Breitbart News Network

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Breitbart News Network
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languages English
operator Breitbart News Network, LLC
editorial staff Andrew Breitbart
On-line 2007 (as Breitbart.tv) (currently active)
http://www.breitbart.com/

Breitbart News Network ( ˈbraɪtbɑːrt , ˈbreɪtbɑːrt ; also Breitbart News , Breitbart or Breitbart.com ) is an American news and opinion website that was founded in 2007 by the publicist Andrew Breitbart . Politically, it is positioned right-wing populist to right-wing radical ("far-right") and has gained attention primarily through false reports and the spread of conspiracy theories . The daily radio program of the show is called Breitbart News Daily . Its headquarters are in Los Angeles , with additional offices in Texas , London and Jerusalem .

history

founding

Andrew Breitbart (2011)

Andrew Breitbart founded breitbart.com 2007 as a news portal . The website provided direct links to news from Reuters , Fox News Channel , the New York Post and a few other news outlets, including tabloids like Thirty Mile Zone (tmz.com) . The site's original growth was largely fueled by links to the politically conservative Drudge Report news platform, where Andrew Breitbart had previously been a contributor.

In 2007 Breitbart started an additional video blog called Breitbart.tv . During a stay in Israel had the idea Breitbart Breitbart News Network to start with "the aim of un- apologetic ([un- orthodox start]) pro-freedom and pro-Israel initiative. We were fed up with the anti-Israel bias of the mainstream media and J Street . "

Larry Solov , the co-founder and owner of Breitbart News said:

“One evening in Jerusalem as we were about to go out to dinner, Andrew turned to me and asked if I would like to leave the 800-strong law firm I worked for to become his business partner. He said he needed my help to build a media company, to 'change the world' ... Maybe it was because we were in this historic place or because I was, maybe was, carried away by the courage of the Jewish people in the Holy Land it also did the effects of the alcohol, but I said 'yes'. […] Andrew was really convincing, not to say inspiring, and I decided on the spot to throw away a really good, successful and safe career (as my mother put it) in order to create a 'New Media' with Andrew Breitbart -To found a company. "

- Larry Solov on Breitbart

development

Stephen Bannon

After the death of founder Andrew Breitbart in March 2012, Stephen Bannon took over the company and became the responsible officer for publications, while Alexander Marlow served as editor-in-chief . Bannon worked here until August 2016, after which he became one of the most important advisors to the future US president in Donald Trump's 2015/16 presidential election campaign and was made chief strategist and advisor for his presidency until he was dismissed in August 2017 and again returned to Breitbart. In January 2018 he resigned from his position at Breitbart. This happened after the publication of the reveal book Fire and Fury , for which Stephen Bannon is considered one of the main informants. In the book Donald Trump is presented in a bad light, which is why many donors and supporters of Bannons turned away from him.

Breitbart London

The Breitbart London branch went into operation in 2014 . In November 2016, the acting editor-in-chief Alexander Marlow announced that Breitbart wanted to expand its offer to Germany and France in order to be able to report specifically on the national right-wing conservative parties there; Beginning in March 2017 said Breitbart's Rome - Correspondent Thomas Williams from the fact that they have a Germany-August to October of this year editors wanted to open. A few days later it was reported that the plans for a German Breitbart branch had been postponed. Thomas Williams was again named as the source.

Donald Trump

After Donald Trump's presidential election campaign in 2015/16 , the company more than doubled its workforce from 40 to 100; However, contact with the former boss Bannon was made more difficult because the American Secret Service insisted on less communication between Bannon and the editorial team for security reasons. In August 2017, Bannon moved back to Breitbart from the White House.

Milo Yiannopoulos

The openly homosexual Milo Yiannopoulos quit his position as editor at Breitbart News in the wake of a controversy on February 21, 2017. In the Drunken Peasants podcast , he is said to have advocated, among other things, that 13-year-old boys should have the opportunity to gain sexual experience with men, since 13-year-olds could also have consensual intercourse with older men. In a statement, he said his poor choice of words should not interfere with important reporting from his colleagues.

financing

The main investor in Breitbart is Robert Mercer , billionaire and hedge fund manager of the US company Renaissance Technologies (specializing in high-frequency trading ). Mercer is also co-owner of the big data agency Cambridge Analytica . In November 2017, he announced that he would sell his shares in Breitbart to his daughters.

Self-image and strategy

In August 2010, Breitbart said that the founders of the 2005 Huffington Post had heard Associated Press said that he "is feel obliged to destroy the old media landscape." As a result of this "sense of duty" he founded Breitbart.com , which was to become a kind of Huffington Post for right-wing circles. According to Bannon, Breitbart News is "[...] the platform for the alt-right" (German: "[...] the platform for the alt-right movement "), it is about "young people who are against globalization , very nationalistic and against the establishment ”.

The journalist Jane Mayer writes: “The website freely mixes right-wing political commentary with juvenile rants and racist innuendo; under Bannon's direction, the editors introduced a rubric called Black Crime. " ("The website blends right-wing political commentary with childish rabble and racist innuendo; under Bannon, the editors introduced a section called Black Crime .") In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election , where the website played a key role in the dismantling of candidate Hillary Clinton , Breitbart News evaluated the number of clicks and likes to determine which topics and keywords promise the greatest success.

User development

Breitbart News is now regarded as one of the most important mouthpieces of the Alt-Right movement (Alternative Right) , which has formed right of the Republican Party in recent years , with Breitbart News also criticizing the Republican political establishment .

After Bannon's nomination as an advisor to Donald Trump in November 2016 , the site briefly reached 34th place in a ranking of US media sites. Globally, the site jumped from around 700 to 200, only to lose ranks afterwards.

At the beginning of March 2017, Breitbart was one of the 250 most visited websites worldwide , according to the analysis company Alexa Internet ; in the US, the page is in 35th place, ahead of the Washington Post . In May 2017, there was a short-term, rapid drop in visitor numbers in the Alexa ranking, which was also received in the German media and was attributed to scandals surrounding Donald Trump. Breitbart achieved over 45 million unique visits in January 2017 , according to comScore , and lost 53 percent of these by May 2017. In March 2018, Politico reported that Breitbart had lost around half of its unique visitors within half a year, from 15 million in October 2017 to 7.8 million in February 2018. In July 2019, the number of readers was down to 4.6 million like.

Radio Channel - Breitbart Daily News

The Breitbart Daily News is the radio channel of the Breitbart Network. Here moderating u. a. Curt Schilling and David Webb; Steve Bannon was part of the team until his engagement in the White House . Breitbart employees report from London , Rome and Jerusalem . In addition to the 24-hour web stream , Breitbart Daily News can also be received via SiriusXM .

Scandals, controversies and publications

2009: ACORN dismantling

2009 was Breitbart movies out , which gave the impression that adviser to the Association ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now dt. Union society organizations for reform now) would give tips to the prostitution deal forbade tax evade legal and profitable trafficking in women . Filmmakers James O'Keefe and student Hannah Giles shot the footage with a hidden camera. ACORN was a former umbrella organization of an aid organization in the USA and other countries; she managed a budget of over 100 million US dollars , had over 400,000 members in over 100 US cities with a focus on all forms of mutual aid , health care and the election registration of the mean for families to lower income classes. The two ACORN consultants were dismissed. Similar footage from branches in Washington, DC , Brooklyn , San Diego , San Bernardino , Philadelphia, and Los Angeles followed.

After the scandal became known, ACORN was excluded from conducting the 2010 United States Census and federal funding was discontinued.

Investigations initiated by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger by the California Public Prosecutor Brown showed that ACORN employees were not guilty of any criminal offenses. Brown, who in the course of his investigation evaluated the uncut originals of the secretly recorded footage of O'Keefes, pointed out that things are not always as partisan fanatics portrayed them through highly selective editing, and that sometimes a "broader truth" (in the discarded snippets) on the floor of a cutting room (“that things are not always as partisan zealots portray them through highly selective editing of reality. Sometimes a fuller truth is found on the cutting room floor.”). In the left - liberal Rachel Maddow show, the edited version and the original recordings were compared and rated as a successful disinformation campaign by right-wing media, with the aim of eliminating an organization that is viewed as ideologically hostile and campaigns for socially disadvantaged people.

ACORN had to declare its bankruptcy in November 2010 and dissolved.

2010: Anthony Weiner sex scandal

Breitbart posted u. a. exclusively to Anthony Weiner -Sex scandal and published videos whose content Shirley Sherrod , director of the Department of Rural Development (German Rural Development ) in the US Department of Agriculture in Georgia forced in 2010 to resign from her post.

2013: "Friends of Hamas " campaign

On January 7, 2013 President Obama nominated the former Republican senator from Nebraska , Chuck Hagel , for the post of defense minister. There were reports from right-wing media circles about Hagel's alleged links to anti-Israeli interest groups.

On February 7, 2013, Breitbart News' then Editor-at-Large , Ben Shapiro , posted an article on Breitbart.com claiming that Chuck Hagel was sponsored by a group called Friends of Hamas. Breitbart.com said the article was based exclusively on Senate sources. Research by Slate (and Washington Post ) reporter David Weigel then revealed that this ominous group "Friends of Hamas" did not even exist. Nevertheless, the fake was spread. The article was subsequently published by other right-wing and conservative media outlets such as RedState , The Right Scoop , National Review , Washington Times and PJ Media , as well as pro-Israel news such as Arutz Scheva and The General Journal .

Then, on February 20, 2013, the New York Daily News reporter Dan Friedman revealed that the "exclusive source" of the Breitbart story was believed to be a joking, provocative remark he made to a Republican Congress official (one of his informants) had dropped a conversation. Friedman had called the Congressional official / informant on February 6, 2013 to find out if there was any truth in the rumors spread by enemies of Hail. "Friends of Hamas" was one of several fictitious group names (including the "Junior League of Hezbollah") that Friedman had thrown in during his conversation with the said congress official in order to use such provocations to find out whether Chuck Hagel really was acted anti-Israeli. The group names mentioned by Friedman were, however, completely fictional and also so implausible and exaggerated that the congress staff could actually have recognized without a doubt that they were made up by Friedman. Friedman subsequently also sent an email to the above. Congress staff member in which he (again provocatively) asked whether Hagel had received $ 25,000 for his speech from Friends of Hamas. There was no answer.

The congress employee took Friedman's provocations, contrary to expectations, apparently at face value, talked about it with some of his colleagues, which ultimately led to right-wing media - u. a. Breitbart.com - was redirected. Just one day later, on February 7, 2013, an article with the title Secret Hagel Donor? White House Spox Ducks Question on “Friends of Hamas” , in which the obvious joke of a journalist (Dan Friedman) was used to smear a white House press secretary suppresses question about “Friends of Hamas” campaign ( smear campaign ) against Chuck Hagel in motion.

After Slate / David Weigel had then revealed that “Friends of Hamas” was a pure air formation, Breitbart.com did not row back, but wrote that the story was true and published further articles who defended the site and attacked Slate / David Weigel and Dan Friedman. Journalists from the Washington Post, New York Magazine and The Daily Beast, on the other hand, criticized Breitbart.com for the Friends of Hamas story and the news broadcaster MSNBC asked, “How on earth did conservatives get this stupidity? So, really, 'friends of Hamas'? Are we living in a poor Republican comic? "

2016: Incorrectly displayed climate data

In 2016, Breitbart used excerpts from the US Weather Channel to depict anthropogenically caused climate change as a hoax in an article . TWC immediately denied this factual misrepresentation and published a "point-by-point report" on the article. In the Breitbart article u. a. a map showing the global average temperatures over land. TWC showed that this was an incomplete representation: The majority of the earth's surface (around 70 percent) is covered with water, land surfaces heat up and cool down faster. If you take all the data sets together, it is shown that there was a temperature record in the lower atmosphere in November 2016.

2017: Incorrect reporting about alleged incidents on New Year's Eve in Dortmund

On January 3, 2017, Virginia Hale wrote for Breitbart that a mob of more than 1000 men sang " Allahu Akbar " at the New Year's celebration in Dortmund , fired fireworks against the police and set a historic church on fire.

Several other media researched that the report contained factual errors: The church was not in flames, only a tarpaulin on scaffolding at the church was burned by a New Year's rocket. The 1000 people were mostly North Africans and other refugees, but the Allahu Akbar calls came from a group of 50–70 Arabs who said they wanted to celebrate the ceasefire in Aleppo. The crowd behaved aggressively and disrespectfully towards the police and, among other things, pelted them with firecrackers. Although there were some injured officers, there were no targeted attacks against individual police officers. The report was ascribed the intention of suggesting that chaotic, civil war-like conditions prevailed in Germany, which were caused by Islamists.

2017: Lukas Podolski as a refugee

On August 18, 2017, Breitbart published a report about the digging of a gang of smugglers in Spain. Under the heading, "Spanish Police crack gang moving migrants on jet skis", there was a photo of Podolski as a passenger on a jet ski. When the mistake was discovered, Breitbart apologized and again made a mistake by wishing him well in his recently announced retirement. However, Podolski had only announced his resignation from the national team while he was still active for his Japanese club Vissel Kobe .

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Breitbart News Network, LLC: Private Company Information. Bloomberg LP, February 2, 2016, accessed February 2, 2016 .
  2. ↑ How to pronounce Breitbart. YouTube, accessed August 19, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Mispronounced words 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b James Rainey: Breitbart.com sets sights on ruling the conservative conversation . In: Los Angeles Times . August 1, 2012 ( latimes.com [accessed October 8, 2015]).
  5. ↑ David Freedlander: Chuck Hagel, Friend of Hamas? How the Right-Wing Press Got It Way Wrong. In: thedailybeast.com. The Daily Beast, February 20, 2013, accessed May 1, 2016 .
  6. ^ This Man Is the Most Dangerous Political Operative in America. In: bloomberg.com. Bloomberg.com, accessed October 8, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Patrick Rösing: Breitbart.com: Donald Trump's important media support |. In: stern.de. November 11, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Donald Trump: "Breitbart News" wants to expand . In: The time . Hamburg November 10, 2016 ( zeit.de [accessed November 26, 2016]).
  9. ^ "Breitbart": Right portal with a line to Trump. In: derStandard.at. STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, November 14, 2016, accessed on November 26, 2016 .
  10. ^ Conor Friedersdorf: Breitbart.com Struggles With the Contradictions of Its Namesake. In: theatlantic.com. November 1, 2012, accessed January 6, 2017 .
  11. ^ A b Breitbart News Network: Born In The USA, Conceived In Israel. In: Breitbart.com. November 17, 2015, accessed January 6, 2017 .
  12. ↑ Marc Pitzke: Stripper and street fighter. In: Spiegel Online. August 18, 2016, accessed November 11, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Michael Barbaro, Michael M. Grynbaum: Stephen Bannon, a Rookie Campaign Chief Who 'Loves the Fight'. In: The New York Times . August 16, 2016, accessed March 6, 2017 .
  14. ↑ Britta Kollenbroich: Trump's brain. In: Spiegel Online November 11, 2016.
  15. ^ Joshua Green: This Man Is the Most Dangerous Political Operative in America. In: Bloomberg Businessweek . October 8, 2015, accessed November 11, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Bannon resigns as Breitbart boss . In: sueddeutsche.de . 2018, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed on January 9, 2018]).
  17. ^ Carole Cadwalladr: Robert Mercer: the big data billionaire waging was on mainstream media. The Guardian , February 26, 2017.
  18. ↑ a b c d zeit.de , March 1, 2017: "Breitbart" is about to expand to Germany (March 5, 2017)
  19. ↑ Emily Flitter: Exclusive: Riding Trump wave, Breitbart News plans US, European expansion. In: reuters.com . November 9, 2016, accessed March 6, 2017 .
  20. ↑ Clara Ott: "Breitbart News": Expansion plans in Germany and France. In: welt.de . November 10, 2016, accessed January 6, 2017 .
  21. ↑ Breitbart stops plans for a German edition , Gründerszene, March 6, 2017
  22. ↑ Christian Palm: Trump continues to rely on Bannon: "A strong and clever voice for Breitbart". In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , August 19, 2017 (English).
  23. ↑ Milo Yiannopoulos: Posterboy of the US right-wing announces at "Breitbart". In: derstandard.at. February 21, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2017 .
  24. ↑ Milo Yiannopoulos loses book contract due to pedophilia comments. In: Spiegel Online. February 21, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2017 .
  25. ↑ The secret financier of the Trump rebellion. In: Finance and Economy. January 20, 2017. Retrieved March 6, 2017 .
  26. ↑ Jon Schwarz: Donald Trump Finds an Easy Mark in Urine Mogul Robert Mercer. In: theintercept.com . October 12, 2016, accessed March 6, 2017 .
  27. ↑ Robert Mercer: The Mighty Man Behind Trump , Focus , December 18, 2016
  28. ↑ Heike Buchter: Robert Mercer: In the grip of the owl '. In: zeit.de . March 4, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2017 .
  29. ↑ Alana Abramson, Lucinda Shen: Conservative Megadonor Robert Mercer Is Stepping Down As CEO of His Massive Hedge Fund. Read His Full Statement . Fortune, November 2, 2017.
  30. ↑ James Rainey: Breitbart.com sets sights on ruling the conservative conversation. In: latimes.com. August 1, 2012, accessed March 6, 2017 .
  31. ^ Sarah Posner: How Donald Trump's New Campaign Chief Created an Online Haven for White Nationalists. In: Mother Jones . August 22, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2016 .
  32. ^ Opposite the Wall Street Journal , according to zeit.de , March 1, 2017, Heike Buchter: Robert Mercer: Im Griff der Eule (March 5, 2017)
  33. ↑ a b Jane Mayer: The reclusive hedge-fund tycoon behind the Trump presidency. The New Yorker, March 27, 2017.
  34. ^ Establishment against populism. In: FAZ.net . November 14, 2016, accessed November 14, 2016 .
  35. ↑ Fabian Leber: "Breitbart News" and the AfD: Trump's house and court medium wants to support the AfD. In: tagesspiegel.de . November 11, 2016, accessed December 27, 2016 .
  36. ↑ Johannes Schmitt-Tegge: In the US election campaign, powerful bloggers set the tone. In: Rheinische Post . October 14, 2014, accessed June 2, 2016 .
  37. ↑ Breitbart.com Traffic Statistics. Alexa.com , December 27, 2016, accessed December 27, 2016 .
  38. ↑ Donald Trump pulls "Breitbart News" into a downward spiral . In: stern.de . May 27, 2017 ( stern.de [accessed June 4, 2017]).
  39. ↑ Breitbart is losing readers . In: sueddeutsche.de . May 28, 2017, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed June 4, 2017]).
  40. ↑ Tina Nguyen: As Trump's Problems Mount, Breitbart's Numbers Are Cratering. In: Vanity Fair , May 26, 2017.
  41. ↑ Jason Schwartz: Breitbart's readership plunges. In: Politico , March 20, 2018.
  42. ↑ Paul Farhi: Whatever happened to Breitbart? The insurgent star of the right is in a long, slow fade. In: Washington Post, July 2, 2019.
  43. ^ Clark Hoyt: The Acorn Sting Revisited. In: New York Times . March 20, 2010, accessed March 6, 2017 .
  44. ↑ South Florida woman is star of ACORN hidden-camera scandal videos. In: postonpolitics.com. September 30, 2009, archived from the original on February 20, 2014 ; accessed on March 6, 2017 (English).
  45. ↑ Second Video Shows ACORN Officials Helping 'Pimp,' 'Prostitute' in Washington Office. In: Fox News . September 11, 2009, archived from the original on September 13, 2009 ; Retrieved September 11, 2009 .
  46. ^ ACORN workers caught on tape. CNN , September 11, 2009, accessed September 11, 2009 .
  47. ↑ Christoph von Marschall: James O'Keffe - The Michael Moore of the right. In: Der Tagesspiegel . September 23, 2009, accessed March 6, 2017 .
  48. ↑ Jake Sherman: Census Bureau Cuts Its Ties With Acorn. In: The Wall Street Journal. September 12, 2009, accessed March 6, 2017 .
  49. ^ Sarah Wheaton: Acorn Sues Over Video as IRS Severs Ties. In: New York Times . September 23, 2009, accessed February 8, 2014 .
  50. ^ Office of the Attorney General: News Release April 01, 2010
  51. ↑ ACORN Sting Tape EDITED: Rachel Maddow Dissects Edit-Bay Trickery (VIDEO). In: Huffington Post . July 6, 2010, accessed February 8, 2014 .
  52. ↑ Michael A. Memoli: ACORN filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In: LA Times. November 2, 2010, accessed March 6, 2017 .
  53. ↑ Breitbart.com February 7, 2013: Secret Hagel Donor? White House Spox Ducks Question on 'Friends of Hamas'
  54. ↑ The Daily Beast February 20, 2013: Chuck Hagel, Friend of Hamas? How the Right-Wing Press Got It Way Wrong
  55. ↑ Rawstory February 20, 2016: How Breitbart.com turned 'Friends of Hamas' joke into a right-wing firestorm
  56. ↑ Slate January 24, 2013: “Friends of Hamas”: The Scary-Sounding Pro-Hagel Group That Doesn't Actually Exist
  57. ↑ Slate February 20, 2013: “Friends of Hamas” Revisited
  58. ↑ The Daily Beast February 20, 2013: Oops! Chuck Hagel, Friend of Hamas? How the Right-Wing Press Got It Way Wrong
  59. ^ The Right Scoop February 7, 2013: Hagel receive funding from group called “Friends of Hamas”?
  60. ↑ Arutz Sheva / Israel National News February 10, 2013: Report: Hagel Receiving Donations From 'Friends of Hamas'
  61. ^ Hugh Hewitt February 8, 2013: Rand Paul on Chuck Hagel & John Brennan nominations
  62. ^ New York Magazine February 20, 2013: How the Made-up 'Friends of Hamas' Became a Right-Wing Boogeyman
  63. ↑ New York Daily News February 20, 2013: 'Friends of Hamas': My role in the birth of a rumor
  64. ↑ The Wire February 20, 2013: 'Friends of Hamas' Rumor Debunked by Reporter Who Accidentally Started It
  65. ↑ MSNBC February 20, 2013: Friends of Hamas - The Origin Story
  66. ^ The Weather Channel: A Message to Breitbart from Weather.com. December 6, 2016, accessed June 5, 2017 .
  67. ↑ Joe Concha: Weather Channel strikes back at Breitbart. In: thehill.com. December 6, 2016, accessed May 2, 2020 .
  68. ↑ Chris D'Angelo: Weather Channel Destroys Breitbart Over BS Climate Change Story . In: Huffington Post . December 7, 2016 ( huffingtonpost.com [accessed June 5, 2017]).
  69. ^ Virginia Hale: NYE in Dortmund: 1000-Man Mob Attack Police, Set Church Alight. In: Breitbart. January 3, 2017, accessed January 5, 2017 .
  70. ↑ Emma Anderson: No Breitbart, a Muslim mob didn't set fire to Germany's oldest church. In: The Local . January 5, 2017, accessed January 5, 2017 .
  71. ↑ “I like to be a journalist. But the job becomes more exhausting. ” In: kress . ( kress.de [accessed on March 14, 2017]).
  72. ↑ Victoria Reith: Fake News - How "Breitbart" twisted facts and marauded a mob. In: Deutschlandfunk . January 4, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2017 .
  73. ^ German police quash Breitbart story of mob setting fire to Dortmund church. In: The Guardian . January 7, 2017, accessed January 7, 2017 .
  74. ^ Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com): Breitbart apologizes to Podolski - with a new mistake | DW | 08/21/2017. Retrieved on August 13, 2020 (German).