Breitbart News was founded in 2007 by friends Andrew Breitbart and Larry Solov. After Andrew Breitbart passed away in 2012, Solov, the Mercer Family, and Breitbart’s widow, Susie Breitbart, took full control of the company. It’s worth noting that Solov’s status as owner of Breitbart was only revealed in early 2017—roughly five years after Breitbart’s death—during a meeting to “secure official Capitol Hill credentials.”
Climate Change
According to the Washington Post, Breitbart News has some of the most influential climate change denial posts on Facebook. It’s been included among the ‘Toxic Ten’ by the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).
Many Breitbart climate change articles use terms such as “so-called,” and in one article, even go so far as to call it “climate [change] alarmism.” This term is often used by deniers in reference to people who are actively fighting climate change, especially when discussing the catastrophic ramifications of global warming in general.
In 2016, the Weather Channel made a Twitter post that called out the news outlet, saying “Note to @BreitbartNews: Earth Is Not Cooling, Climate Change Is Real and Stop Using Our Video to Mislead Americans”. The Weather Channel continued to say that Breitbart “cherry-pick[s]” information to put in their climate change articles.
Outreach
Breitbart mainly reaches their consumers via social media, especially Facebook. Solov himself has only really spoken about the company during a 2017 meeting, but he has not attended or spoken at many other events.
Funding
Breitbart’s biggest backer is the Mercer Family Foundation, a private grant-making foundation. They have allegedly invested around $10 million in the company.
See Also:
Climate of Denial