Snopes Co-Founder Banned for Plagiarizing Dozens of Stories on Fact-Checking Site

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Snopes Co-Founder Banned for Plagiarizing Dozens of Stories on Fact-Ch…

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Snopes, which promotes itself as "the internet's definitive fact-checking resource," is currently embroiled in a plagiarism scandal. Snopes' co-founder and current CEO, David Mikkelson, has acknowledged plagiarizing numerous publications. According to a BuzzFeed News investigation, Mikkelson wrote articles containing plagiarized content from distinguished news outlets like Los Angeles Times and The Guardian. 


During the investigation process, Snopes discovered that there were 54 pieces of plagiarized material published by Mikkelson. 


The plagiarized pieces were published under three separate bylines. Some articles contained Mikkelson’s own name, while others were set as “Snopes Staff” byline, or a pseudonym was made under the byline Jeff Zarronandia. 

 

Usually, journalists publish articles using pseudonyms for the purpose of protecting their identity when operating in threatening situations. However, in this case, according to former managing editor of Snopes, Brooke Binkowski, “[the pseudonym use was] to write about topics he knew would get him to hate mail under that assumed name. Plus it made it appear he had more staff than he had.”


In a statement, Snopes officials stated, "Plagiarism undermines our mission and values, full stop. It has no place in our organization in any situation." Doreen Marchionni, VP of Editorial and Managing Editor of Snopes, has suspended Mikkelson from all editorial duties. However, Mikkelson still remains as a CEO and 50% shareholder of the company. 


Mikkelson said in a statement in response to the investigation, "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 judgment. I am sorry."


As of now, the investigation is still ongoing and more information will be shortly released. 


By Emilie Chi  

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