The Destruction of Andrew Breitbart
We here at Studio B did not run the video and did not reference the story in any way for many reasons, among them: we didn't know who shot it, we didn't know when it was shot, we didn't know the context of the statement, and because of the history of the videos on the site where it was posted, in short we do not and did not trust the source.
-- Fox News anchor Shepard Smith on Andrew Breitbart
By virtue of publishing the Drudge Retort, I've been following the career of Andrew Breitbart for more than a decade. His rise to prominence from Matt Drudge's uncredited collaborator to liberal-hating firebrand has been quite remarkable, given the fact that he's just a self-made web publisher who never held a job of any importance in media, politics or academia.
By his own admission, he was an aimless and frustrated college graduate in the mid-'90s when he discovered the Internet and decided to reinvent himself on it:
"I said to myself, 'O.K., you are going on a date tonight, and you are not going to bed until you have gone all the way.' And I remember hooking up to the World Wide Web that night, and it was a revelation. It was just like shooting yourself into outer space, and trying to latch onto anyone else who was out there. I remember finding weather sites and earthquake sites, and being able to monitor earthquakes in real time, and that was weirdly invigorating."
I did not expect that Breitbart would rise as far as he has, but now that he's obliterated his reputation with an ugly racial smear against a decent woman in government service, I think the seeds of his destruction have been in place for years.
A little over a year ago, I wrote about how enraged he is all the time:
All external indicators would suggest that Breitbart has a lot to be happy about, but I've followed his work for years and he operates in a constant state of anger at the perceived mistreatment of conservatives, particularly in Hollywood. Since he's around my age, he's lived during an era in which the right wing was ascendant in American politics. I'm not sure he could have survived the '60s and '70s, back when conservatism was the marginalized ideology of Barry Goldwater and washed-up B-movie actors.
Four months ago, I documented how Breitbart has been lying to the media for years:
... Breitbart [has] the good fortune to work in online agenda-driven journalism, where no one is ever held accountable for being wrong. Breitbart lied back then, lied about the ACORN sting and will probably lie in furtherance of the next scoop he peddles to the mainstream media.
He can't be trusted.
I wonder how long it will take the Times and the rest of the major media to figure that out.
There are political points I could score here, since Breitbart's hatred of liberals makes it satisfying to enjoy his fall from grace. But as a self-made web publisher myself, I find it disappointing that he won't simply apologize to Shirley Sherrod and admit a mistake.
He managed to turn his association with Drudge into a huge media platform and doesn't have to answer to anyone. There's no reason he has to be as nakedly self-preservational as the major media, the way the New York Times and USA Today acted when caught publishing Jayson Blair and Jack Kelley's fictional news stories, as if the entire reputation of the papers would collapse like a house of cards if they engaged in open self-criticism.
Breitbart is his own boss. He appears to be rolling in dough. He has Founding Father hair. What good is being a self-employed media mogul if you can't admit you screwed up and try to make it right?
Related:
- Scott Rosenberg: "The problem with Breitbart is not that he is an activist in journalist clothes, but rather that he is a serial purveyor of deceptions who is somehow still viewed as a legitimate source by some of his colleagues in the media."
Comments
You're absolutely right, and Salon has linked to this post. I only hope that more sites do.
I, too, was "an aimless and frustrated college graduate in the mid-'90s" when I returned from Peace Corps and discovered the Internet. II used my discoveries to further my own career as well, as did millions who were in on the Internet's humble beginnings. But most of us are no longer aimless and frustrated, and we haven't really resorted to anger, hate and misinformation as a career path. I feel good about the work I do when I get up in the morning, and it's sad that the work he does makes so many feel bad.
> A little over a year ago, I wrote about how enraged he is all the time
Would you say he actually *is* enraged all the time, or if this is part of the "persona"? After all, there's a whole culture of playing the enraged talk-show host, even if those people are not really that way personally (after all, as multi-millionaires, they aren't exactly the oppressed little guy).
> What good is being a self-employed media mogul if you can't admit you fucked up and try to make it right?
You assume there is any value in that to him. Why should there be? In New Media, the *only* currency is ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION!!! There is a massive effort to destroy any sort of professional standards, as they're literally bad for business (of marketing and propagandizing). Turn it around - what good is making it right, to a self-employed media mogul?
I, too, was "an aimless and frustrated college graduate in the mid-'90s" when I returned from Peace Corps and discovered the Internet.
Me too. If I had been successful in journalism or computer programming back then, I wouldn't have had the time to dive into the web.
Would you say he actually *is* enraged all the time, or if this is part of the "persona"?
I don't think it's an act with him. The story I linked about him flipping the bird at protesters and the way he confronts people in real life with yelling matches makes me think he's genuinely angry all the time.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (IOW: in high school), we had our own Andrew Breitbart: Doug Guetzloe. Conservative, yes, but more marked by bitter anger and the self-righteousness of the self-deluded, with heaping tablespoons of half-truths and outright lies about the "other side." And like Breitbart it appears that Guetzloe (now in Orlando) has followed a similar path of anger and hatred to the top of the heap. I am reminded of the saying: "If you want to know what God thinks about money just look at the people he's given it to." - Hans
Breitbart is the king of new media, he just exposed the Obama administration to be the knee jerk reactionary fools they are. You seem to think Breitbart is something he isn't, a journalist that has no agenda, Breitbart is right up front about what he is doing and that is providing a counterweight to the hard left MSM.
CBS forged documents during the presidential campaign, did you write a piece about them destroying their 'reputation'?
MSNBC ran a story about a Tea Party member carrying a gun at a rally and made the connection to white supremacist.....And they cropped the video to not show the gun toting Tea bagger was BLACK...I must have missed your expose on that one.
The MSM is scum, they lie, deceive, fabricate, and misinform and hide stories every day....Breitbart is gong to continue to give them a taste of their own sick medicine.
Get used to it.
Breitbart has struck a gusher in media attention and I believe your invective reflects your personal jealousy of his success rather than any legitimate criticism. Mrs. Sherrofd is a black agitator who has no role serving in any government position.
The Beltway sniper got a lot of media attention too. That's hardly something worthy of praise by itself.
Calling Shirley Sherrod a "black agitator" may be the most ridiculous thing I've read about this controversy. Perhaps you should read one of the 1,000 news stories about her speech.
The lady said , "I took him to his own kind" like some kind of animal. I guess it is ok for you left wing tree huggers to pick which part of her speech you want us to here. The lady Said," It's still a black and white thing". Now she's your post racial hero. Say goodbye in November. Where is Bill Clinton when you need him. Barry makes me even miss Bush. And Bush sucked
your jealous Drudge, because his traffic is
much BIGGER than your liberal slop..
YOUR THE MSNBC TO HIS FOX ,IN EYEBALLS...
AND THOSE OTHER BALLS.............
Just wondering why all the comments from the right here sound like they were made by a slasher or a serial killer. Every single one is so angry and full of hateful invective.
And as a side note, it seems now every single conservative did not vote for Bush. I guess W was elected by liberals. And his bank bailouts were enacted by liberal members of Congress, only.
Drudge, if I am "ridiculous" then you are, to put it mildly, disingenuous. You actually enjoy misrepresenting the facts of the Sherrod matter. In fact, you are joined in this by your buddies at Fox News who are blabbering they made an “error†and apologizing to Sherrod. Breitbart made it crystal clear in the GMA/Stephanopolous debate with the Media Matters slattern that his point was not Sherrod but the laughs, cheers, and clapping of the NAACP crowd as she related how she considered screwing the white farmer. They did not cheer or clap at her later epiphany claiming she did not end up screwing him but helping him. Let's set the record straight. The NAACP crowd wants Hussein to screw white people and they cheer those who engage in reverse racism.
The applause claim is yet another falsehood being spread by Breitbart.
How many times are you going to let him sucker you with false information?
Projecting the rightwing "tough guy" persona requires this angry....never admit your wrong image. Unfortunately most "rightwing" tough guys never even served in the military and probably got their azz's kicked on a daily basis growing up......
I love the Drudge Report, actually thank god for druge and peopleofthemta.com without the two of them I would have nothing to do at work
I am glad Andrew is checking on the operations of the current administration. I wouldn't expect less of any watchdog medium. We (the common people) are all better off when the truth, the lies, the spin come to light. The left needs the right and vice versa. Irregardless of the conservatism vs. liberal views, we need to keep a constant eye on big government no matter what party is in control.
You people will be singing a different tune once Breitbart releases his latest video of Obama, the authoritarian ACLU, and the sexist National Organization of Women all conspiring at Roswell to turn over U.S. sovereignty to the space aliens there!
Not-so-Bright Bart's love of selective editing both in this case and in the by now infamous Faux-patriot-pimp case is just more of the same RW nonsense that has zenophobic/racist rtards trying to justify their hate by declaring the existence of black racism.
By getting caught deliberately taking Sherrod's comments out of context here to make it appear that Ms. Sherrod was a racist in order to race bait his pathetic fanbase Andy Not-so-bright has outed himself once again.
Why anyone considers him a credible source by this point is a mystery.
in short we do not and did not trust the source.
~Faux News
Face it.
When the hard right wing-nuts at FOX are shying away from you for being too much of an rtard you've pretty much lost all measurable credibility.
And still ya got wingnuts showing up on this thread with their collective derp about how "The NAACP crowd wants Hussein to screw white people and they cheer those who engage in reverse racism." etc.
Fer extra giggle points that schmuck did so while accusing others of being "disingenuous".
Teh lulz they are palpable.
Cool story, Bro.
Be Well.
Rogers, what is your fetish with deleting my posts? Do you feel you can simply delete them because 'Rex' posts them, or are you so afraid of the fact I destroy the liberal tripe you spout.
Neither of my posts were profane or off topic, so what is your beef?
Andrew Breitbart has probably caused you to receive more traffic on your site then you have ever had. You should thank him for helping you. Enjoy it will it lasts.
You kool-aid drinking liberals just want to distract from the fact that the Obama administration once again demonstrated their incompetence Who fires someone the same day a video is posted on the internet without doing any research? Oh yeah, the Obuma administration. Who hires someone who has already sued the government and won $300K tax payer dollars for her and her husband? Oh yeah, the Obuma administration. Shirley Sherrod is no angel. The full video doesn't do that much to improve her image and the more that gets out about her the better Breitbart will look!
Rogers, what is your fetish with deleting my posts?
This is my personal blog. I reserve the right to choose what appears here and don't explain why specific comments were deleted.
If you don't like that a comment was deleted, go get it from the deleted comments page and post it somewhere else.
THIS POS IS A FIRST AMENDMENT CENSOR AND A COMMUNIST TROLL
READ THE ABOVE , ROGERS CADENHEAD IS AN OBAMA ZOMBIE
AND DNC HACK LEFT WING LOONIE , PASS IT ON ABOUT THIS
CLOWN AND THIS PHONEY SLUDGE RETORT,
And now everyone can see why I don't bother justifying the deletion of comments here.
Breitbart made it crystal clear in the GMA/Stephanopolous debate with the Media Matters slattern that his point was not Sherrod but the laughs, cheers, and clapping of the NAACP crowd as she related how she considered screwing the white farmer. They did not cheer or clap at her later epiphany claiming she did not end up screwing him but helping him. Let's set the record straight. The NAACP crowd wants Hussein to screw white people and they cheer those who engage in reverse racism
There were no cheers or applause in the video. Breitbart made that up on Good Morning America. It's amazing how little facts matter to people when a story suits their political biases. This is not a hard fact to confirm. The video is only 2 minutes 36 seconds long.
I wish there was more journalism in journalism today. The critical nature of this opinion piece and those previous articles supporting it are sorely needed on both sides of the aisle.
So rather than attacking Rogers for writing the article perhaps we should look into our own motivations for either accepting or rejecting Rogers' opinion. We've become so lazy that we're willing to accept things without much critical thinking.
The only reason Breitbart has held such influence is that we've given up on those critical thinking skills. He's wisely preyed upon those tendencies and made a fortune doing so. He's turned activism into a faux-journalism empire and we let him do it.
I guess it sadly is a Brave New World. I don't think Huxley had envisioned it run by Buy-N-Large and conservative greed, but hey, it's close!
John Acord: A man who thinks he has a mission. You should let it go. All the anger only generates more. Your unhappiness in life is from the life you have chosen for yourself and not from others. If anything, you are to be pitied, as belittling you would be such an easy thing to do.
Andrew B. is a sad case. You shouldn't sign on to such.
Rogers, don't worry about deleting posts. Breitbart delted two of my posts. They were not ads and were not vulgar, I just criticized a NASA science project and questioned glebal warming, I mean climate disruption.
Freedom of Speech... The first right that will be revoked.
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