Several times over the past few months I've been called to task when someone found a Snopes.com opinion that contradicted what I had posted, and lots of people immediately assumed that "Snopes must be right!".
You guys need to read up on Snopes. Since Snopes became the go-to place to check the authenticity of stories,and even news organizations relied on it. The Daily Mail, a UK-based newspaper, recently became curious about Snopes and using the transcript of the divorce proceeding of its two founders developed some shocking facts:
One, David Mikkelson, the founder of Snopes, was asked about the specific detailed criteria Snopes uses to screen its applicants and decide who to hire as a fact checker, surprisingly David demurred, saying only that the site looks for applicants across all fields and skills. He specifically did not provide any detail of any kind regarding the screening process and how Snopes evaluates potential hires. David also did not respond to further emails asking whether, as part of the screening process, Snopes has applicants fact check a set of articles to evaluate their reasoning and research skills and to gain insight into their thinking process.
Even more strangely, despite asking in two separate emails how Snopes assesses its fact checkers and whether it performs intra- and inter-rater reliability assessments, David responded only that fact checkers work together collaboratively and did not respond to further requests for more detail and did not answer whether Snopes uses any sort of assessment scoring or ongoing testing process to assess its fact checkers.
A robust human rating workflow must regularly assess the accuracy and reproducibility of the scores generated by its human raters, even when they work collaboratively together. Typically this means that on a regular basis each fact checker or fact checker team is given the same article to fact check and the results compared across the groups.
David’s responses regarding the hiring of strongly partisan fact checkers and his lack of response on screening and assessment protocols present a deeply troubling picture of a secretive black box that acts as ultimate arbitrator of truth, yet reveals little of its inner workings.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevle.../#2890dba227f8
Other things uncovered by The Daily Mail:
*Snopes.com founder David Mikkelson's new wife Elyssa Young is employed by the website as an administrator.
*She has worked as an escort and porn actress and despite claims that the website is non-political ran as a Libertarian for Congress on a 'Dump Bush' platform.
*Its main 'fact checker' is Kimberly LaCapria, whose blog 'ViceVixen' says she is in touch with her 'domme side' and has posted on Snopes.com while smoking pot.
Facebook 'fact checker' Snopes.com accused of defrauding website to pay for prostitutes | Daily Mail Online