“You can always take an existing article and rewrite it just enough to avoid copyright infringement."

David Mikkelson, the co-founder of the fact-checking website Snopes, has long presented himself as the arbiter of truth online, a bulwark in the fight against rumors and fake news. But he has been lying to the site's tens of millions of readers: A BuzzFeed News investigation has found that between 2015 and 2019, Mikkelson wrote and published dozens of articles containing material plagiarized from news outlets such as the Guardian and the LA Times.

After inquiries from BuzzFeed News, Snopes conducted an internal review and confirmed that under a pseudonym, the Snopes byline, and his own name, Mikkelson wrote and published 54 articles with plagiarized material. The articles include such topics as same-sex marriage licenses and the death of musician David Bowie.

Snopes VP of Editorial and Managing Editor Doreen Marchionni suspended Mikkelson from editorial duties pending “a comprehensive internal investigation.” He remains an officer and a 50% shareholder of the company.

“Our internal research so far has found a total of 54 stories Mikkelson published that used appropriated material, including all of the stories Buzzfeed shared with us,” Marchionni and Snopes Chief Operating Officer Vinny Green said in a statement.

...

Meet Jeff Zarronandia. During a brief but memorable career, his byline, which linked to a bio detailing his Pulitzer Prize and his skill at mule-skinning, appeared on at least 23 Snopes articles on topics like Donald Trump’s financial woes and false rumors about Hillary Clinton. His reporting made enemies of hoaxsters and fabulists across the political spectrum, including former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone and the late “fake-news kingpin” Paul Horner, both of whom were unaware of his true identity.

"It's just a David Mikkelson alt,” Snopes' former managing editor Brooke Binkowski explained when BuzzFeed News inquired. "He used to write about topics he knew would get him hate mail under that assumed name. Plus it made it appear he had more staff than he had."

Between 2015 and 2019, Mikkelson regularly plagiarized reporting from other news outlets in an effort, he said, to scoop up traffic.



In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Mikkelson attributed this behavior to his lack of formal journalism experience. “I didn't come from a journalism background,” he said. “I wasn't used to doing news aggregation. A number of times I crossed the line to where it was copyright infringement. I own that."

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/deansterlingjones/snopes-cofounder-plagiarism-mikkelson

(CNN)As the Delta variant drives a surge of Covid-19 cases in Florida, a rapid-response unit will be deployed to administer monoclonal antibody treatments to residents infected with the virus, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday.

"This is the most effective treatment that we've yet encountered for people who are infected with Covid-19," DeSantis said. "This, applied early and properly, has the ability to reduce your likelihood of being hospitalized."

Monoclonal antibodies are intensely focused, lab-made versions of convalescent plasma. The antibodies come from people who have recovered from coronavirus. Researchers then take the blood, select the most potent antibodies, and make them into a drug.

Speaking from Jacksonville, DeSantis said beginning at noon Thursday, the rapid response unit will begin delivering monoclonal antibodies in the city.

...

DeSantis does not expect Covid-19 to be eradicated, he said.

"This is going to be with us for a long time," he said. "Covid's not going to go away. We're going to have future trends. That's just natural."

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/12/health/florida-covid-rapid-response-teams/index.html

Doctor: Being called a 'traitor' for advocating for masks at school board meeting 'mind blowing'

A doctor and parent who was called a “traitor” this week for advocating for a mask mandate during a school board meeting in Tennessee said Thursday that the criticism against him from some local parents was “mind blowing.”

Dr. Britt Maxwell spoke out after appearing at a Williamson County School District Board meeting on Tuesday, and footage showing a group of parents surrounding health care professionals as they left the building went viral.

"We'll not comply," the group chanted. "We know who you are."

Maxwell, who has children who attend schools in the district, including one with respiratory issues, told CNN’s John Berman on Thursday that he left the school board meeting early after sensing that he would get intense pushback from some parents for defending the use of masks in schools amid rapid COVID-19 case surges.

The doctor said that as he and his wife, who is also a medical professional, left, there was a “chanting” crowd already gathered outside.

“I was approached and someone put their hand in my face and called me a traitor,” Maxwell said on CNN’s “New Day.”

“I don’t see how anyone can say that when I’ve been on the frontlines of this pandemic since the beginning, treating patients in rooms, unvaccinated for the vast majority of it, hoping I wouldn’t take it home to my family,” he explained.

“For someone to say that is mind blowing,” he added.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/567506-doctor-being-called-a-traitor-for-advocating-for-masks-at-school-board