"Does this source have a reputation for being honest and accurate?".
The source of this article is The Economist which is a world famous magazine that reports news about economy. The article is about Microsoft shutting down their chat rooms and it discusses their motives for doing so. I would say that The Economist has a good reputation for being honest and accurate because generally business men dont read, nor do they rely on the statements of a magazine if they know that it is inaccurate. .
"Does this source acknowledge counter-arguments or limitations of its own knowledge?".
The article discusses the possible reasons why Microsoft will be closing down the chat rooms. Microsoft claims that it will be shutting down the chat rooms because it wants to "better protect children from inappropriate communication online". The economist is sceptical about this and they think that Microsoft's real reasons are more commercial than moral. The source gives counter-arguments to its statements.
"Is bias observable in the selection of details, the emphasis placed on those details, or the use of slanted words? Does the goal seem to be to report or to persuade?".
Judging from The Economist's selection of details, I would say there is a fair amount of bias evident in this article. The source is more in favour of the idea that Microsoft is shutting down the chat rooms because of commercial reasons. This is evident because the amount of arguments supporting the moral reasons for shutting it down are greatly outnumbered by the number of arguments supporting the economical reasons. The goal of this article seems to be to persuade people not to believe that Microsoft is actually concerned about the amount of troubles the chat rooms cause but rather that they are concerned about their image.
"Are the statements presented for belief supported by any form of justification?".
All of the statements in this article are backed up with explanations.