11 votes

The co-founder of Snopes wrote dozens of plagiarized articles for the fact-checking site

Posted by nukeman
Tags: journalism, snopes, fact checking, david mikkelson, journalists, plagiarism, author.dean sterling jones, source.buzzfeed news, long read
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/deansterlingjones/snopes-cofounder-plagiarism-mikkelson

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Title
The Cofounder Of The Fact-Checking Site Snopes Was Writing Plagiarized Articles Under A Fake Name
Word count
3514 words

5 comments

  1. [3]
    teaearlgraycold
    Link
    I don't understand. As long as the original articles themselves are legitimate then Snopes is still good for its main purpose. This seems like a legal matter between Snopes and the plagiarized...

    I don't understand. As long as the original articles themselves are legitimate then Snopes is still good for its main purpose. This seems like a legal matter between Snopes and the plagiarized authors, not a betrayal of our trust.

    10 votes
    1. [2]
      imperialismus
      Link Parent
      It's a betrayal of trust insofar as readers expect them to comply with regular journalistic practice, which includes not plagiarizing. It's not a betrayal of trust in the sense of them publishing...

      It's a betrayal of trust insofar as readers expect them to comply with regular journalistic practice, which includes not plagiarizing. It's not a betrayal of trust in the sense of them publishing fake news or incorrect information. Frankly I think most readers don't really care whether parts of an article was plagiarized. However, it does raise the question, if one of the founders of Snopes was this lazy, not even writing their own copy, were they also lazy in regards to fact checking? If you did your own independent verification of information, would you stoop to copying the exact wording of another source? Unlikely. Laziness is not really compatible with being a trusted source of information; even if this particular case didn't (as far as we know) lead to promoting falsehoods, most people will not go to the trouble of independently verifying their news sources' claims. And any suggestion that they take shortcuts inevitably raises concerns about whether they did the same thing not just with copyright law but with actual source critique and information.

      14 votes
      1. nukeman
        Link Parent
        I agree. Poor journalistic ethics, even if it does not compromise the content itself, inevitably degrades trust in the outlet.

        I agree. Poor journalistic ethics, even if it does not compromise the content itself, inevitably degrades trust in the outlet.

        7 votes
  2. Bear
    Link
    A fucking shame, as I used to consider Snopes a premiere source to fact check dubious claim or rumors. Remember: Never become complacent with your trusted sources. Check them against other sources.

    A fucking shame, as I used to consider Snopes a premiere source to fact check dubious claim or rumors.

    Remember: Never become complacent with your trusted sources. Check them against other sources.

    6 votes
  3. nukeman
    Link
    From the article:

    From the article:

    David Mikkelson, the co-founder of the fact-checking website Snopes, has long presented himself as the arbiter of truth online, a bulwark in the fight against rumors and fake news. But he has been lying to the site's tens of millions of readers: A BuzzFeed News investigation has found that between 2015 and 2019, Mikkelson wrote and published dozens of articles containing material plagiarized from news outlets such as the Guardian and the LA Times.

    After inquiries from BuzzFeed News, Snopes conducted an internal review and confirmed that under a pseudonym, the Snopes byline, and his own name, Mikkelson wrote and published 54 articles with plagiarized material. The articles include such topics as same-sex marriage licenses and the death of musician David Bowie.

    Snopes VP of Editorial and Managing Editor Doreen Marchionni suspended Mikkelson from editorial duties pending “a comprehensive internal investigation.” He remains an officer and a 50% shareholder of the company.

    1 vote