Breitbart News: Difference between revisions

Breitbart.com is a conservative news and opinion website founded by Andrew Breitbart.^[2] The site's components include BigHollywood.com,^[3] BigGovernment.com,^[4] BigJournalism.com,^[5] and BigPeace.com.^[6] The site launched Breitbart Sports on January 1, 2013.

Andrew 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 (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.^[7]

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 the Breitbart's Washington Times "Big Hollywood" column included issues conservatives faced working in Hollywood.^[8] 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.^[9][10]

Breitbart launched BigGovernment.com on September 10, 2009.^[11] He hired Mike Flynn, a former government affairs specialist at Reason Foundation,^[12] as Editor-in-Chief of Big Government.^[13] 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:^[14] "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.^[14] It is now currently edited by Dana Loesch. The site has a fictional contributor named "Retracto, the Correction Alpaca" who posts items requesting corrections from the traditional media.^[15]

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.^[16]

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.^[17] 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.^[18] Weiner subsequently resigned from his congressional seat on June 21, 2011.

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. The NAACP condemned Sherrod video comments and approved her July 19 dismissal from government service. After being criticized for presenting Sherrod out of context, Breitbart posted the full 40-minute video of the speech.^{[19][20][21][22]} 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,^[20][21] and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack apologized and offered Sherrod a new government position.^[23] In 2011, Sherrod sued Breitbart for defamation,^[24] 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.^[25]

Breitbart was also involved in the 2009 ACORN video controversy. Hannah Giles^[26][27] posed as a prostitute seeking tax and legal advice while James O'Keefe posed as her pimp interested in the best ways to conceal taxable revenue from operating an underage sex slavery business, and clandestinely videotaped meetings with ACORN staff who helpfully and nonchalantly answered all questions.^[28] 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",^[29][30][31] and contributed to the group's demise.^[32][33]

Breitbart was also embroiled in a controversy within the conservative movement related to the participation of gay group GOProud in the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an annual conference held in Washington, D.C., by the American Conservative Union. In 2011 he was the primary host of a party that served to "welcome" the "homocons" to the convention (though it was the second year they had been participants). This flew in the face of a boycott staged by a few social conservative groups that were offended by the inclusion of GOProud within the conservative fold. Writer, producer, and publisher Roger L. Simon referred to the group as a "game-changer" for the Republican party, and asserted that it represented a turning point in the appeal that the conservative movement might hold for young people. Breitbart was on the Advisory Board of GOProud until he stepped down in the wake of the group's inadvertent outing of a senior Rick Perry aide.^[34][35]

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".^[36] Breitbart.com claimed 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,^[37] National Review,^[38] Washington Times,^[39] PJ Media^[40] and commented on by US Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.

However, investigation by Slate reporter Dave Wiegel unable to confirm the existence of the purported group.^[41] On February 19 however, reporter of New York Daily News, Dan Friedman 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 claims 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 claimed that the joke inadvertently turned into a scandal.^{[42] [43]}

Breitbart.com insisted that the report was accurate and posted articles defending the site and attacking New York Daily News as 'hack'.^[44] Mainstream media such as Washington Post,^[45] New York Magazine^[46] and The Daily Beast^[47] strongly criticized Breitbart.com for its appearance of inaccuracy and low journalistic standards.

The controversy became an internet meme and spawned parody Twitter account @FriendsOfHamas,^[48] fake site FriendsOfHamas.com^[49] (by Gawker reporter Max Read) and a joke Tumblr account (named Friends of Hummus).^[50]

On March 11, 2013, Breitbart.com posted as fact what was originally a satirical story created by "The Daily Currant"^[51] reporting that Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman had declared bankruptcy. ^[52]

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