Bits: Inside Snopes, a Fighter of Fake News

View in [Browser] | Add [nytdirect@nytimes.com] to your address book. Tuesday, December 27, 2016 [The New York Times] [For the latest updates, go to nytimes.com/bits »] [The New York Times] Tuesday, December 27, 2016 [Brooke Binkowski, the managing editor of Snopes, in its office in San Diego. The idea that the website’s work would slow down after the presidential election has proved unfounded.] Brooke Binkowski, the managing editor of Snopes, in its office in San Diego. The idea that the website’s work would slow down after the presidential election has proved unfounded. John Francis Peters for The New York Times [Daily Report] Since the presidential election, [fake news] has been in the spotlight for how its spread online may have influenced the American electorate. So what is it like to be one of the fighters of this scourge? [David Streitfeld], a technology reporter for The New York Times, recently found out when he visited the San Diego offices of [Snopes], a website that is a longstanding debunker of misinformation. In recent weeks, Snopes’s role in battling false stories [has grown] because it partnered with Facebook, which is trying to [limit the dissemination of fake storiesÂ]across its social network partly by working more closely with fact checkers. At first glance, it’s hard to tell that Snopes is one of the chief weapons against fake information, David reports. The offices of the website do not look like much — no sign outside, junk food inside. And for their efforts, the people who work at and run Snopes are not exactly rewarded. Instead, the group is facing its own rising tide of fake news about things like how Snopes is funded, as well as personal attacks by critics who say Snopes is part of a left-wing media conspiracy. David found something else about Snopes in his reporting: The people who work there are persistent. Brooke Binkowski, Snopes’s managing editor, said she has no plans to back down from fact-checking what is real and what is not, especially in an era when misinformation is rampant and rationality seems to have fallen out of the window. “Not to be ideological or Pollyannish, but you have to believe this work makes a difference,” Ms. Binkowski told David. “Otherwise you’d just go back to bed and drink.” — Pui-Wing Tam  Read More [For Fact-Checking Website Snopes, a Bigger Role Brings More Attacks] By DAVID STREITFELD Internet wrath turned against Snopes after it joined a coalition of websites that will work with Facebook to identify and flag suspicious content.  ADVERTISEMENT  More From The Times [An Allstate ad on Nowtheendbegins.com, next to an article claiming that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting did not happen. 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BIERSDORFER The search function in the current version of Windows may not get the results you want at first glance, but you just need to dig a bit deeper. Tech Tip [Share a Slide Show With a Tweet] By J. D. BIERSDORFER Twitter posts can include one to four images at once for those who want to share a clickable photo collage with followers.  LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here].  FOLLOW Bits [Twitter] [@nytimesbits] ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Bits newsletter. [Unsubscribe] | [Manage Subscriptions] | [Change Your Email] | [Privacy Policy] | [Contact] | [Advertise] Copyright 2016 The New York Times Company | 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018