Fact-checking website Snopes.com has retracted 60 articles after its co-founder was busted for plagiarism.
An investigation by BuzzFeed News found that Snopes CEO David Mikkelson published dozens of articles with material taken from other news sites without citing the sources, including the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian and others.
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Mikkelson often used a generic staff byline or pseudonym, but was even bold enough to include his own name on some articles, which lifted single sentences and and even whole paragraphs without giving credit to the original publications. The articles include such topics as same-sex marriage licenses and the death of musician David Bowie, according to BuzzFeed.
Snopes' Managing Editor Doreen Marchionni and Chief Operating Officer Vinny Green issued a joint statement on Friday addressing the issue. They said an internal investigation turned up 140 problematic articles and at least 54 stories Mikkelson published that used appropriated material.
"Let us be clear: Plagiarism undermines our mission and values, full stop," the statement said. "It has no place in any context within this organization."
The statement went on to thank the BuzzFeed investigation as "an example of dogged, watchdog journalism we cherish."
Another statement issued by a group of Snopes' writers condemned Mikkelson's "poor journalistic practices."
"Although none of us was to blame for the actions of Snopes' co-founder, we empathize with the journalists whose work was appropriated," the writers said. "This simply should never have happened."
In a statement to BuzzFeed, Mikkelson apologized for committing "multiple serious copyright violations of content that Snopes didn't have rights to use."
"There is no excuse for my serious lapses in judgement," he said. "I am sorry."
Mikkelson will keep his executive position at the company, but has been banned from publishing articles.
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