Lou Dobbs: Populist or Prejudiced?
Posted November 19th, 2007by Lisa Pierce
In the eyes of his supporters, Lou Dobbs is a populist, the rare broadcast journalist standing up to big business, self-serving politicians, and what he likes to call “ethnosociocentric” special-interest groups.
Dobbs, a former Peabody Award-winner, has characterized himself as a political independent, an adherent of “advocacy journalism.” His advocacy comes most notably – frequently – in the form of sustained attacks on outsourcing and illegal immigration.
His reports and commentaries regularly characterize undocumented immigrants, or as he prefers – illegal aliens – as importers of instability, drugs, and disease. He has blamed illegal immigration, along with corporate outsourcing, for diminishing wages and jobs opportunity for the middle and working-class. And ratings for his nightly CNN program, “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” have increased steadily since he began holding forth on immigration more than a year ago in segments taglined “Broken Borders.”
His show mixes journalism and opinion in a way he maintains his audience is educated and perceptive enough to follow, but at least one CNN employee has referred to the Dobbs set as a “fact-free zone” at the all-news network, and Dobbs has been criticized by NPR, The New York Times, “60 Minutes,” and other news outlets for blurring the line between fact and opinion, and in some cases, fact and fiction, most notably in a report that claimed there had been 7,000 cases of leprosy reported in the United States in the past three years and that these cases were somehow attributable to illegal immigration. In fact, there were 7,000 cases in the past 30 years and the victims’ immigration status varied.
Thomas Friedman of The New York Times recently called him a “blithering idiot,” whose approach to journalism was causing confusion among American voters and endangering discourse. The Times has taken the unusual stance of running editorials, not just publishing columns, calling Dobbs’ stance on immigration dangerous and misleading.
Here are some of his recent declarations on immigration:
“Illegal aliens and their advocates, both liberal and conservative, possess such an overwhelming sense of entitlement that they demand not only legal status, but also that the government leave the borders wide open so that other illegals could follow as well, while offering not so much as an ‘I’m sorry’ or a ‘Thank you.’” - 6/27/07
“Too often, the language of the national media describes illegal immigration as ‘migration’ and illegal aliens as ‘undocumented immigrants,’ even though many of them have lots of documents, most of which are fraudulent or stolen.” - 4/25/07
“How dare the governor and these groups representing the interests of illegal immigrants demand equal rights to U.S. citizens. I cannot believe we’ve reached a point in this country that propaganda and nonsense have led to a powerful political impulse to give the same rights to illegal immigrants and American citizens.” - 10/31/07
And here is how some of his critics have responded:
“He is the heir to the nativist tradition that has long used fiction and conspiracy theories as a weapon against the Irish, the Italians, the Chinese, the Jews and, now, the Mexicans.” - David Leonhardt, The New York Times
“Night after night, under the rousing headline “Broken Borders,” the distinguished-looking 61-year-old instructs his growing audience that illegal immigrants import deadly diseases, rampant crime and international terrorism; they live off welfare, destroy public schools and burden hospitals; what’s more, most haven’t even learned to speak English.” – Daphne Eviatar, The Nation
Some immigrant advocacy groups say Dobbs is anti-Hispanic and have called for (and attempted) a boycott of his show or of the products that are advertised during its airtime. Dobbs and his supporters say that charge is misleading, and that he is not anti-Latino, or even anti-immigrant, but merely anti-illegal immigration.
What do you think? We’ve asked several leading Latino writers and activists to send us their thoughts, many of which are listed below. Now we want to encourage you to send us your thoughts, comments? Is Dobbs anti-immigrant or is he a working-class hero?
Is his show fostering needed debate or simply polarizing Americans and spreading hatred? Do you think CNN does a disservice to the public by airing his show in a news format? Would it be okay if they aired it as in a format that clearly identified it as a debate show that focused on outsourcing, immigration, and other topics?
We look forward to a thoughtful, civil discussion on an important media figure.
