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The Daily Wire is an American conservative news website and media company founded in 2015 by political commentator Ben Shapiro and director Jeremy Boreing. The company was based in Los Angeles, California until September 2020 when Shapiro and Boreing announced that they would move the company's operations to Nashville, Tennessee. Shapiro announced that the move to Nashville was prompted by California's increasing taxes, decreasing corporate benefits, and a hostile climate towards conservatives.

Shapiro, co-founder of The Daily Wire, speaking at the 2018 CPAC in Washington, D.C.

History

The Daily Wire was conceived by Ben Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing, who both worked for TruthRevolt, a news website that was formerly funded by the David Horowitz Freedom Center. After the duo secured several million dollars in seed funding from the billionaire Farris Wilks, The Daily Wire was launched in 2015 (Note to edit: this statement is misleading and will be edited). The Daily Wire maintains that neither Shapiro nor Boreing have met Wilks' brother, Dan Wilks. Farris Wilks manages Bentkey Ventures LLC, formerly Forward Publishing LLC, which is owned by Jeremy Boreing, Ben Shapiro, Caleb Robinson, and Farris Wilks which publishes The Daily Wire.

The Daily Wire became one of the leading news sites and publishers on Facebook in terms of engagement. In 2018, NewsWhip identified The Daily Wire as "by far" the top right-wing publisher on Facebook. According to NewsWhip, The Daily Wire was the sixth-leading English-language publisher on Facebook in 2019 through the month of March. The site also had the second most articles among Facebook's 10,000 top stories.

In March 2019, Podtrac ranked The Daily Wire's The Ben Shapiro Show the second most popular podcast in the U.S., behind The Daily.

In June 2020, Shapiro stepped down from his role as editor-in-chief, which he had held since the site's founding, and took on the role of editor emeritus. John Bickley was announced as the site's next editor-in-chief.

In January 2021, Shapiro announced that The Daily Wire was beginning a studio for TV and movies that would not promote "leftist causes." The Daily Wire acquired the North American distribution rights to the 2020 film Run Hide Fight, which premiered on its platform on January 14, 2021.

Leadership and Editors

Jeremy Boreing and Caleb Robinson are The Daily Wire's co-CEOs while Jon Lewis serves as COO. John Bickley took over the position of Editor-in-Chief from Ben Shapiro in 2020, who is now titled Editor Emeritus. Emily Butler is the company's Director of Social Media and Elisha Krauss, a regular contributer who left the company in March of 2021, regularly made appearances on The Daily Wire's special-occasion, live stream events.

Podcasts and radio

In addition to its written content, the site produces several regular podcasts and shows: The Ben Shapiro Show, The Michael Knowles Show, The Matt Walsh Show, The Andrew Klavan Show, The Conversation with Elisha Krauss, Enough with Jeremy Boreing, and Candace featuring Candace Owens. All of The Daily Wire's shows and podcasts are available on Spotify, Apple, and on The Daily Wire website, although some content is only available through a membership.

The reach of The Ben Shapiro Show expanded in April 2018 when Westwood One began syndicating the podcast to radio. In January 2019, Westwood One expanded Shapiro's one-hour podcast-to-radio program, adding a nationally syndicated two-hour live radio show, for three hours of Ben Shapiro programming daily. As of March 2019, according to Westwood One, The Ben Shapiro Show is being carried by more than 200 stations, including in nine of the top ten markets.

Daily Wire Membership

The Daily Wire operates several membership options for access to additional content that is not publicly available. The Daily Wire regularly advertises its memberships through the promotion of the "Leftist Tears" tumbler which has become a hallmark of a Daily Wire membership.

Reader's Pass ($4 per month)

• Access to the member-only app
• Ad-free content and articles
• Access to member-only op-eds

Insider ($12 per month)

• Access to all Reader's Pass perks
• Access to AppleTV and Roku apps
• All-access content including an additional hour of The Ben Shapiro Show
• "Leftist Tears" tumbler for hot and cold drinks

All-Access ($20 per month)

• Access to all Insider perks
• Access to online discussion with show guests and writers
• Access to participate in All Access Livestreams
• An additional "Leftist Tears" tumbler for free

Film and TV Production

Previous Films:

• Run Hide Fight (2020)

Upcoming Films:

• Untitled film directed by and starring Gina Carano who was previously fired from Disney+ and Lucasfilm due to her controversial tweets concerning the Coronavirus pandemic and political polarization.

Political Stance and Campus Controversies

Ohio State University students protesting Shapiro's speech at the school.

The Daily Wire is a self-described conservative news outlet with contributors and writers who largely identify as conservatives, Republicans, and libertarians. The outlet is regularly invited to college campuses to speak which typically results in large numbers of protesters who object to the contributors' views. Consequently, when Shapiro and other Daily Wire contributors speak on college campuses, they are accompanied by security and local police to ensure the safety of the speakers, attendees, and protesters.