Big Downfall: How Andrew Breitbart’s Credibility Collapsed In 2010 | Media Matters for America
In early 2010, right-wing fabulist Andrew Breitbart was at the height of his powers.
In September 2009, Breitbart launched his biggovernment.com website with what remains his media empire’s biggest coup: The ACORN videos secretly filmed by conservative activists James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles.
Breitbart played a central role in the months-long release of the tapes, hosting the videos on his websites and heavily promoting them. After the videos led Congress to vote to deny federal funding to ACORN, Breitbart became the toast of the conservative movement.
Meanwhile, editors at The New York Times and The Washington Post expressed regret for not giving the ACORN story sufficient attention, and they promised to take such stories more seriously in the future.
Thanks to the ACORN videos, Breitbart was riding high; without them, he would be nothing more than a third-tier, unhinged version of Tucker Carlson, providing an Internet forum for ridiculous smears, wild accusations, and trumped-up scandals.