Andrew Breitbart dead at 43

Andrew Breitbart, the conservative media publisher and activist, has died at the age of 43 in Los Angeles, according to the Associated Press.

Breitbart's website, bigjournalism.com, said, "Andrew passed away unexpectedly from natural causes shortly after midnight this morning in Los Angeles," reported The Atlantic.

The LA Coroner's Office confirmed the news. According to the AP, Breitbart was walking near his house after midnight on Thursday when he collapsed. His father-in-law, Orson Bean, said Breitbart was taken to the emergency room at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. He had apparently suffered from heart problems last year.

Breitbart's website paid tribute, saying, "We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior. Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love."

Breitbart was an editor at The Drudge Report and helped launch The Huffington Post, according to The Washington Post. He also founded his own news network and was the publisher of Breitbart.com, Breitbart.tv, Big Hollywood, Big Government, Big Journalism and Big Peace.

The New York Times noted that Breitbart was "one of the early — and most controversial — users of blogs to disseminate political information and rumors." The Post remarked on his style: "He saw that the minute-by-minute deadlines for online news could be extended by parceling out the facts of a big story over days and weeks to extend its shelf life."

According to The Daily Beast, in a 2010 interview, Breitbart said, “I’m committed to the destruction of the old media guard."

Condolences poured in from all points on the political spectrum, as well as the media. Media Matters, the liberal media watchdog, said, "We've disagreed more than we've found common ground, but there was never any question of Andrew's passion for and commitment to what he believed."

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Here are some reactions from Twitter, regarding Breitbart's death: