Andrew Breitbart Dies

By Michael D. Shear and Brian Stelter, The New York Times

01 March 12

ndrew Breitbart, a conservative blogger and activist who became famous by publishing undercover videos and revealing photographs aimed at liberals and Democrats, has died.

Andrew Breitbart, pictured at a rally in Washington last November, died overnight on Wednesday at 43.Nicholas Kamm/AFP - Getty ImagesAndrew Breitbart, pictured at a rally in Washington last November, died overnight on Wednesday at 43.

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.

In 2009, he started the first in a series of "Big" blogs with names like "Big Journalism," "Big Hollywood" and "Big Government." The Web sites gave Mr. Breitbart a big online perch of his own and he quickly became a part of the conservative firmament, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors a month.

Michelle Malkin, a conservative blogger and television commentator, wrote in a blog post Thursday morning that his legacy "online and in the
conservative movement is built to last." She called him "a mentor to the next generation of right-wing activists and citizen journalists."

Speaking on the Fox News Channel, the conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg said that Mr. Breitbart "truly loved the fight."

Noting that Mr. Breitbart would regularly post to Twitter the incendiary remarks that people would send him, Mr. Goldberg said "it was his Wheaties - that's what he had for breakfast."

Moments later another columnist, Monica Crowley, called Mr. Breitbart's death "a huge loss to the conservative movement."

"I have known very few people in my life who lived life to the hilt the way Andrew Breitbart did," she said on Fox.