Andrew Breitbart and NextGen Journal
by Noah Glyn | Rutgers University
Noah Glyn
Andrew Breitbart died today at age 43. He was a conservative commentator, an author, a provocateur, a father and a family man. The term that is used most to describe him is “Happy Warrior.” Indeed, he relished a good fight against his ideological opponents. He fought ruthlessly against biased news reporting, progressive institutions and Democratic politicians, yet he always retained the persona of a guy who enjoyed life.
Alas, I did not know the man, and I am in no better position to judge his life than anyone else. Certainly, he made mistakes in his career, and his style could be needlessly brash. On the other hand, even the most dogmatic liberal must concede the importance of his accomplishments.
Breitbart served as an editor of the Drudge Report, one of the world’s largest online news aggregators. From there, he helped Arianna Huffington launch The Huffington Post, which has been a major influence for websites like NextGen Journal. The Huffington Post and NextGen Journal both use the same model of hundreds of contributors around the nation writing for one centralized website. He later founded his own network of sites.
Andrew Breitbart understood the potential of this medium, and he tapped its resources before most people noticed or cared. For that, everyone who is a part of NextGen Journal–from the writers to the editors, to the readers and everyone in between–should take a moment to remember Andrew Breitbart.
February 1, 1969 – March 1, 2012
RIP
Noah Glyn is an Agostinelli Fellow at the National Review, and a candidate for a master's degree in public policy from Rutgers University. He writes from a conservative perspective on economic, cultural, political, educational and foreign policy issues.
