# Does Snopes.com have a liberal bias? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 13, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796 "2012-05-13T19:39:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/61 "2012-05-15T13:53:51Z")
I see that even the word “context” does not exist for some posters. Once again, it is the charlatans surrounding good advice around misleading information is what makes it a lie. (And for the 100th time: it is good advice) Like **Brian Ekers** said, what the charlatans out there want is to plant the suggestion that they have the support of the evidence, so even if the reader does goes looking, he has a preconceived notion that the version of the charlatan is the truth. Indeed, I was going to say that before I claimed that the end result of the good advice in the words of a charlatan is to prove the charlatan to be a liar twice over like in the case of Monckton; in my case with the Snopes item, I knew already that even on Snopes that misleading tactic was reported to be used already, **Jas09** demonstrates that I was telling the truth, the information was already out there and I actually did remember being it mentioned before on the dope and Snopes, it is not impossible to check for the information, the bottom line is that I was not worried to be confirmed correct by others (This is the important bit, that others do demonstrate an ability to search for information, it is really silly to claim in this age of Google that one has to rely on just a single poster on the internet). What I do know is that deniers like Monckton are not afraid of the ones that do check elsewhere because they do know that many will continue to not do the checking part. > **[Monckton Misrepresents Reality (Part 3)](https://skepticalscience.com/monckton-misrepresents-reality-part3.html)** > > On 19 July 2011, Monckton debated Richard Denniss, a prominent Australian economist, author and public policy commentator.  During that debate, Monckton delivered his usual Gish Gallop, repeating a number of long-debunked myths and misrepresenting... ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/62 "2012-05-15T13:54:49Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > I advise we use the noun “advice” from now on. Oh, a wice guy, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/63 "2012-05-15T14:11:58Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Like **Brian Ekers** said, what the charlatans out there want is to plant the suggestion that they have the support of the evidence, so even if the reader does goes looking, he has a preconceived notion that the version of the charlatan is the truth. Well, other people were saying it first, I was just pointing out a variant. Version 1: I believe something is true because of evidence and support (i.e. from Snopes), which I expect at least some of you will take my word does exist and will repeat my claim. Version 2: [the one I pointed out] I believe something is false because of a lack of reliable evidence and support, which I expect some of you will take my word does not exist and will repeat my claim. I was reminded of the latter by a poster here just in the last few weeks who, before he was banned, parroted the old denier mantra: “Show me some evidence, just one piece of evidence!” He didn’t want evidence, wouldn’t know what to do with it. What he _wanted_ was other people to start saying “Yeah! Where _is_ the evidence?” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/64 "2012-05-15T14:39:58Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Version 1: I believe something is true because of evidence and support (i.e. from Snopes), which I expect at least some of you will take my word does exist and will repeat my claim. > > Version 2: [the one I pointed out] I believe something is false because of a lack of reliable evidence and support, which I expect some of you will take my word does not exist and will repeat my claim. Very Well Put. Not only must you repeat my claim, but because the evil and corrupt news services won’t report it, YOU MUST SEND IT TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!! ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/65 "2012-05-15T14:58:56Z")
For awhile it was in vogue to put a disclaimer at the top too. Something like “If you’re a liberal that hates America don’t read this. Just delete it now. Your (sic) too blinded to see the truth”. Maybe they thought that would keep people from sending debunking responses. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/66 "2012-05-15T19:30:40Z")
In my opinion, the Mikkelsens ARE liberals, and their political opinions regularly seep into their work. I STILL think they’re generally ACCURATE, which is far more important to me than being unbiased. The same holds true for most media outlets. The New York Times is DEFINITELY biased… but if they print a front page story reporting that, say, one of my favorite Republican politicians took bribes, I’ll almost always assume the Times story is factually correct. So, MOST of the time, I’ll accept a report from the Mikkelsens, since I USUALLY assume they’ve done the proper diligent reasearch. When I disagree with them, it rarely has anything to do with their political slant. rather, I think they’re sometimes too quick to make categorical assertions that their own research doesn’t quite justify. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/67 "2012-05-15T19:52:02Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > In my opinion, the Mikkelsens ARE liberals, and their political opinions regularly seep into their work. David is not a member of a political party, but when he was, it was [Republican](http://www.factcheck.org/2009/04/snopescom/). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/68 "2012-05-15T20:22:37Z")
The freepers are just butthurt from the Clinton days when they were trying to spread the ‘Clinton Death List’ around at every corner and snopes was the biggest quick way to stop the nonsense. Freepers get mighty whiny when their fantasies fall apart, which is all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/69 "2012-05-15T21:03:16Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I STILL think they’re generally ACCURATE, which is far more important to me than being unbiased. > > The same holds true for most media outlets. The New York Times is DEFINITELY biased… but if they print a front page story reporting that, say, one of my favorite Republican politicians took bribes, I’ll almost always assume the Times story is factually correct. What’s insignificant for one story might be significant in terms of the overall impact. Suppose the NYT had a regular policy of reporting Republican bribe-takers on the front page while burying stories of Demoratic ones. That would create a distortion of the relative honesty among the two parties, even if each individual story was accurate. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/70 "2012-05-15T21:19:18Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > For awhile it was in vogue to put a disclaimer at the top too. Something like “If you’re a liberal that hates America don’t read this. Just delete it now. Your (sic) too blinded to see the truth”. Maybe they thought that would keep people from sending debunking responses. I always like it when they do that because it lets me know right from the start that the penis enlargement spam in my Trash folder would like some company. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/71 "2012-05-15T21:19:35Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > What’s insignificant for one story might be significant in terms of the overall impact. > > Suppose the NYT had a regular policy of reporting Republican bribe-takers on the front page while burying stories of Demoratic ones. That would create a distortion of the relative honesty among the two parties, even if each individual story was accurate. Does Snopes have a front page? Does Snopes have any method of “burying” Pro-Right wing stories or Anti-Left wing stories? Claiming that someone might possibly slant their stories is not the same as providing evidence that they have. Without that evidence, I am more likely to accept the testimony of a self-proclaimed conservative such as Astorian than the mutterings from Freepers. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/72 "2012-05-15T21:47:14Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > In my opinion, the Mikkelsens ARE liberals And what evidence do you have to support your opinion? Would you know the difference between the Mikkelson and Father Anthony Joseph if you were to pass on the street? Have you ever met the Mikkelsons? (I’m guessing from misspelling their name the answer is no.) As **bup** already pointed out, David Mikkelson was registered Republican in 2000, and Barbara is Canadian. Your political affiliation diagnosis sounds unreliable. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/73 "2012-05-16T02:09:15Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > This is the important bit, that others do demonstrate an ability to search for information, it is really silly to claim in this age of Google that one has to rely on just a single poster on the internet). It really would be silly. It would be almost – but not quite – as silly as thinking someone made that claim. It would even be quite the straw man! > [@](#): > > **Jas09** demonstrates that I was telling the truth, the information was already out there and I actually did remember being it mentioned before on the dope and Snopes, it is not impossible to check for the information, the bottom line is that I was not worried to be confirmed correct by others Er, yes, that’s wonderful: you made a claim, so I naturally figured you could already supply support for it – and, this being the SDMB, it’s equally unsurprising that another poster swiftly did so before you lifted a finger. You’re acting as if there’s something remarkable about an entirely unremarkable chain of events. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/74 "2012-05-16T03:02:48Z")
Meh. Now besides context also past experiences never took place. The bottom line is that I was correct and many others (not just one poster or source) support what I say, and they show indeed something that it seems to be a miracle for you: the capacity of finding good evidence without demanding to use training wheels. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/75 "2012-05-16T03:20:42Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > And what evidence do you have to support your opinion? > > Would you know the difference between the Mikkelson and Father Anthony Joseph if you were to pass on the street? > > Have you ever met the Mikkelsons? (I’m guessing from misspelling their name the answer is no.) > > As **bup** already pointed out, David Mikkelson was registered Republican in 2000, and Barbara is Canadian. > > Your political affiliation diagnosis sounds unreliable. The folks at [About.com](http://About.com) noticed also that the meme that claims Snopes is biased to the left was, as if one should need to guess, another forwarded email from 2008 just before the election: [http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/internet/a/snopes\_exposed.htm](http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/internet/a/snopes_exposed.htm) > [@](#): > > It’s doubly ironic that such a scurrilous attack should be mounted against the oldest and most respected fact-checking site on the Internet at the denouement of an election year (2008) marked from beginning to end by unrestrained smear-mongering, much of which it fell to [Snopes.com](http://Snopes.com) to debunk. > > Let’s examine the specific accusations. > > ``` > CLAIM: Snopes.com is 'owned by a flaming liberal' with a partisan bias. > > First off, it's clear that whoever wrote this piece made it up as they went along. Anyone who has spent even a few minutes browsing Snopes.com knows that the website is owned by two people, not one. They are husband and wife David and Barbara Mikkelson of southern California. This is stated on the website and has been common knowledge for quite some time. > > Second, the charge of partisanship is laid without evidence. At no time have the Mikkelsons publicly stated a political preference or affiliation, or expressed support for any particular party or candidate. > > Moreover, Barbara Mikkelson is a Canadian citizen, and as such cannot vote in U.S. elections or contribute to political campaigns. In a statement to FactCheck.org, David Mikkelson said his "sole involvement in politics" is voting on election day. In 2000 he registered as a Republican, documents provided to FactCheck.org show, and in 2008 Mikkelson didn't declare a party affiliation at all. Says Mikkelson: "I've never joined a party, worked for a campaign, or donated money to a candidate" (source: FactCheck.org). > > Anyone who claims proof to the contrary needs to come out with it. > > A NOTE ON GEORGE SOROS: A later variant of this rumor alleges, without evidence, that Snopes.com is financed by liberal philanthropist and hedge fund tycoon George Soros. This is false. The website is entirely self-supporting through advertising sales. > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/76 "2012-05-16T03:22:40Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > The bottom line is that I was correct and many others (not just one poster or source) support what I say, and they show indeed something that it seems to be a miracle for you: the capacity of finding good evidence without demanding to use training wheels. 🙂 Knock it off. This stupid sniping has nothing to do with the topic. Take it to The BBQ Pit. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/77 "2012-05-16T03:29:15Z")
I have followed Snopes for a long time. I tend to trust what Barbara and Micheal say. I have read the Straight Dope and this board longer. I think it is safe to say that only liberals have an objective view of the truth. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/78 "2012-05-16T03:32:00Z")
> [@oliversarmy](#): > > I think it is safe to say that only liberals have an objective view of the truth. I really hope that this was an attempt at irony. ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/79 "2012-05-16T03:41:35Z")
Ill-advised irony with apologies. I will heretofore stay away from categories where I should not post. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796/80 "2012-05-16T04:02:22Z")
> [@oliversarmy](#): > > Ill-advised irony with apologies. I will heretofore stay away from categories where I should not post. You can post. Just remember that printed text is not always a good medium for irony. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-snopes-com-have-a-liberal-bias/621796.md?page=5)