Cristina Jimenez
No More Dobbs on CNN
After pressure from various progressive and Latino groups, Lou Dobbs announced yesterday that he was leaving CNN. Yesterday night was Dobb's last broadcast.
Dobb's decision to leave CNN came after intense controversy surrounding CNN's "Latino in America." Latino, media, civil rights, and immigration groups argued that CNN couldn't be celebrating Latinos, while allowing Dobbs to promote anti-Latino and anti-immigrant sentiment. A broad coalition of national organizations launched the DropDobbs campaign, calling on advertisers to end their support of Lou Dobbs Tonight. BastaDobbs, a coalition of more than 40 Latino advocacy groups urged CNN President Jonathan Klein to drop Dobbs for his hateful rhetoric.
Here are some of Dobb's most famous lies:
• President Obama is not a U.S. citizen
• There is a secret plan to construct a "NAFTA Superhighway" running from Canada to Mexico
• Latinos are spreading leprosy
• Undocumented immigrants make up a third of the U.S. prison population
Unfortunately for CNN, Dobbs' false reporting did not bring audience gains. According to Nielsen Media Research, Dobbs only attracted an average of 631,000 viewers in October, putting him in third place behind Fox News and MSNBC.
When Dobbs was publicly criticized for his false reporting last year, I wrote:
As anchors like Dobbs continue reporting lies and instigating immigrant hate, perhaps those who still believe in true journalism should stop being part of this falsehood.
Clearly, criticism of Dobb's lack of objective and ethical journalism led to his departure from CNN. But it took CNN a long time before distancing itself from Dobb's lies.
Cristina Jimenez: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 2:47 PM, Nov 12, 2009 in
Immigration
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