| URL | TheBlaze.com |
|---|---|
| Slogan | "The truth has no agenda." |
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Political weblog |
| Owner | Mercury Radio Arts (Glenn Beck) |
| Created by | Glenn Beck Betsy Morgan, president[1] Scott Baker, editor-in-chief |
| Launched | August 31, 2010 |
| Alexa rank | 1,589 (January 2012[update])[2] |
| Current status | Active |
The Blaze is a conservative news and opinion website launched on August 31 2010, by American media personality and former Fox News host Glenn Beck's Mercury Radio Arts, three days after Beck's widely publicized Restoring Honor rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C. Beck has promoted The Blaze as an alternative to "mainstream media outlets," which Beck says are "distorting facts to fit rigid agendas." Beck was quoted saying that The Blaze will feature "breaking news, original reporting, insightful opinions and engaging videos about the stories that matter most" and that "we will examine our culture, deal with matters of faith and family, and we won’t be afraid of a history lesson."[3] The site is reportedly modeled after The Huffington Post, and has been compared to that site by Matt DeLong of the Washington Post and Steve Krakauer of Mediaite.[4][5]
Beck's production company, Mercury Radio Arts, launched news segments branded The Blaze on the live streaming video network GBTV on September 12, 2011.[6]
Contents |
According to Beck, the site took two months to design.[3] At launch, the site's chief editor was Scott Baker, with its associate editor/video producer Pam Key and with Jon Seidl and Meredith Jessup as reporters. Key is known for her blog, Naked Emperor News: Smoking Gun Video and Images. Baker is a former Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, broadcast journalist who previously worked at The Huffington Post and Breitbart TV. Seidl, of the Manhattan Institute, previously worked at the American Spectator. Jessup previously worked at Townhall.com. Journalists joining The Blaze later included S. E. Cupp, David Harsanyi and Billy Hallowell.
On its opening morning, the site featured advertisements for Dick Armey's new book and for Goldline International,[3] and its lead story dealt with allegations that Education Secretary Arne Duncan encouraged Education Department employees to attend Al Sharpton's counter-rally in Washington, which took place on the same day as the Restoring Honor rally and at which Duncan spoke.[4] Another story, criticizing Feisal Abdul Rauf, featured the headline "Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the man behind the Ground Zero mosque, claims to be a Jew, Christian, and a Muslim. But some say that’s impossible."[7]
In January 2011, Betsy Morgan became president and Kraig Kitchin director of sales. Morgan had helmed the Huffington Post until 2009. Kitchin had formerly been the president of Premier Radio.[8]
In March 2011, the site was noted for its critique of James O'Keefe's NPR sting video.[9]
| The Blaze | |
|---|---|
| Format | News (Radio/Internet broadcast newsdesks) |
| Created by | Glenn Beck, Joel Cheatwood, Steve Burguiere, Scott Baker, et al |
| Presented by | Robyn Walensky (radio show) Amy Holmes (Internet show) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Premier Radio / GBTV |
| Picture format | HDTV (Internet show) |
| Original run | September 12, 2011 – Present (GBTV) |
The Blaze also provides the news desk for Glenn Beck's Priemier Radio network radio talk show and his GBTV streaming Internet talkshow. Anchor for the radio program is Robyn Walensky and for the Internet program is Amy Holmes. Various Blaze's broadcast segments contain reporting by Raj Nair and Erick Stakelbeck, commentary by S.E. Cupp and humor by Brian Sack.[10][11][12]
|
||||||||||||||||||||