www.hatingbreitbart.com

Many would say that one of the functions of journalism in America is to be a watchdog over government. Andrew Breitbart, a reporter and phenomenon, created a unique position for himself within American society — a position responsible for keeping the media accountable. This role generated praise for Breitbart as well as harsh criticism. The documentary “Hating Breitbart” captures the essence of the sarcastic, indignant and outspoken man who was Andrew Breitbart.

“Andrew saw injustice and fought to right what he thought was wrong,” said Andrew Marcus, the director of “Hating Breitbart.”

Marcus, who will host a screening tonight in Mayers Auditorium, stated that Breitbart’s honest view of American media and its effect on society as well as the intense human drama that constantly surrounded Breitbart were his motivation behind producing the film. 

Breitbart was a conservative publisher, journalist and commentator for the “Washington Times.” He was an editor for the “Drudge Report” website and was responsible for launching the Huffington Post as part of his work with Arianna Huffington. He also owned six different news aggregator sites. Breitbart’s career as an American political leader and journalist ended when he died of heart failure at 43 years old on March 1, 2012.

“Andrew saw injustice and fought to right what he thought was wrong,” said Andrew Marcus, the director of “Hating Breitbart.”

A lesson from the extreme

One of the ways Breitbart challenged injustice was by confronting the media when they didn’t give enough attention to the stories that he felt needed to be exposed, said Michael Longinow, the chair of the journalism department.

“The documentary portrays Breitbart as a man who is willing to talk back to the media,” Longinow said.

Longinow believes though Breitbart was a little extreme, the ability to stand up to the media is a skill that we as Christians need to learn and currently lack.

“Christians need to be willing to speak up to the media and get them to cover stories that no one else is willing to talk about,” Longinow said.

The age of new media

Students also need to view this film because it captures the age of what Breitbart termed “new media,” Marcus said. Breitbart believed that traditional media is riddled with bias and hidden agendas and that the only way to accurately inform the public of news is to allow them to contribute to the process with smartphones and cameras.

At a Tea Party conference, Breitbart famously asked everyone to pull out their cell phones and cameras and put them in the air.

“The new media is taking over where the old media failed — yes, they failed, my friends,” Breitbart said in the documentary.

As members of this new age media, today’s society needs to understand their evolving role in the media, Marcus said.

The trailer of the film claims that we can do this by looking to Breitbart as our teacher.

“I don’t think there’s anybody who understands how information flows in the modern world better than Andrew Breitbart,” the trailer said.

Many people consider Breitbart the first person to define what it means to be a part of the new media movement.

"His legacy ought to be that of a member of the new media vanguard; someone who, along with many others across the political spectrum, helped usher in a new age of social news where average people have a voice and can be part of the conversation,” said Erik Kain of “Forbes.com.”

Utilizing new media

In addition to leading the public campaign for new media, Breitbart is responsible for utilizing new media to unveil countless controversies. The most famous of these controversies had to do with the government-sponsored program Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. ACORN was an agency that advocated for low-income families and assisted them in solving social issues related to health care, housing and voter registration.

Breitbart had been approached by a couple who had gone undercover into various ACORN agencies posing as a prostitute and a pimp. The hidden videos captured by the couple showed ACORN employees advising them on how to cheat on tax forms and hide their illegal business. Breitbart’s release of the videos on his website BigGovernment.com generated widespread criticism for ACORN and eventually led to the organization being shut down. Breitbart was also condemned for releasing the videos because many argued that the use of the hidden cameras was a form of entrapment.

Breitbart’s involvement in controversy and determination to fight injustice led him to address a lot of the underlying problems in America. One of these issues was media bias.

The issue of media bias

“Andrew had no problem with bias but with the media being dishonest about the presence of bias,” Marcus said.

“Hating Breitbart” wiill help college students understand how the deceit and dishonesty of the media affects our country, according to Marcus.

Similarly, Marcus encourages college students to see the film in order to better understand Breitbart’s media empire, and how the new media is replacing the old — and, according to Breitbart, biased — media.

“Hating Breitbart” will be shown in Mayers Auditorium tonight at 7:30 p.m., followed by a Q&A with Marcus.