On May 13, 3:29 pm, Jeff M <
jmla...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> On 5/13/2012 2:21 PM, Donn Messenheimer wrote:
>
>> On 5/13/2012 9:27 AM, Edward A. Falk wrote:
>
>>> In article<
XnsA0527ADCE7BA3Wereofftoseethewi...@88.198.244.100>,
Here's what Snopes has to say about Snopes:
About
snopes.com
The
snopes.com website was founded by Barbara and David Mikkelson, a
husband and wife team who live and work in the Los Angeles area. What
they began in 1995 as an expression of their shared interest in
researching urban legends has since grown into what is widely regarded
by folklorists, journalists, and laypersons alike as one of the World
Wide Web's essential resources. Snopes.com is routinely included in
annual "Best of the Web" lists and has been the recipient of two Webby
awards. The Mikkelsons have made multiple appearances as guests on
national news programs such as 20/20, ABC World News, CNN Sunday
Morning, and NPR's All Things Considered, and they and their work have
been profiled in numerous major news publications, including The New
York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Wall
Street Journal, and an April 2009 Reader's Digest feature ("The Rumor
Detectives") published as part of that magazine's "Your America:
Inspiring People and Stories" series.
With over 15 years' experience as professional researchers and
writers, the Mikkelsons have created in
snopes.com what has come to be
regarded as an online touchstone of rumor research. Their work has
been described as painstaking, scholarly, and reliable, and has been
lauded by the world's top folklorists, including Jan Harold Brunvand,
Gary Alan Fine, and Patricia Turner. The couple has been approached by
many publishers and publisher's agents about doing a series of books,
but they remain uncommitted at this time, preferring instead to
continue focusing their efforts on their web site. Nevertheless,
hundreds of the Mikkelsons' articles have been cited by authors in a
variety of disciplines (an October 2011 search of Google Books for
such citations netted 6,230 results for Barbara Mikkelson alone), and
various of their articles have been published in textbooks currently
in use in the U.S. and Canadian school systems.
Because
snopes.com is all about rumors, it was only a matter of time
before rumors began to circulate about it and its operators, such as
the following:
Snopes receives funding from an undisclosed source.
The source is undisclosed because Snopes refuses to
disclose that source. The Democratic Alliance, a funding
channel for uber-Leftist (Marxist) Billionaires (George Soros
etc.), direct funds to an "Internet Propaganda Arm" pushing
these views. The Democratic Alliance has been reported to
instruct Fundees to not disclose their funding source.
The
snopes.com web site is (and always has been) a completely
independent, self-sufficient entity wholly owned by its operators,
Barbara and David Mikkelson, and funded through advertising revenues.
Neither the site nor its operators has ever received monies from (or
been engaged in any business or editorial relationship with), any
sponsor, investor, partner, political party, religious group, business
organization, government agency, or any other outside group or
organization.
Barbara Mikkelson is a Canadian citizen and as such cannot vote in
U.S. elections, register an affiliation with a U.S. political party,
or donate to any U.S. political campaign or candidate. David Mikkelson
is an American citizen whose participation in U.S. politics has never
extended beyond periodically exercising his civic duty at the ballot
box. As FactCheck confirmed in April 2009, David is a registered
independent who has never donated to, or worked on behalf of, any
political campaign or party. The Mikkelsons are wholly apolitical,
vastly preferring their quiet scholarly lives in the company of their
five cats to any political considerations.
http://www.snopes.com/info/aboutus.asp