follow consistent template for films including a summary lead, longer synopsis, production, exhibition, response, awards and box office proceeds and other boilerplate film metadata in the info box along with the film poster.

Images and Media


 * Many images of director Werner Herzog as well as documentary subject Timothy Treadwell are available via Wikimedia Commons, could be included minimally in the Grizzly Man article for context.
 * A map of the location of Katmai National Park could benefit understanding and geographic context of the article without cross referencing a related article.

Talk Page Discussion


 * article is rated c-class in general, level 5 vital article in arts and also c-class/low importance as part of Wikiproject Alaska
 * Semi-recent discussion (2020) as the article was subject of a Wikiedu Foundation supported course in Fall 2020.
 * None of the discussion is vital or critical to the article though I found the discussion related to the fair use of the film poster to be worth further investigation.
 * one discussion item related to POV and bias in the article which has been corrected with the problematic section removed but saved in the talk page.