Verified answer

I'm not sure what your second question is, but here's how I would evaluate a news article:

Did the person writing the article go directly to the source to get information?

Are all sides of an issue covered in the article?

Did the author of the article ask for comment from the people affected by the story?

Warning signs:

Articles that quote news reports rather than original sources.

Articles that do not tell both sides.

Articles that do not attribute the information presented and rather just present it all as fact.