Breitbart

Breitbart (website)

Contents

History [ edit ]

Andrew Breitbart launched his first website as a news site; it is sometimes linked to by the Drudge Report and other websites. In its initial form, it had wire stories from the Associated Press. Reuters. Agence France-Presse. Fox News. PR Newswire. and U. S. Newswire. as well as direct links to a number of major international newspapers. Its Blog & "Network" links tended to run to the right within the U. S. political spectrum (e. g. National Review and Townhall. com ). The site also had a search engine powered by Lingospot and a finance channel powered by FinancialContent. In 2007, Breitbart launched a video blog, Breitbart. tv. [ 3 ]

In 2008 Breitbart launched the website "Big Hollywood," a "group blog" driven by some who work within Los Angeles. with contributions from a variety of writers, including politically conservative entertainment-industry professionals. [ citation needed ] The site was an outgrowth of Breitbart's Washington Times "Big Hollywood" column, which included issues conservatives faced working in Hollywood. [ 4 ] In 2009, the site used audio from a secretly recorded conference call to accuse the National Endowment of the Arts of encouraging artists to create work in support of Barack Obama's domestic policy agenda. [ 5 ] [ 6 ]

Breitbart launched BigGovernment. com on September 10, 2009. [ 7 ] He hired Mike Flynn, a former government affairs specialist at Reason Foundation. [ 8 ] as Editor-in-Chief of Big Government. [ 9 ] The site premiered with hidden camera video footage taken by Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe at Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now offices in various cities, attracting nationwide attention resulting in the ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy .

In January 2010, Breitbart launched Big Journalism. He told Mediaite. [ 10 ] "Our goal at Big Journalism is to hold the mainstream media's feet to the fire. There are a lot of stories that they simply don't cover, either because it doesn't fit their world view, or because they're literally innocent of any knowledge that the story even exists, or because they are a dying organization, short-staffed, and thus can't cover stuff like they did before." Big Journalism was edited by Michael A. Walsh. a former journalism professor and Time magazine music critic. [ 10 ] The site has a fictional contributor named "Retracto, the Correction Alpaca" who posts items requesting corrections from the traditional media. [ 11 ]

BigPeace. com debuted July 4, 2010. The site covers topics such as international issues and foreign policy, the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. terrorism, Islamic extremism, espionage, border security, and energy issues.

The site launched a major redesign shortly after Breitbart's death in March 2012; Breitbart had been putting the finishing touches on the new look before his death.

Breitbart Sports launched on January 1, 2013. [ 12 ]

Breitbart's London edition was launched on 16 February 2014 headed by executive editor James Delingpole. described as a "high traffic hire" by The Spectator 's Steerpike column, [ 13 ] and managing editor Raheem Kassam. [ 14 ] Other staff include Andre Walker. as political correspondent, with reporters Nick Hallett and Alex Wickham. [ 14 ] Breitbart London announced that it would have a staff of 10, with hundreds of contributors, with the intention to cover Israel and the Middle East from the London office. [ 15 ] Contributors include Milo Yiannopoulos. Mary Ellen Synon. Jonathan Foreman and Katie Hopkins. [ citation needed ]

Controversies [ edit ]

Anthony Weiner [ edit ]

On May 28, 2011, Breitbart reported on a sexually explicit photo accidentally sent on New York Representative Anthony Weiner Twitter feed on his BigJournalism website. [ 16 ] Weiner initially denied that he had sent a 21-year-old female college student the link to the photograph, but after questions developed, he admitted to inappropriate online relationships. On June 6, 2011, Breitbart reported other photos Weiner had sent, including one that was sexually graphic. On June 8, 2011, the sexually graphic photo was leaked after Breitbart participated in a radio interview with hosts Opie and Anthony. though Breitbart stated that the photo was published without his permission. [ 17 ] Weiner subsequently resigned from his congressional seat on June 21, 2011.

Shirley Sherrod [ edit ]

In July 2010 Breitbart was accused of smearing USDA official Shirley Sherrod with the viral video "Proof NAACP Awards Racism". Breitbart's video showed Sherrod speaking at a NAACP fundraising dinner in March 2010 admitting to a racial reluctance to help a white farmer get government aid. After being criticized for presenting Sherrod out of context, Breitbart posted the full 40-minute video of the speech. [ 18 ] [ 19 ] [ 20 ] [ 21 ] In the full video Sherrod said the reluctance to help a white man was wrong, and she had ended up assisting him. Following the release of the full video, the NAACP also reversed their rebuke of Sherrod, [ 19 ] [ 20 ] and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack apologized and offered Sherrod a new government position. [ 22 ] In 2011, Sherrod sued Breitbart for defamation. [ 23 ] Breibart said that the point of the piece was not to target Sherrod, but said the NAACP audience's reception of the parts of the speech demonstrated the same racism the NAACP's President had accused The Tea Party of harboring. [ 24 ] Breitbart also admitted that the video took Sherrod's comments out of context.

ACORN undercover videos [ edit ]

Breitbart was also involved in the 2009 ACORN video controversy. Hannah Giles [ 25 ] [ 26 ] posed as a prostitute seeking tax and legal advice while James O'Keefe posed as her pimp. and clandestinely videotaped meetings with ACORN staff who "gave advice on house-buying and how to account on tax forms for the woman's income." [ 27 ] Subsequent criminal investigations by the Brooklyn District Attorney's office and the California Attorney General found the videos were heavily edited in an attempt to make ACORN's responses "appear more sinister", [ 28 ] [ 29 ] [ 30 ] and contributed to the group's demise. [ 31 ] [ 32 ]

"Friends of Hamas" hoax [ edit ]

On February 7, 2013, Ben Shapiro published on Breitbart. com article reporting allegations that Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska ), former Senator and nominee for United States Secretary of Defense. may have been paid to speak at an event sponsored by a group called "Friends of Hamas ". [ 33 ] Breitbart. com said that the story was based on "exclusive" information by a Senate staff. The story was later followed by other conservative opinion sites such as RedState . [ 34 ] National Review . [ 35 ] Washington Times . [ 36 ] PJ Media [ 37 ] and commented on by US Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.

However, investigation by Slate reporter David Weigel was unable to confirm the existence of the purported group. [ 38 ] On February 19, Dan Friedman, a reporter for the New York Daily News . said that the story had originated from a sarcastic comment he made to a Congressional staffer, "Friends of Hamas" being one of several groups which he considered to be so over-the-top as to be implausible and obviously fictitious. He said he made the sarcastic comment in an effort to find out what Hagel did that was purported as anti-Israel: "Hagel was in hot water for alleged hostility to Israel. So, I asked my source, had Hagel given a speech to, say, the 'Junior League of Hezbollah, in France'? And: What about 'Friends of Hamas'?". He also said that the joke inadvertently turned into a scandal. [ 39 ] [ 40 ]

Breitbart. com insisted that the report was accurate and posted articles defending the site and attacking New York Daily News as 'hack'. [ 41 ] Mainstream media such as Washington Post . [ 42 ] New York Magazine [ 43 ] and The Daily Beast [ 44 ] strongly criticized Breitbart. com for its appearance of inaccuracy and low journalistic standards.

Paul Krugman "bankruptcy" hoax [ edit ]

On March 11, 2013, Breitbart. com posted that Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman had declared personal bankruptcy; the article cited a Boston. com article. Boston. com had cited Format . an Austrian magazine. It was originally a story from satiric news blog The Daily Currant. The story was removed shortly afterwards. [ 45 ]

Photoshopped image of Nancy Pelosi [ edit ]

In April 2014, Breitbart. com created an ad campaign which included posters which had an image of House minority leader Nancy Pelosi 's head photoshopped onto singer Miley Cyrus 's body who was seen twerking on California governor Jerry Brown. spoofing the 2013 VMAs. DNC Chairwoman and Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz denounced the images as "disgusting" and "foul, offensive and disrespectful to all women." In response, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy requested that his column be removed from the site. [ 46 ] [ 47 ] [ 48 ] [ 49 ] [ 50 ]

Breitbart responded with a piece explaining the inspiration for the ad campaign: a 2013 Saturday Night Live skit in which Cyrus appeared as a highly sexualized version of Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann alongside a feminine, homosexual version of Republican Congressman and Speaker of the House John Boehner. [ 51 ] In the article, Breitbart criticized female Democrats, Wasserman Schultz and Pelosi in particular, for what they view as failing to come to the defense of conservative women like Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin for offensive comments from liberals. They mentioned specifically Bill Maher 's referring to Palin as a "cunt", Kathy Griffin 's joking that Senator John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate in exchange for sexual favors, Tracy Morgan's referring to Palin as "good masturbation material", among others. [ 52 ]

Andrew Breitbart

Contents

Early life [ edit ]

Breitbart was born Andrew James Breitbart in Los Angeles, California on February 1, 1969. [ 8 ] He was the adopted son of Gerald and Arlene Breitbart, a restaurant owner and banker respectively, and grew up in upscale Brentwood, Los Angeles. He was raised Jewish (his adoptive mother had converted to Judaism when marrying his adoptive father). [ 9 ] [ 10 ] He had explained that his birth certificate indicated his biological father was a folk singer.

While in high school, Breitbart worked as a pizza delivery driver; he sometimes delivered to celebrities such as Judge Reinhold. [ 11 ] He earned a B. A. in American studies from Tulane University in 1991, graduating with "no sense of [his] future whatsoever". [ 12 ] His early jobs included a stint at cable channel E! Entertainment Television. working for the company's online magazine. and some time in film production. [ 10 ]

Previously left-leaning in his politics, Breitbart changed his political views after experiencing an "epiphany " while watching the late 1991 confirmation hearings for Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas. who was charged with sexual harassment; Breitbart later described himself as "a Reagan conservative" with libertarian sympathies. [ 1 ]

Listening to radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh helped Breitbart refine his political and philosophical positions, igniting an interest in learning that he had suppressed due to his distaste for the "nihilistic musings of dead critical theorists " [ 13 ] that had dominated his studies at Tulane. In this era Breitbart also read Camille Paglia 's book Sexual Personae (1990), a massive survey of Western art, literature and culture from ancient Egypt to the 20th Century, which, he wrote, "made me realize how little I really had learned in college". [ 13 ]

Public life [ edit ]

Authorship, research and reporting [ edit ]

In 1995 Breitbart saw the Drudge Report and was so impressed that he emailed Matt Drudge. Breitbart said, "I thought what he was doing was by far the coolest thing on the Internet. And I still do." [ 7 ] Breitbart described himself as "Matt Drudge's bitch " [ 14 ] and selected and posted links to other news wire sources. Later Matt Drudge introduced him to Arianna Huffington (when she was still a Republican ) [ 10 ] and Breitbart subsequently assisted her in creating The Huffington Post . [ 15 ]

In April 2011 Grand Central Publishing released Breitbart's book, Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World . in which he discussed his own political evolution and the part he took in the rise of new media. most notably at the Drudge Report and The Huffington Post .

Breitbart. com [ edit ]

Breitbart launched his first website as a news site; it is sometimes linked to by the Drudge Report and other websites. It has wire stories from the Associated Press. Reuters. Agence France-Presse. Fox News. PR Newswire. and U. S. Newswire. as well as direct links to a number of major international newspapers. Its Blog & "Network" links tend to run to the right within the U. S. political spectrum [ citation needed ] (e. g. National Review and Townhall. com ). The site also has a search engine powered by Lingospot and a finance channel powered by FinancialContent. In 2007, Breitbart launched a video blog, Breitbart. tv. [ 19 ]

Commentaries [ edit ]

Breitbart appeared as a commentator on Real Time with Bill Maher and Dennis Miller . [ when? ] In 2004 he was a guest commentator on Fox News Channel's morning show and frequently appeared as a guest panelist on Fox News 's late night program, Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld . Breitbart also appeared as a commentator in the 2004 documentary Michael Moore Hates America . [ 20 ]

On October 22, 2009, Breitbart appeared on the C-SPAN program Washington Journal . He gave his opinions on the mainstream media, Hollywood, the Obama Administration and his personal political views, having heated debates with several callers. [ 1 ]

In the hours immediately following Senator Ted Kennedy 's death, Breitbart called Kennedy a "villain", a "duplicitous bastard", a "prick" [ 21 ] and "a special pile of human excrement ". [ 22 ] [ 23 ]

In February 2010 Breitbart received the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D. C. During his acceptance speech, he responded directly to accusations by New York Times reporter Kate Zernike that Jason Mattera. a young conservative activist, had been using "racial tones " in his allusions to President Barack Obama. and had spoken in a "Chris Rock voice". From the podium, Breitbart called Zernike "a despicable human being" for having made such allegations about Mattera's New York accent. [ 24 ] At the same conference, Breitbart was also filmed saying to journalist Max Blumenthal that he found him to be "a jerk", and "a despicable human being" due to a blog entry posted by Blumenthal. [ 25 ]

Activism [ edit ]

Breitbart often appeared as a speaker at Tea Party movement events across the U. S. For example, Breitbart was a keynote speaker at the first National Tea Party Convention at Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville on February 6, 2010. [ 26 ] Breitbart later involved himself in a controversy over allegations of homophobic and racial slurs being used at a March 20, 2010, rally at the United States Capitol in Washington, D. C. by asserting that slurs were never used, and that "It was a set-up" by Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party. Breitbart offered to donate $100,000 to the United Negro College Fund "for any audio/video footage of the N-word being hurled", claiming that the several Congressmen made it up. Breitbart insisted Congressman John Lewis and several other witnesses were forced to lie, concluding that "Nancy Pelosi did a great disservice to a great civil rights icon by thrusting him out there to perform this mischievous task. His reputation is now on the line as a result of her desperation to take down the Tea Party movement." [ 27 ] [ 28 ]

In February 2012 a YouTube video showed Breitbart yelling at Occupy D. C. protesters outside a Washington D. C. hotel hosting a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The video showed security escorting Breitbart back to the hotel while he told the protestors to "behave yourself", and alluding to reported assaults of women at Occupy encampments, he repeatedly yelled "stop raping people" and called the protestors "filthy, filthy, raping, murdering freaks!". David Carr said with the incident Breitbart had caused his last "viral storm on the Web". [ 29 ] [ 30 ]

Breitbart appeared posthumously in Occupy Unmasked. a documentary film that contends that the Occupy Wall Street movement of "largely naive students and legitimately concerned citizens looking for answers" is actually orchestrated by sinister, violent, and organized leaders with the purpose of not just changing, but destroying the American government. [ 31 ]

Personal life [ edit ]

Breitbart was married to Susannah Bean, the daughter of actor Orson Bean and stepdaughter of actress Alley Mills. and had four children. [ 7 ] [ 32 ]

Death [ edit ]

On the morning of March 1, 2012, Breitbart collapsed suddenly while walking in Brentwood. He was rushed to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. where he later died. [ 33 ] He was 43 years old. An autopsy by the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office showed that he had cardiomegaly and died of heart failure. [ 34 ] Conspiracy theories arose about his death, [ 35 ] [ 36 ] [ 37 ] but the toxicology report showed, "No prescription or illicit drugs were detected. The blood alcohol was .04%. No significant trauma was present and foul play is not suspected." [ 34 ] Bill Whittle. a personal friend of Breitbart, had said that Breitbart had a "serious heart attack" just months before his death. [ 38 ]

In remembrance, Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich praised Breitbart. [ 39 ] Santorum called Breitbart's death "a huge loss" that strongly affected him. [ 39 ] [ 40 ] Romney praised Breitbart as a "fearless conservative", while Gingrich remembered him as "the most innovative pioneer in conservative activist social media in America. " [ 39 ]

His mother Arlene Mae Breitbart died two days shy of the one-year anniversary of her son's death. She was the first female trust officer who was promoted to vice president at Bank of America. [ 44 ]

A largely sympathetic documentary about Breitbart's life and influence, called Hating Breitbart , was released posthumously on October 19, 2012.

Authored books [ edit ]

Conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart is dead at 43

June 7, 2011: Andrew Breitbart is shown speaking during an interview in New York. (AP)

Widely read conservative Internet publisher Andrew Breitbart, whose flare for battle with politicians and the mainstream media earned him a reputation as one of the nation's most influential commentators, died Thursday. 

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"We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior," the statement said. "Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love."

Breitbart was a prolific commentator who founded several websites devoted to covering politics, entertainment and everything in-between. Earlier in his career, he worked for the Drudge Report before breaking off to start his own outlets -- including Big Government, Big Hollywood and Breitbart. tv. 

The statement on his sites quoted the concluding passage from his book, Righteous Indignation. 

"I love my job. I love fighting for what I believe in. I love having fun while doing it. I love reporting stories that the Complex refuses to report. I love fighting back, I love finding allies, and -- famously -- I enjoy making enemies. Three years ago, I was mostly a behind-the-scenes guy who linked to stuff on a very popular website. I always wondered what it would be like to enter the public realm to fight for what I believe in. I've lost friends, perhaps dozens. But I've gained hundreds, thousands -- who knows? -- of allies. At the end of the day, I can look at myself in the mirror, and I sleep very well at night," Breitbart wrote. 

The statement ended: "Andrew is at rest, yet the happy warrior lives on, in each of us." 

The Los Angeles coroner's office said the preliminary evidence suggests a "cardiac event" led to his death. An autopsy is set for Friday. 

Breitbart was walking near his house in the Brentwood neighborhood shortly after midnight Thursday when he collapsed, his father-in-law Orson Bean said. 

Someone saw him fall and called paramedics, who tried to revive him. They rushed him to the emergency room at UCLA Medical Center, Bean said. Breitbart had suffered heart problems a year earlier, but Bean said he could not pinpoint what happened. 

"I don't know what to say. It's devastating," Bean told The Associated Press.

Those who knew and worked with him described Breitbart almost uniformly as "fearless," sharply intelligent, witty and devoted to his work. 

"He was the modern conservative iteration of a 1960's radical," conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg told Fox News, minutes after Breitbart's death was reported. 

"When I say he was the most fearless guy I ever knew, it really is true. I mean, he truly loved the fight," he said. 

Breitbart considered his charge to expose corruption, hypocrisy and media bias, and leveraged his network of websites to reach for that goal. 

He was on the forefront of reporting several controversies, notably the salacious tweets former Rep. Anthony Weiner had sent to young women before his resignation. 

Breitbart became embroiled in a controversy of his own, though, for his reporting on a web video of Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod. The edited video appeared to show Sherrod making a racist comment, but the full tape later put the remark in context and made clear that Sherrod was actually talking about bridging racial differences. Sherrod was fired after the edited video surfaced, and later filed suit against Breitbart. 

Breitbart, though, went on to report on one of the biggest congressional scandals of 2011 -- the tweets sent by Weiner to young women he met online. The former New York congressman, who is married, adamantly denied the reports at first, before admitting to them in a tearful press conference and resigning. 

One of Breitbart's most memorable moments came when he commandeered the podium before Weiner's final New York conference, holding court with reporters and demanding an apology from Weiner -- while Weiner waited to attend his own press conference. 

Goldberg recalled how one of Breitbart's favorite pastimes was to retweet the nasty things other people said about him. "He considered it a badge of honor," Goldberg said. 

Breitbart's final tweet, posted shortly before he was reported to have died, typified the combative and blunt tone he took with his online debaters. "I called you a putz cause I thought you were being intentionally disingenuous. If not I apologize," he wrote to the individual he had been arguing with. 

That individual, Lamar White, told FoxNews. com in an email that Breitbart was committed to the First Amendment and the "open and free exchange of ideas." 

"Although I disagreed with him profoundly on politics and policy, I will always respect and admire his tenacious wit and his willingness to engage others in provocative conversation," White said. 

News of Breitbart's death reverberated on Capitol Hill and on the presidential campaign trail. Rick Santorum said he was "crestfallen."

"What a powerful force," Santorum said. "What a huge loss, in my opinion, for our country and certainly for the conservative movement." 

Breitbart is survived by his wife Susannah Bean Breitbart, 41, and four children. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Breitbart: “Wait ‘Til They See What Happens March 1st”

Breitbart died hours before planned release of damning Obama footage

Paul Joseph Watson

Infowars. com

Friday, March 2, 2012

In a stunning coincidence, It appears Andrew Breitbart suffered his untimely death just hours before he was set to release damning video footage that could have sunk Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.

Around three weeks ago on February 9 during the ‘Blog Bash’ event in Washington DC, Breitbart made a prophetic comment that takes on a somewhat chilling nature given the fact that he died in the early hours of March 1st.

Speaking to Lawrence Sinclair of Sinclair News. Breitbart stated, “Wait til they see what happens March 1st.”

It’s almost certain that Breitbart was referring to his plan to release damning footage of President Obama that he had been promising to reveal throughout the month of February.

As we reported yesterday, Breitbart spoke of his intention to release the tape during his CPAC speech last month. The footage shows Obama in his college days appearing alongside former Weather Underground terrorists Bill and Bernardine Dohrn. Observers had speculated that the footage could have derailed Obama’s hopes for a second term.

“I’ve got video from his college days that show you why racial division and class warfare are central to what hope and change was sold in 2008 – the videos are going to come out,” said Breitbart, adding that Obama would be vetted.

You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to appreciate the downright weirdness of Breitbart predicting a major event to occur on March 1st, only for him to end up dying on that very date. Breitbart was officially pronounced dead at 12:19am.

A d v e r t i s e m e n t

Although the cause of Breitbart’s death was hastily reported to be of “natural causes,” the Los Angeles County coroner’s office have refused to confirm anything until an autopsy has been performed.

According to marketing executive Arthur Sando. Breitbart spent his final hour in a bar near his home called the Brentwood sipping red wine and talking politics. After leaving the bar at around 11:30pm, Breitbart began to walk home before apparently suffering a fatal heart attack.

Although it is reported that Breitbart was rushed to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, when Lawrence Sinclair called the hospital, they denied that anyone by that name had been admitted within the previous 72 hours.

Watch the CPAC video below where Breitbart mentions the Obama footage he had seemingly planned to release just hours before his death.

*********************

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet. com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show and Infowars Nightly News.

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