Why I Urged CNN to Take Dobbs Off the Air

On Monday, I went on the O'Reilly Factor to discuss our call for CNN to take Lou Dobbs off the air for Dobbs' latest conspiracy-mongering. Bill O'Reilly said we shouldn't take Dobbs too seriously. After all, Bill said, it's all just for ratings. But in our view, the matter is an extremely serious one, because the ratings game Dobbs is playing is very dangerous.

For years, Dobbs has been trading in baseless, conspiratorial claims that originate on the radical right. Most recently, he's given credence to the utterly discredited claim that President Obama was not born in this country and so is not eligible to be president. It's a claim that's been debunked many times over. CNN's legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin called it "a joke." But it's a claim that continues to circulate in radical right circles. James von Brunn, the neo-Nazi accused of killing the Holocaust Memorial Museum guard, for example, promoted the claim on the Internet and berated the media for not taking it seriously.

The reason Dobbs' ratings game is so dangerous is that there is a segment in our society that is not ready to accept the fact that we have a black man in the White House. At the extreme, people are striking out, killing others as a result. In Okaloosa, Fla., two sheriff's deputies were murdered by man who was upset over Obama's election. In Pittsburgh, three police officers were murdered by a man who was convinced that Obama was going to ban guns. The Secret Service has reported a record number of threats against the new president. By knowingly trading in unsubstantiated, conspiratorial claims that undermine the president's legitimacy, Dobbs is stirring a boiling pot. Just like he's been stirring the pot of anti-Latino rage for years.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that Dobbs bears legal responsibility for the right-wing violence that has greeted the Obama presidency. But I am saying that Dobbs bears a degree of moral responsibility for pouring fuel, in the form of baseless accusations, on a raging fire. Because Dobbs can't help himself -- and because he has a history of promoting false claims that originate on the radical right -- we have called on CNN to remove him from the air. Merely telling those who are offended to turn the channel is not going to solve the problem

None of this is about censorship or infringing on Dobbs' First Amendment rights. The First Amendment protects us all against government censorship; it doesn't stop news organizations from exercising editorial judgment. We're not asking the government to arrest Dobbs or force CNN to cancel his show. Instead, we're asking CNN, a private organization, to live up to its own standards of journalistic integrity and take Dobbs off the air. Dobbs can continue spreading propaganda on every street corner in the America. But CNN has no more of an obligation to allow him to appear on its network than it has an obligation to let me do the same. The fact that Dobbs may have a loyal audience is a poor excuse to allow him to spread misinformation, especially for a network that bills itself as "the most trusted name in news."

On his show, O'Reilly bet me that CNN would not take Dobbs off the air. He's banking on the apathy of the public and the imperviousness of a powerful network like CNN to public complaints. I'd like to have a more optimistic view of both the public and CNN. If enough people care, if enough people write to CNN, it can make a difference.

Comments

[tourist1]

Race is a touchy subject. That is why many of my comments are not being posted. I'm not making racist statements; I'm just acknowledging that race is an issue.

[DemocraticVoter]

Those that run CNN have already demonstrated a severe lack of journalistic integrity, but it pales in comparison their lack of moral integrity. I would be ashamed to be associated with CNN right now.

[Ellenoday]

Always enjoy it when you see the left as it truly is - not as a caring, do good, enterprise, but as a way of stifling any viewpoint except their own.

Why even make a fuss about Dobbs. His attention span is short and he will soon move on to other matters. The more focus on him the more people assume there is a grain of truth in the Obama conspiracy.

[DemocraticVoter]

"Viewpoint" suggests a level of credibility in one's argument. Dobb's left that port a long time ago. CNN has a responsibility to its viewers to do its best to, at the very least, provide the news in a truthful manner -- it does not appear to take this responsibility seriously.

[rfstevens]

Problem is, as despicable as Dobbs is, in the United States you have to be able to speak your mind regardless of the motive. In a democracy the listener has to judge for themselves whether or not what is being said has value or not. If you do not like what you are hearing, your only recourse is to stop listening. I used to compulsively tune in to CNN - not anymore.

[yankees]

Cohen is playing a dangerous game as there are many commentators and journalist on both sides that fit his argument. I agree with O'Reilly that Ratings make he decision unless the person is calling for violence and the like.

[Bronxdude]

In their racist quest to concoct reality, proliferate paranoia, incite dissension, and kowtow to their shrinking base, the republicans—spurred on by Limbaugh and Beck—validate hate and are hell-bent on igniting a race war, pitting American against American (unlike the 50s, however, the ensuing violence will be reciprocal). Using code words and phrases, vitriolic racist like Limbaugh, Beck and O’Reilly spew inflammatory rhetoric designed to agitate fanatics, segregationists, supremacist, and conservative malcontents and then claim no complicity when these lunatics commit violent and heinous acts aimed at restoring America’s “traditional values,” which is code for resurrecting Jim Crow, misogyny, xenophobia, and other shameful and degenerate policies associated with pre-1960s America. Senator Shelby (Alabama: A cesspool of low IQ bigots) continues to question President Obama’s citizenship and patriotism and then cries innocent when dim-witted, mouth-breathing idiots take his cue and sully, dehumanize and delegitimize our President. O’Reilly led the hate-filled campaign against Dr. George Tiller and then claimed no involvement when Tiller was murdered. O’Reilly is a culpable coward and should be tried for murder. Gingrich longs for the “White Only” signs once so prevalent, and wants republicans to remain in power at any cost, even if it means civil war. Cowardly, draft-dodging despots like Limbaugh and Cheney (war profiteer) have no qualms about using military force to spread capitalism under the guise of democracy, as long as deferments can be selectively granted to loyalist of the right persuasion.

[tourist1]

Exactly!!! People want to use freedom of speech as an excuse to vent their hatred. All of this stuff about Obama's birth certiifcate has the subtle undertones of racism; and the reason why this country will never "transcend race" is because some people willl never acknowledge that race continues to be a big issue. If it weren't a big issue, then the meida wouldn't have spent a week on the Gates/Crowley incident. The same people that believe that President Obama shouldn't have used the word "stupidly" in his comments about the Gates incident are the same people that bring up freedom of speech in reference to the Limbaughs, Becks, Dobbs and the Savages of the world. President Obama was only referring to the policeman's behavior. With the way some of you reacted, you would have thought the President used profanity laced speech to describe how he felt. If you can react with feigned indignation over the "stupidly" comment, then expect some people to not take so kindly over this ridiculous debate over the President's birth certificate.

[Matt Barnette]

My wife in particular has a red-hot hatred of Dobbs and his predilection to grasp for the illegal immigrant straw when he doesn't have anything to talk about. We play a game from time to time where if we flip the channel to CNN, we have to wait for him to mention the word "immigrant" or "Mexican" or "border" and then we can change the channel. Typical downtime: Less than 45 seconds.

[JazzSax UT]

Almost sounds like a fun drinking game, if the topic wasn't so serious.

[dessertsfirst]

How about we demand that Lou Dobbs produce the birth certs, or green cards, or naturalization papers for his Hispanic wife and her parents who live w/ them? Wonder how he would like that?

[brijit]

Dobbs isn't Mexican. But his wife is.

[newtom]

I DID write to CNN and got a "form letter" in return. Management is as guilty of ratings-grabbing as Dobbs.

His tirades are tiring and baseless. He often flips from one side of an issue to another without explaining himself. And he'll take whichever side he thinks will garner him the most attention. He shouldn't be taken seriously.

[DestinationsUnknown]

Ted Turner detests what CNN has done to his creation

He even said so on Blitzer's show

It is not news

[LCLA]

It's Ted Turner's responsibility that Lou Dobbs has his platform. Dobbs was gone, and Turner brought him back to CNN. So any current protestations on his part are rather disingenuous.
CNN was a decent news channel in the 1980s, but they've dropped news from Headline News and made it a freak show and the main CNN channel has cloned itself after the successful Faux News. Like we needed another right-wing propaganda outlet!?!?
The FCC and Rupert Murdoch have corrupted the entire news media business. Journalistic principles no longer exist in any practical, applied sense. I miss the Cronkite and early 60 minutes era when there were places where they at least attempted objective reporting. Even with Orwell's lucid warning in Animal Farm, we have taken it as a blueprint rather than a warning.

[lemonyashes]

unfair unbalanced.

[SouthJerseySteve]

Does Mr. Dobbs still do his "daily rant" about illegal Mexicans? I stopped watching him months ago because I got tired of seeing his Bill O"Reilly type ranting against his guests who disagreed with his points.

[themainpoint]

Also, I think that of course there are racists and hate mongers who don't want a black man as president just because he is black, but they existed long before Dobbs and i don't buy the connection you make at all.

[pauw]

So because racists and hate mongers existed before means that it is perfectly acceptable for CNN to trade integrity for ratings? I don't really understand the point you're trying to make.

[Passenger57]

Barack Obama is President of the United States.
This is reality ; this is a fact.
Some people don't accept this fact, this reality.
And there is a name for people who don't accept facts and/or reality...

[themainpoint]

It seems you think that you should take care of others who aren't as smart as you by shielding them from Dobbs . I would rather have read a column filled with hard facts and sold arguments against what Dobbs says, but you didn't provide that.

Anything Lou Dobbs says that is nonsense will eventually come to light. I faithfully read a NYT columnist for years until one day it became evident that he had a hidden agenda and was not as directt as I had thought. So believe it or not, there are other Americans who can think for themselves, too, and make their own decisions about what they think. And if what you want is for people to think critically and think for themselves, your interference won't help that process along.

If you are so qualified to decide for Americans what different views they should listen to, why don't you go after some of the nutting talking heads on FOX and other networks, too? We could just have TV by Cohen then.

The way I see it is this: there are all sorts of views out there, and the best way to get a sense of what is going on is to listen to many points of view to find the truth in the middle.

[MSNichols]

CNN was to be a NEWS organization. Allowing Dobbs to spew his opinions defeats that purpose in my humble opinion. Oh for a news network similar to BBC that is American.