Talk:William T. Porter/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Aiken ♫ 18:54, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

Summary

Well done, I think this meets criteria (bear in mind though, I think this is my first GA review...). Just a few little nitpicks:

General: Was he known as "William T. Porter" in general, i.e. is that the name he used on his publications?

Yes, generally that's how he's referred to in bylines and stuff. Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)

Lead:

• "After working at a number of small newspapers..." What is a small newspaper? Should it be "small newspaper company"?
  • Source gives "small newspapers", as for what they are, i'd imagine .. not big ones like the New York Times. Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)
• Following this sentence is another beginning with "After working at a..." Could this be varied in some way?
  • changed to "after employment"Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)
• What's a "tall tale"?
  • I've linked it.
• "He left the original Spirit in 1855, but in 1856 was hired as editor for another sporting newspaper". Not sure the "but" is working there. I think "and" would work just as well.
  • done. Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)

Early life:

• "He was one of five boys born to his parents". Isn't the "born to his parents" a little bit obvious? Also, were his parents unmarried or did they just not share the same name?
  • My guess is here that what we're seeing is current standards of scholarship (which is to not list women by their married names, but only by their maiden names) clashing with expectations that we'd give married names for women. The source gives her maiden name, but does not specifically state they were married, although given the time frame of their lives, they almost certainly were. Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)
• I'm confused: he left school to work in a shop, and then attended college? Is that in the right order?
  • I assume so. The two bits of data are not from the same source, so the exact chronological relationship is unclear. Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)
• "His mother died in 1825, which meant the family was broken up". Why would it mean that?
  • My source just states "His mother's death in 1825 led to the breakup of the family and the migration of Porter and his four brothers out of New England." I'd assume that was because W.T. was all of 16 when his mom died. Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)
• "Porter gained the nickname of "York's Tall Son"". Do we know how he gained it? Height?
  • None of my sources say why. (In case you hadn't guessed, he's a bit obscure.) Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)

Editorial work:

• "Porter published the first issue of a new newspaper". If it was the first issue, is it necessary to say it was new?
  • I think it flows better than "Porter published a new newspaper.." or "Porter published the first issue of a newspaper..." and it also makes it very clear. Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)
• "The first attempt at Spirit of the Times failed quickly". Again, do we know why?
  • Source says "It soon failed, but Porter was not deterred." Informative, no? Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)
• "In January 1835 Porter purchased the Traveller and Spirit of the Times and renamed the newspaper back to Spirit of the Times, and returned to editing it." Can one of those "and"s be deleted?
  • now reads "Times, returning to editing it." Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)
• "Porter focused on selling his paper in the south and west". Of what? (This is repeated later on too)
  • now reads "south and west of the United States." Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)
• "the Spirit became a repository of information of interest". Can one of those "of"s be deleted?
  • first of is not a "for" Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)
• "Porter encouraged Southwestern authors". Is that someone from the south-west (I assume)? Would it be capitalized normally?
  • Yes, usually in the US. Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)
• "Porter was instrumental in encouraging the careers of Johnson Hooper". Surely that should be singular "career"?
  • Oops. Fixed. Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)

Later life:

• The fact Porter never married is mentioned twice (unless you're referring to his friend William Herbert, in which case it's not very clear).
  • fixed (it was a duplicate) Ealdgyth - Talk 00:48, 16 August 2010 (UTC)

These should be pretty simple to fix, and then your article should easily pass 1a and become a Good Article. Bye for now. Aiken ♫ 19:27, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

OK, all's good. Aiken ♫ 01:02, 16 August 2010 (UTC)