Oh no Snopes!
According to a BuzzFeed News Investigation, co-founder and CEO of fact-checking website Snopes David Mikkelson published dozens of articles with plagiarized content between 2015 and 2019.
In true Snopes fashion, they fact-checked BuzzFeed's investigation.
Snopes VP of Editorial and Managing Editor Doreen Marchionni and Snopes Chief Executive Officer Vinny Green issued a statement to update their internal review.
"Our internal research so far has found a total of 54 stories Mikkelson published that used appropriated material, including all of the stories Buzzfeed shared with us," the statement said.
"Let us be clear: Plagiarism undermines our mission and values, full stop. It has no place in any context within this organization."
Mikkelson, who owns 50% of Snopes, also issued a statement:
"The results of our internal audit confirmed that I engaged in multiple serious copyright violations of content that Snopes didn't have rights to use. There is no excuse for my serious lapses in judgement. I am sorry. I have given full authority to our managing editor, Doreen Marchionni, to take any measures needed to address these issues."
"The last thing I ever wanted was to have my mistakes detract from [the Snopes staff's] excellent work, and I'm doing everything I can to make it right."
So, in case you didn't realize it before, the so-called fact-checkers — our arbiters of truth — are not trustworthy.
Also, gotta say it :
- Babylon Bee: 57
- Snopes: 0
Snopes taking Ls left and right son 😭
👉 P.S. Now watch our latest must-see video: This brave 4th-grader gave a speech about mask mandates at her school board meeting and the crowd went WILD:
