User:Snwashing/Evaluate an Article

Vice Media - Evaluate an article
This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.


 * Name of article: (link)
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.

Vice Media will be evaluated as they are a significant player in the modern alternative media/new media market

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Lead evaluation
The introductory sentence describes the topic to the extent of it being a standard broadcasting company; therefore, any mention of their alternative content focus would better describe the topic. The lead describes the article's major sections but some sections of the article are not described at all in the lead. The line stating Vice as a "poster child for new media success" hints at a section focused on Vice's content and reception, but that section never appears. The lead is overly detailed in the sense that there is too much of a business emphasis and not enough on the content or brand.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?

Content evaluation
The article's content is relevant to the topic from a business perspective, with information on investment rounds, ownership changes, personnel changes, etc. The issue with this perspective is it can make the article feel as if it were an investment report, taking away from the content and cultural potential of the article. Everything seems to be up-to-date as far as the content goes, but there is definitely a trend of declining update to the article starting in 2018. The main issue with the content is the missing detail that elaborates on what kind of content Vice is creating, and what the purpose behind it is, to see what makes them this "poster child" and how they perform in the alternative media realm.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Tone and balance evaluation
The article does a good job of maintaining general neutrality until the section that details Vice's four settled sexual harassment cases in 2017, where the initial sentence does a good job of identifying the legal activities, but fails to provide any detail or context for those significant situations. From that point, the section is filled with related claims with no legal action or resolution associated with them, where I believe it would make more sense to fully detail the legal proceedings and use the further claims as secondary detail. The issue with the content structure of this section is the void of neutrality as a sense of anti-Vice bias is created in regards to the situation. The viewpoint that is overrepresented in the article is that of the investor or businessperson, as the business emphasis relating to their history and the asset-focused information that describes their content creates a tone that takes away from social, cultural, journalistic and artistic aspects of the company.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * Are the sources current?
 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Sources and references evaluation
All the facts have source representation, and many of the sources are very thorough, using many accredited publications and academic journals that are current and functioning. The issue with the sources is that there is excellent information within the sources that could be used to elaborate on the stated non-business aspects of Vice to make a more rounded and neutral-toned article.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Organization evaluation
The article's writing had a slight tendency to become overly detailed in the effort of being concise, which required re-reading to comprehend. The grammar and spelling seems to be strong from my examination, but the organization of the article could definitely be improved. As mentioned in the content review section, there are sections towards the bottom of the article such as "Unionization", that were not mentioned in the lead, yet randomly appeared after a section on their digital/mobile agency subsidiary. The organization also needs improving with the correlation of the History and Business Operations sections, as much of the historical content would be better suited in the business operations section, which could be set up as a timeline as well. The history section also provides controversial information/news between the other items of the section in no apparent order; therefore, a "Controversy" or "Legal Issues" section would be beneficial, and could also be set up in a timeline format.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Images and media evaluation
The article does a poor job of using images in media as the visual aspect of Vice's brand is under-serviced. The two lone pictures of the article come at the bottom in the "Acquisitions: Old Blue Last Pub" & "Brooklyn Expansion" sections and they are rather small and unappealing, which is a major issue as the visual media strategies and alternative imagery that Vice uses is major descriptor and reflection of their brand. The first image used is captioned with only the title and no additional detail of location or date, but the second image's caption is strong is describing what it is, where it is, and why it's there in a concise manner. Both images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Talk page evaluation
The talk page is brief, with mentions of source modifications and name clarifications but no further dialogue is found on any of the mentions. The article has a start-class rating for the four WikiPorjects it's apart of; Canada/Montreal, Companies, Magazines, and New York City. The course discussions on Vice media highlighted their efforts in new media and their alternative emphasis, whereas the Wikipedia article describes Vice as a standard broadcasting company, with some mention of their alternative methods.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * How can the article be improved?
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Overall evaluation
The article has no "Good" or "Featured" status associated, but it is strong in detailing the business history and information regarding Vice Media. The improvement for the article would lie in creating a "Company Purpose" section or something of the sort, improving the organization of the existing content, and using more visual media to enhance the comprehensive experience. Overall, the article is well-developed in some sections, yet poorly developed in others; therefore, it is an underdeveloped article.

Optional activity

 * Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback

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