Dobb's resignation causes confusion for some, elation for others
Julia Seibolt
Issue date: 11/17/09 Section: Opinion
Wednesday night, to the shock of both the journalism world and viewers worldwide, CNN's Lou Dobbs announced on his program that he would be resigning effective immediately at the end of his show. Dobbs said, "I'm the last of the original anchors on CNN and I'm proud to have had the privilege of helping to build the first news network."
Fueling speculation surrounding his sudden decampment, Dobbs added, "Over the past six months, it has become increasingly clear that strong winds of change had begun buffeting this country, and affecting all of us." Those "winds of change" are speculated to be pressure from CNN, who had urged Dobbs to strive for a non-partisan broadcast.
For most of his career in the political media world, Dobbs did, in fact, present a relatively centrist view. However, after 9/11 his opinions became decidedly more salient. Considering himself an "independent populist," Dobbs has shared his opinion on a wide range of subjects, being captious of the American educational system, yet also equally critical of capitalism and free trade. However, it has been his views on illegal immigration that truly made him a political lightning rod.
When media mogul Ted Turner founded CNN in 1980, he wanted it to be the impartial network, and for more than two decades, that is exactly what it was. Later, with the creation of the conservative Fox News and the liberal MSNBC, CNN has remained dedicated to presenting bias-free broadcasting. Therefore, when Dobbs became increasingly opinionated on his show, network executives grew uneasy. The fact that his ratings increased in tandem with his outspokenness seemed unimportant to them.
Dobbs' sudden exit has been hailed as a victory by Latino advocacy groups, that often found his convictions concerning illegal immigration to be offensive. "We had hundreds of thousands of people who said 'enough is enough'," said Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition. "That he is gone from CNN is a great blessing and a great victory for our community." The NHMC complained that Dobbs' sentiments promoted an "atmosphere of intolerance." However, it seems that many confuse his opinion of illegal immigrants with the Latino community in general. Furthermore, why should Dobbs or anyone, for that matter, be "tolerant" of millions of people breaking our nation's laws? Dobbs was one of few in the mainstream news industry to take a microscope to illegal immigration, express his disdain while remaining credible as a newscaster - no easy feat.
Fueling speculation surrounding his sudden decampment, Dobbs added, "Over the past six months, it has become increasingly clear that strong winds of change had begun buffeting this country, and affecting all of us." Those "winds of change" are speculated to be pressure from CNN, who had urged Dobbs to strive for a non-partisan broadcast.
For most of his career in the political media world, Dobbs did, in fact, present a relatively centrist view. However, after 9/11 his opinions became decidedly more salient. Considering himself an "independent populist," Dobbs has shared his opinion on a wide range of subjects, being captious of the American educational system, yet also equally critical of capitalism and free trade. However, it has been his views on illegal immigration that truly made him a political lightning rod.
When media mogul Ted Turner founded CNN in 1980, he wanted it to be the impartial network, and for more than two decades, that is exactly what it was. Later, with the creation of the conservative Fox News and the liberal MSNBC, CNN has remained dedicated to presenting bias-free broadcasting. Therefore, when Dobbs became increasingly opinionated on his show, network executives grew uneasy. The fact that his ratings increased in tandem with his outspokenness seemed unimportant to them.
Dobbs' sudden exit has been hailed as a victory by Latino advocacy groups, that often found his convictions concerning illegal immigration to be offensive. "We had hundreds of thousands of people who said 'enough is enough'," said Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition. "That he is gone from CNN is a great blessing and a great victory for our community." The NHMC complained that Dobbs' sentiments promoted an "atmosphere of intolerance." However, it seems that many confuse his opinion of illegal immigrants with the Latino community in general. Furthermore, why should Dobbs or anyone, for that matter, be "tolerant" of millions of people breaking our nation's laws? Dobbs was one of few in the mainstream news industry to take a microscope to illegal immigration, express his disdain while remaining credible as a newscaster - no easy feat.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
Dennis J. Johnston
posted 11/17/09 @ 5:06 PM EST
We would all be better served with a strong third party. To have to choose between the too liberal Democrats, and the too conservative Republicans leaves many of us bouncing back and forth between the two. (Continued…)
Jim Ott
posted 11/17/09 @ 8:48 PM EST
If Mr. Dobbs would appear as a third party candidate many more of us wou7ld cry a "a plague on both your houses ," and vote for him. We definitely need someone like him to clean up- the "political swamp in Washington. (Continued…)
panamalatina
posted 11/18/09 @ 11:28 PM EST
I enjoy watching Lou show he was one of the very few journalism that I still trusted in bringing the truth to the public, I agree with Lou on illegal immigration issues and what he has to say about our leaders that's running this country, they are putting America at risk daily basis, because they want to be friend with the countries that hate America and that is will to take us out without thinking twice. (Continued…)
panamalatina
posted 11/18/09 @ 11:30 PM EST
I enjoy watching Lou show he was one of the very few journalism that I still trusted in bringing the truth to the public, I agree with Lou on illegal immigration issues and what he has to say about our leaders that's running this country, they are putting America at risk daily basis, because they want to be friend with the countries that hate America and that is will to take us out without thinking twice. (Continued…)
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