Breaking: Breitbart Booted from HuffPo Front Page
Speaking of video fraudsters, a lot of people got upset recently when Andrew Breitbart showed up on the front page of the Huffington Post. I knew that Breitbart had a long relationship with Arianna Huffington, and was involved with the startup of HuffPo, so I wasn’t too surprised myself. But I also knew it wouldn’t be long before Breitbart stepped over the line, because he just can’t help being a jerk.
Today the inevitable happened: Huffington Post yanks Breitbart from front page.
Last night, HuffPo was still sticking by Breitbart, arguing that the site was committed to airing a range of voices and maintaining that Breitbart’s posts on HuffPo had remained civil. But this morning, the Daily Caller published an interview with Breitbart in which he railed at Van Jones as a “commie punk” and a “cop killer-supporting, racist, demagogic freak.” This put HuffPo in a particularly awkward spot, and now HuffPo has had enough.
HuffPo spokesman Mario Ruiz emails me:
The Huffington Post is committed to fostering a lively and often provocative debate about the issues of the day and encourages a wide range of voices from all perspectives to participate. Andrew Brietbart’s ad hominem attack on Van Jones in The Daily Caller — right down to calling him a “commie punk” and “a cop killer-supporting, racist, demagogic freak” — violates the tenets of debate and civil discourse we have strived for since the day we launched. As a result, we will no longer feature his posts on the front page.
He is welcome to continue publishing his work on HuffPost provided it adheres to our editorial guidelines, as the two posts he published on HuffPost did — guidelines that include a strict prohibition on ad hominem attacks. Our decision today recognizes that placing posts on the front page is an editorial call that elevates some posts over others, and is an indication of how seriously we take these judgment calls.