Snopes CEO Caught Plagiarizing
The Claim
David Mikkelson, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Snopes, was caught plagiarizing.
News posted on
Emerging story
On August 13, 2021, BuzzFeed News released an article which details the extensive plagiarism of Snopes’ CEO, David Mikkelson. Snopes is a fact-checking platform which describes itself as “the oldest and largest face-checking site online, widely regarded by journalists, folklorists, and readers as an invaluable research companion.”
Public figures and average citizens alike have collectively condemned Mikkelson's actions and called into question the integrity of Snopes as a whole.
Misbar’s Analysis
According to BuzzFeed’s article, Mikkelson intentionally plagiarized writing from a variety of sources in order to quickly publish articles and capitalize on high internet traffic. He did so under his own name, under a pseudonym (Jeff Zarronandia), and under the Snopes byline, during a period from 2015 and 2019. In a statement from Mikkelson attached to the Buzzfeed article, he confesses, “There is no excuse for my serious lapses in judgement. I am sorry.”
The staff at Snopes is currently conducting damage control on this issue. Vice President and Editorial/Managing Editor Doreen Marchionni and Chief Operating Officer Vinny Green released a joint apology statement the same day that BuzzFeed’s article came out. This statement confirms BuzzFeed’s findings, and goes on to explain how the staff had already been investigating Mikkelson’s work for weeks before the article was published. Following the statement from Marchionni and Green, a shorter memo from the collective staff at Snopes came out. In it, the writers declare that their integrity and journalistic integrity remains untarnished, despite the controversial behavior of their CEO.
This incident has been a blow to Snopes’ reputation, and to fact-checking as a whole. Any journalistic platform lives and dies by its integrity and standing with the public; Mikkelson’s actions have given the already distrustful even more reason to scorn fact-checkers and journalists. Those at Snopes will doubtlessly attempt to make amends going forward, and we at Misbar will continue to hold ourselves to high standards of writing and honesty with our readers.
