4 comments
Although we maintain editorial control (for now), the vendor will not relinquish the site’s hosting to our control, so we cannot modify the site, develop it, or — most crucially — place advertising on it
Why would you even let this situation become a possibility?
>Although we maintain editorial control (for now), the vendor will not relinquish the site’s hosting to our control, so we cannot modify the site, develop it, or — most crucially — place advertising on it
Why would you even let this situation become a possibility?
See my comment above - Mr and Mrs Mikkelson divorced, Mrs Mikkelson got 50% of Bardav (the company running Snopes), and then sold off those 50% to Proper Media LLC. Proper Media LLC seems to be the one with the keys to take over technical control of the site and domain, while Bardav has access to the CMS for editorial control.
Corporate situations where no one holds a controlling majority never end well, especially not when things have become so antagonistic. You always want someone with authority to tell that the bucket stops here, and the remainder either as silent investors, advisors or in clearly understood support roles, not a ship with two captains.
See my comment above - Mr and Mrs Mikkelson divorced, Mrs Mikkelson got 50% of Bardav (the company running Snopes), and then sold off those 50% to Proper Media LLC. Proper Media LLC seems to be the one with the keys to take over technical control of the site and domain, while Bardav has access to the CMS for editorial control.
Corporate situations where no one holds a controlling majority never end well, especially not when things have become so antagonistic. You always want someone with authority to tell that the bucket stops here, and the remainder either as silent investors, advisors or in clearly understood support roles, not a ship with two captains.
Here is the Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/savesnopes
Basically the founder is in a nasty divorce because he broke up with his original wife and married a hooker. I could care less about their personal lives, I don't give a shit about dictating other people's morals but I do think the site is more important than the founders and that it is a good site for promoting analytical thinking on the internet.
Here is the Go Fund Me: https://www.gofundme.com/savesnopes
Basically the founder is in a nasty divorce because he broke up with his original wife and married a hooker. I could care less about their personal lives, I don't give a shit about dictating other people's morals but I do think the site is more important than the founders and that it is a good site for promoting analytical thinking on the internet.
There is also a corporate struggle going on between Mikkelson's company, Bardav, which holds 50%, and Proper Media LLC, which has bought the other 50% from Barb after her divorce, culminating in lawsuits: https://www.courthousenews.com/fact-checker-snopes-owners-accused-corporate-subterfuge/ I think the money collected now would rather go into legal fees and lawyers than into operation costs, and unless one side can win a controlling share, the situation is gonna be fubar.
I think Snopes has anyway changed for the worse since they got paid staff in the last couple of years. Rather than unpaid spare-time debunking of Grandma forwards and urban legends, it is now all about generating clicks and outrage, like all the rest of the net.