The first thing you notice when you open Breitbart’s website is a giant ad — for their own “iconic” T-shirts. Breitbart has made themselves a brand for being obnoxious trolls to anyone who considers themselves a liberal, or even left-leaning. The next thing you notice is aggressive headlines on the page, such as their lead story which reads “GOP-led Congress ignored plan to ax ‘diversity visa’ used by NYC terror suspect. First of all, Breitbart has a clear right-wing bias, so they focus on painting what the Republican party and President Trump (who some of their main players, like Steve Bannon, have worked closely with in the White House) in a positive light, while everything seen as liberal is painted negatively.
Even if you visited the site not knowing its ties to the Trump administration, you would notice this bias quickly. Other examples of headlines like this: “Very Jake news: CNN’s tapper sez ‘Allahu Akbar’ said ‘under most beautiful of circumstances'” and “Princess Hero: [princess emoji] Ivanka [princess emoji] drops from China trip to rescue tax reform.” It also seems clear that the site is not concerned with appearing outrageous, in fact, they enjoy it. This plays in to their attitude of embracing their role as internet trolls. Their photos even seem biased — photos of Trump and other Republicans look flattering, while photos of people like Democratic leaders and CNN anchors are unflattering and show them looking confused or silly. Overall, Breitbart’s audience is clear, as is their bias and intentions in spinning the news.
Laney Ruckstuhl 