Andrew Breitbart, Conservative Blogger, Has Died
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
Andrew Breitbart, a conservative blogger and activist who became famous by publishing undercover videos and revealing photographs aimed at liberals and Democrats, has died.
Lt. Larry Dietz, watch commander for the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, confirmed Mr. Breitbart’s death Thursday morning. He said that the UCLA medical center reported his death just after midnight. He would not provide any more information.
Joel Pollak, the editor-in-chief of Breitbart.com, said in an email that Mr. Breitbart, 43, died overnight on Wednesday, after the news was posted to several of Mr. Breitbart’s Web sites.
The news spread like wildfire on Twitter, where followers of the conservative blogger expressed surprise that the larger-than-life Internet phenom had passed away.
“Absolutely stunned to hear about Andrew Breitbart,” tweeted Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for Eric Cantor, the majority leader in the House. “Thoughts and prayers go out to his friends, family, and colleagues.”
Mr. Breitbart had become one of the early — and most controversial — users of blogs to disseminate political information and rumors. Mr. Breitbart quickly associated himself with Matt Drudge, the founder of the conservative Drudge Report Web site.
He worked for Mr. Drudge while also helping to direct stories from Mr. Drudge’s popular aggregator site to his own, Breitbart.com.
Since those early days, Mr. Breitbart’s web empire has expanded to include a network of companion sites, including Big Government, Big Journalism and Big Hollywood.