Word: breitbart
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...While Breitbart is a polestar to many Tea Partyers, his excesses have the potential to cause the movement embarrassment. "The smarter conservatives who know Breitbart regard him affectionately," says a plugged-in Republican player, "but they think he's a little out of it. In another age, the Big sites would have been produced on a mimeograph machine. I'd call him the first neo-crank...
Like some elements of the Tea Party movement, the Big sites can be crude. Also, Breitbart has shown an increasing propensity for bombast. While accepting an award at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington in late February for his role in breaking the ACORN story, he called New York Times reporter Kate Zernike "despicable" for writing in the Times's Caucus blog that a young CPAC speaker employed racial stereotypes during a speech critical of President Barack Obama. Two days later, Breitbart got into a verbal altercation with freelance writer Max Blumenthal. "You are the lowest life-form...
...Breitbart's online competitors are both impressed and wary. "Andrew has an eye for stories that never make the New York Times," says a journalist with experience in old and new media. "When I see him, he'll say, 'Why aren't you covering this?' And he's right. But some of what he publishes is irresponsible. He represents something fascinating about today's culture but also something deplorable." John Harris, editor of Politico.com, says, "I regard Andrew as a skilled media and ideological entrepreneur, but as he becomes a combatant, he is going to get scrutinized like...
...Breitbart, the dismissive reviews are a form of flattery. To speak ill of people in the new media is to do them a favor, generating hits on their sites, which drives revenue. Furthermore, Breitbart is a true believer. "I'm Upton Sinclair 2.0," he says, "except instead of attacking rotten meatpacking houses, I'm attacking the rotten political establishment and the mainstream media that discourage dissent in this country." As for the charge that his sites pay too much attention to the prurient side of issues, he responds, "I like decadent. I like rambunctious. I like mirth...
However polarizing, Breitbart's efforts appear to be flourishing. Technorati, a website focusing on new media, ranks two of the Big sites - Big Government and Breitbart.tv - on its influential top-100 list. (At No. 24 in March, Big Government - while trailing the No.?1 site, the Huffington Post - was ahead of such liberal sites as Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo.) According to Solov, he and Breitbart have not sought outside investors, funding the sites with their own money along with ad revenue. But this may change. In the months ahead, they plan to launch Big Peace, which will cover...