Template:Did you know nominations/Harlon Carter

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The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Cwmhiraeth (talk) 05:56, 24 July 2014 (UTC)

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Harlon Carter[edit]

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Alt 1: "...that National Rifle Association leader Harlon Carter was convicted of murder as a teenager, although the conviction was overturned on appeal?"

Created by GabrielF (talk). Self nominated at 05:03, 7 July 2014 (UTC).

  • He was also later acquitted on appeal, and I think that should be included in the hook. Gatoclass (talk) 06:21, 7 July 2014 (UTC)
    • Fair enough. I've added an alternative. GabrielF (talk) 06:28, 7 July 2014 (UTC)
  • I think that the article could be improved to meet DYK standards, but it's not there yet. This review examines the article as of 22:47, 7 July 2014
Good points first.
  1. Article is new (created 7 July)
  2. Long enough: 3260 B (509 words) "readable prose size"
  3. Neutral: appears to be broadly neutral in tone, but I have some concerns (see below)
  4. No BLP issues, because none of the people named in the article are living
  5. Most of the references are off line, but I have checked that the online ones are used fairly for the points they reference.
Problems:
QPQ review listed, but the review at Template:Did you know nominations/1990 Back Bay rail accident seems very cursory, and doesn't address most of the points listed at WP:WIADYK.
  1. Part of the hook fact -- that Carter was convicted of murder -- lacks a direct citation. Given the seriousness of that assertion, I suggest that every sentence in that para should be referenced to at least one reliable source.
  2. In the rest of the article, many significant points are uncited, and 4 out of 8 paragraphs are wholly unreferenced. This is inadequate of itself (see WP:DYKAR#D2) and also impedes checks for copyvio and close paraphrasing, so I can't sign off on either point.
  3. I am also uncomfortable about the inclusion of the murder-conviction-and-acquittal so close to the lede, which seems to give it undue prominence. That was a controversy which arose during his time at the Institute for Legislative Action, and should included in that part of the article.
  4. As it stands, the article includes negative points about Carter, but does not try to explain his achievements. For balance, it needs to present a more rounded view of the man.
Gun control is a hot issue in the USA, so I expect that if this article reaches the front page, it will be carefully scrutinised by protagonists on either side of current political hot potato. So it would need to very carefully referenced, and also ensure that it paints a reasonably balanced picture of Carter. So far, it doesn't do that.
I hope that the nominator will work on improving the article, and building on the research already done. If they would like me to revise my review, please {{ping|BrownHairedGirl}} so that I don't miss any response. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 00:01, 8 July 2014 (UTC)
@BrownHairedGirl: Thank you for the thorough review.
  1. I have added more inline citations to this paragraph
  2. I've added additional inline citation throughout the article
  3. I moved the paragraph about the murder conviction further down in the article, so that it accompanies a discussion of his NRA leadership.
  4. I would dispute this fourth point. Carter's accomplishments were that he changed the mission and viewpoint of the NRA and that under his leadership the organization increased its membership and political power. I believe that I've presented Carter's viewpoints and his actions accurately - and the article is consistent with the sources.GabrielF (talk) 04:14, 8 July 2014 (UTC)
The inclusion of "although" in the ALT hook gives a slightly judgmental air as if we don't quite believe the the second part (not as bad as "even though" but worse than "but").
ALT2: "...that National Rifle Association leader Harlon Carter's conviction for murder as a teenager was overturned on appeal?" Belle (talk) 10:16, 8 July 2014 (UTC)

I'd skip the teenage bit

ALT3: "...that the murder conviction of National Rifle Association leader Harlon Carter was overturned on appeal?"

EEng (talk) 03:12, 11 July 2014 (UTC)

I suggest that the teenage bit is important, so as not imply that the conviction occurred while he was an NRA leader. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 19:19, 20 July 2014 (UTC)
  • Thanks for the reworking, GabrielF. That's a big improvement, and we are nearly there.
AFAICS, the references support the assertions in the article, and there is no copyvio close paraphrasing. (I have to AGF on the offline sources, but they are not critical).
Moving the murder further down the article significantly alters its balance, which is good. However, there are a few outstanding points:
  1. The para 2 assertion about him joining the Border Patrol in 1935 didn't seem to be supported by that para's reference to Lambert, which referred to him leaving in 1970 "after 34 years with the Government". That implies a 1936 joining, which is specifically asserted by Crewson, so I amended the date and added a ref to Crewson. How does that look to you?
  2. Lambert asserts that Carter was a graduate of the University of Texas and Emory Law School. I suggest that this should be included in the article, because the fact of having 2 degrees places him a different light to just being a border cop. What do you think?
  3. Should the lede para be expanded with a sentence summarising his career as you did in point #4 above?
Again, please {{ping|BrownHairedGirl}} in any reply so that I don't miss it. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 11:48, 11 July 2014 (UTC)
@BrownHairedGirl: Thanks again. I'm OK changing the date to 1936. I've added the schools he graduated from and I've expanded the first paragraph to give a more detailed summary of his positions and accomplishments. GabrielF (talk) 22:29, 13 July 2014 (UTC)
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