The Daily Caller

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The Daily Caller
Type Online news site
Format Website
Editor-in-chief Tucker Carlson
Founded 2010
Official website dailycaller.com

The Daily Caller is a news and opinion website based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a focus on original reporting, in-depth investigations, commentary and breaking news. Founded by libertarian conservative political pundit Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel, former adviser to former Vice President Dick Cheney, The Daily Caller launched on January 11, 2010. In late 2012, it was reported that the site had quadrupled its page view and total audience and had become profitable without ever buying an advertisement for itself.[1]

Contents

Staff [edit]

The Daily Caller is in the White House rotating press pool and has full-time reporters on Capitol Hill.[2] Its reporters have appeared on MSNBC, Fox News Channel, CNBC, CNN, NBC, ABC and CBS, and radio stations across the country. Reporters and columnists include Matt Lewis, Mickey Kaus, Alex Pappas, Jamie Weinstein, Will Rahn, Caroline May, Nicholas Ballasy, Vince Coglianese, Matt Labash, Jeff Poor, Alexis Levinson and Jim Treacher.[3]

Daily Caller founder Tucker Carlson

Ideology [edit]

Although the site states it is neutral in regard to ideology,[citation needed] some observers have commented that it is influenced by the libertarian views of its founders. The Guardian referred to The Daily Caller as "the conservative answer to The Huffington Post".[4] An article in The Washingtonian commented that in comparison to The Huffington Post, "The Caller puts more emphasis on its own reporting, whereas HuffPo is happy to feature someone else’s story" and "The Caller's headlines tend to be less misleading and opaque."[5] In February 2012, Internet marketing research firm comScore found a plurality of The Daily Caller's site visitors to be self-identified political independents; of the remaining visitors, Republicans outnumbered Democrats 35 percent to 27 percent.[6]

In an interview with Politico, Carlson said that The Daily Caller will not be tied to ideology but rather will be "breaking stories of importance". In a Washington Post article, Carlson said "We're not enforcing any kind of ideological orthodoxy on anyone."[7] In an interview with The New York Times, Carlson observed that the vast majority of traditional reporting comes from a liberal point of view and called The Daily Caller's reporting "the balance against the rest of the conventional press".[8]

Opinion contributors have included Newt Gingrich, Andrew Breitbart, S. E. Cupp, Arianna Huffington, a weekly column by former Special Counsel to Bill Clinton Lanny Davis, and current and former members of Congress.

Notable stories [edit]

Obama's '07 race speech [edit]

On October 2, 2012, The Daily Caller released footage of a speech given by then-Senator Barack Obama in 2007, in which he made racially charged comments about the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina and asserted that the government cared less about the people of New Orleans than those of New York and Florida.[9] Although the speech was made at a public event, no media outlet at the time had mentioned the comment, which was not a part of Obama's prepared remarks. The video had over 1 million plays in its first 12 hours on DailyCaller.com

Obamacare waivers [edit]

The Daily Caller reported that almost 20% of the so-called Obamacare waivers under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act approved in April 2011 were given to restaurants, nightclubs and hotels located in the Congressional district of Nancy Pelosi.[10] After this the Obama Administration announced it would be canceling the waiver program in September, 2011.[11]

Michele Bachmann migraines [edit]

The Daily Caller was the first news outlet to report that Congresswoman Michele Bachmann frequently suffers from stress-related migraine headaches, which can be incapacitating and can require Bachmann to be hospitalized.[12] The news continued to plague Bachmann throughout her 2011-2012 bid for the Republican nomination for President, raising questions about whether she would be able to handle the stresses of the campaign and the Presidency itself.

RNC night club incident [edit]

On March 29, 2010, Daily Caller reporter Jonathan Strong reported that the Republican National Committee reimbursed a staffer almost $2,000 for an evening spent with donors at Voyeur West Hollywood, a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers who imitate lesbian sex acts.[13] The resulting media backlash led to the firing of Allison Meyers, the staffer in charge of the Young Eagles program who submitted the expense report,[14] and later the resignation of other RNC officials.

Leaked JournoList e-mails [edit]

On June 25, 2010, The Daily Caller published private e-mails from Washington Post blogger Dave Weigel denigrating conservatives, whom he covered for the paper.[15] The same day, Weigel resigned from the Post,[16] and JournoList — the listserv that hosted Weigel's disparaging e-mails — was deleted by creator Ezra Klein of the Washington Post.[15]

Several weeks later, TheDC published a series of articles based upon JournoList discussions.[citation needed]

Reporter interrupting President [edit]

The Daily Caller's White House reporter Neil Munro received criticism for interrupting President Obama's prepared remarks on June 15, 2012.[17] Munro, along with Carlson and Patel, defended his behavior by saying that he tried to time his question to when he thought the president was finishing, though this was disputed by other reporters there.[18][19][20]

Reports of prostitution-related allegations against Senator Bob Menendez [edit]

In an article titled "Women: Sen. Bob Menendez paid us for sex in the Dominican Republic,"[21] The Daily Caller reported that New Jersey senator Bob Menendez had allegedly paid two prostitutes $100 to have sex with him during a stay at a Dominican Republican resort. The report included video tape from the women. The allegation came five days before the 2012 New Jersey senate election. News organizations such as the New York Times, ABC News and the New York Post declined to publish the allegations, viewing them as unsubstantiated and lacking credibility.[22][23][24]

The FBI investigated the allegations and found no evidence to substantiate them.[25][26] Subsequently, one of the women who accused Menendez stated that she had been paid to falsely implicate the senator, whom she had never met.[22][26] Menendez's office described the allegations as "manufactured" by a right-wing blog as a politically motivated smear.[27] On March 18, police in the Dominican Republic announced that three women had acknowledged they had been paid $300–425 each to lie about having had sex with Menendez.[28]

According to a spokeperson in the Dominican government, the women in question had been paid to make the false claims in question by someone who identified himself as a Daily Caller employee. The Daily Caller issued a statement denying the claims.[29]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Stelter, Brian. "Still a Conservative Provocateur, Carlson Angles for Clicks, Not Fights". The New York Times. Retrieved October 7, 2012. 
  2. ^ Calderone, Michael (February 1, 2010). "Daily Caller joins W.H. pool". Politico. Retrieved July 8, 2010. 
  3. ^ "About us". The Daily Caller. Retrieved January 5, 2013. 
  4. ^ Bunz, Mercedes (January 11, 2010). "The Daily Caller: the conservative answer to the Huffington Post". The Guardian (London). Retrieved January 11, 2010. 
  5. ^ Bartlett, Tom. "The Bearable Lightness of Being Tucker Carlson". The Washingtonian. Retrieved March 13, 2013. 
  6. ^ Byers, Dylan (April 30, 2012). "Report: POLITICO strikes down the middle". Politico. Retrieved May 1, 2012. 
  7. ^ Kurtz, Howard (January 11, 2010). "Tucker's excellent adventure". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 27, 2010. 
  8. ^ Stelter, Brian. "Still a Conservative Provocateur, Carlson Angles for Clicks, Not Fights". The New York Time. Retrieved October 7, 2012. 
  9. ^ Carlson, Tucker and Coglianese, Vince. "Exclusive: In heated ’07 speech, Obama lavishes praise on Wright, says feds ‘don’t care’ about New Orleans". The Daily Caller. 
  10. ^ Boyle, Matthew. "Nearly 20 percent of new Obamacare waivers are gourmet restaurants, nightclubs, fancy hotels in Nancy Pelosi’s district". The Daily Caller. Retrieved May 17, 2011. 
  11. ^ Press, Associated. "Obama administration to end health care waivers". msnbc.com. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
  12. ^ Strong, Jonathan. "Stress-related condition ‘incapacitates’ Bachmann; heavy pill use alleged". The Daily Caller. Retrieved July 18, 2011. 
  13. ^ Strong, Jonathan (April 2, 2010). "High flyer: RNC Chairman Steele suggested buying private jet with GOP funds". The Daily Caller. Retrieved June 27, 2010. 
  14. ^ Pappas, Alex (March 29, 2010). "RNC staffer fired following Daily Caller report on $2,000 committee expenditure at risque night club". The Daily Caller. Retrieved June 27, 2010. 
  15. ^ a b Klein, Ezra (June 25, 2010). "On Journolist, and Dave Weigel". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 27, 2010. 
  16. ^ Hagey, Keach (June 25, 2010). "David Weigel resigns". Politico. Retrieved June 25, 2010. 
  17. ^ Nakamura, David (June 15, 2012). "Daily Caller reporter Neil Munro interrupts Obama’s immigration announcement". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2012-11-02. 
  18. ^ "Statements from The Daily Caller regarding exchange in White House Rose Garden". The Daily Caller. June 15, 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-02. 
  19. ^ "Neil Munro Of The Daily Caller Responds On Heckling, But Who Is The Reporter That Interrupted President Obama?s Speech? [VIDEO]". International Business Times. June 16, 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-02. 
  20. ^ Knox, Olivier (June 15, 2012). "Reporter who interrupted Obama: I thought he was finished". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2012-11-02. 
  21. ^ Boyle, Mathew (November 1, 2012) "Women: Sen. Bob Menendez paid us for sex in the Dominican Republic." The Daily Caller. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  22. ^ a b Schwartz, Rhonda (March 5, 2013). "Woman Says She Was Paid to Lie About Claim of Sex With Senator Menendez". ABC News. Retrieved March 13, 2013. 
  23. ^ Lipton, Eric (February 16, 2013). "Inquiry on Democratic Senator Started With a Partisan Push". New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2013. 
  24. ^ Bump, Philip (March 8, 2013). "Daily Caller's Prostitution 'Scoop' Was So Thin Even the 'New York Post' Passed". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 13, 2013. 
  25. ^ Leonnig, Carol D.; Wallsten, Peter (February 15, 2013). "FBI investigating allegations Sen. Menendez patronized prostitutes in Dominican Republic". Washington Post. Retrieved March 13, 2013. 
  26. ^ a b Leonnig, Carol D.; Londoño, Ernesto (March 4, 2013). "Escort says Menendez prostitution claims were made up". Washington Post. Retrieved March 13, 2013. 
  27. ^ Weiner, Rachel (January 30, 2013). "Menendez: Prostitution allegations 'manufactured' by 'right-wing blog'". Washington Post. Retrieved February 9, 2013. 
  28. ^ Coglianese, Vince (March 18, 2013). "Dominican police: Three women lied about sex with Menendez". The Daily Caller. Associated Press. Retrieved March 19, 2013. 
  29. ^ Leonnig, Carol D.; Lazo, Luz (March 22, 2013). "Dominican official links Daily Caller to alleged lies about Menendez". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 22, 2013. 

External links [edit]

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