• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

If You're a Snopes User...

Status
Not open for further replies.
toxcrusadr

toxcrusadr

Omelette au Fromage
Subscriber
Fact-checking site Snopes has been an almost daily stop for me for years, to see what urban legends and fake news stories are circulating today. It's become more and more important lately, as people seem more and more gullible, and more and more not only fake but malicious 'news' stories are circulated.

Well, Snopes is in trouble, due to a legal dispute between its founder and a company it contracted with to place ads on the site. At present that company is withholding all ad revenue from Snopes. Snopes has launched a GoFundMe to raise cash for operating funds and legal fees.

I've gotten so much value from Snopes and never given them anything but thanks. So I donated.

Just thought I'd share with the AK community.

http://www.npr.org/2017/07/26/539576135/fact-checking-website-snopes-is-fighting-to-stay-alive

https://www.savesnopes.com/

The second link has a link to the GoFundMe campaign.

PS Feel free to post your thoughts but keep it free of politics please.
 
Register to hide this ad
I doubt there is a single completely perfect and unbiased media outlet anywhere. My impression is they do a pretty good job. Without trying to get into a debate, I'd welcome a link to any kind of reasonable study or analysis showing bias.
 
Ohighway said:
I quit using Snopes a couple years ago as it's been shown they are biased and get things wrong, hence not impartial or reliable.

No offense but I hope they fold.....
Click to expand...


It's almost impossible to ditch the bias in reporting, as ALL have backgrounds/cultures/friends/educations/experiences, and the list goes on...that influence them either directly or indirectly.

"Snopes" is a least one step towards truth as they see it. And now all the above variables come into play in YOUR appreciation of what has been written.


Q
 
I have always found them to be a reliable BS meter. Maybe not the last word, but haven't noticed bias in their fact checking. When people come and point bias fingers without links to back themselves up I tend to think we need Snopes (or something similar) more now than ever.
 
I took the time to read a little about the company, it's founders, their divorce, and subsequent business dealings that led to this problem. No way to verify what I read, but I think it's a pretty sad state of affairs when someone who had made bad life/business decisions resorts to begging money from John Q Public to bail them out of their problems.

This may end up being one o those situations where the attorneys end up with all the money. Can't say it breaks my heart.
 
Well I don't know, but it seemed mighty odd to me that an advertising company could hold a website and its revenue hostage like that. That and their claim that the shares of Snopes, sold to the ad company's executives individually by the ex-wife, were somehow owned by their company and not the individuals - these were the hinky sounding items that made me think Snopes was in the right. The NPR story certainly made it sound like he was the injured party, and although I freely admit to not doing additional research, I generally trust NPR's journalism.

In any case, as I said, I've received a lot of value from Snopes over the years and would have given them a donation without question any time they asked, whether for fire, flood, legal fees or life choices.
 
i cant vouch for this its off the wiki thing ...
Proper Media, the company that provides Snopes with web development, hosting, and advertising support filed suit in May 2017 against Bardav, the company that owns and operates Snopes. Bardav filed a cross-complaint in June 2017. David Mikkelson claims that he has not received proper advertising revenue from Proper Media since February and that the site may have to shut down if a revenue stream is not found soon. Snopes created a crowd-funding site on July 24, 2017, which raised more than $500,000 in its first 24 hours. Mikkelson also claims that the site is being held "hostage" by being prevented from modifying the site or receiving advertising revenue.[26][27]

Proper Media claims that they are not just a vendor, but own 50% of Bardav as a result of purchasing Barbara Mikkelson's share of the company after her divorce from David Mikkelson. As co-owners, they are disputing payments to David Mikkelson, including a $10,000 travel expense to pay for his honeymoon with his new wife Elyssa Young, a Snopes employee.[28][26][27]

A court hearing is scheduled for August 4, 2017. Proper Media is seeking to remove David Mikkelson from the company, and Mikkelson is attempting to cease using Proper Media for web services. [28]
 
its a shame when things get too big and silly .. snopes has more good info than bad .. i have no idea about any site you can check same things with . personally i take things or leave them ..
 
fredgarvin said:
Snopes is inherently political and this thread is innapropriate here.
Click to expand...

I never thought of Snopes as political. I just took a quick look at their home page, and saw articles about John Lennon, whales, and cancer vaccines. Maybe now, it is leaning toward more politics with all the "alternative facts" floating around in the political environment, but there is plenty of non-political info there.

If attempting to discover and share the truth about various subjects is thought of as political, then we really are in trouble.

I have always used Snopes to get to the bottom of all the weird and wacky things I come across on the internet. Sure, maybe a few of those things are in the realm of government, but I would never call the entire site inherently political.
 
Ohighway said:
I quit using Snopes a couple years ago as it's been shown they are biased and get things wrong, hence not impartial or reliable.

No offense but I hope they fold.....
Click to expand...

Snopes says that's not true. Whom should I believe?

By the way, one of the main reasons for Snopes' existence is people saying meaningless stuff like "it's been shown" and "sources say," and other people uncritically swallowing it hook, line, and sinker.
 
If members continue to bring politics into this thread it will have to be closed. Let's keep it on the sorry state of affairs. The marriage fails and a go fund me to straighten out a marital mess?? Not me, I'm out on Snopes!
Regards,
Jim
 
toxcrusadr said:
Fact-checking site Snopes has been an almost daily stop for me for years, to see what urban legends and fake news stories are circulating today. It's become more and more important lately, as people seem more and more gullible, and more and more not only fake but malicious 'news' stories are circulated.

Well, Snopes is in trouble, due to a legal dispute between its founder and a company it contracted with to place ads on the site. At present that company is withholding all ad revenue from Snopes. Snopes has launched a GoFundMe to raise cash for operating funds and legal fees.

I've gotten so much value from Snopes and never given them anything but thanks. So I donated.

Just thought I'd share with the AK community.

http://www.npr.org/2017/07/26/539576135/fact-checking-website-snopes-is-fighting-to-stay-alive

https://www.savesnopes.com/

The second link has a link to the GoFundMe campaign.

PS Feel free to post your thoughts but keep it free of politics please.
Click to expand...
I USED TO have a good deal of respect for your opinion.
 
toxcrusadr said:
. . . Well, Snopes is in trouble, due to a legal dispute between its founder and a company it contracted with to place ads on the site. . . .
Click to expand...

Accepting ad revenue, or even the appearance of doing so, would ruin Snopes' credibility. Think Consumer Reports.
 
I have found the fact checking has a bias. Their opinion has a tendency to come down a certain way. You need to look at the staff and the writers to determine what their perspective is.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom