As Movement Demanding CNN Dump Him Grows, Dobbs Plays Victim

Faced with a growing movement of communities demanding that CNN drop his program, Lou Dobbs responded Friday with one of his favorite postures: the victimized defender of American virtue. "They ask CNN to fire me because I oppose illegal immigration" said Dobbs, who added, ""The last thing they want is a first amendment, where people can express themselves... These are the most un-American, frightened people in the world because they won't compete in the marketplace of ideas and facts."

Not surprisingly, Dobbs is waving the First Amendment flag to change the subject, which is not about disagreement on immigration policy, and has nothing to do with free speech. Dobbs has the right to his opinions; but there's nothing in the Constitution that says he deserves a "news" platform to disseminate hurtful and dangerous myths about immigrants.

Dobbs' suggestion that his detractors, like our recently launched BastaDobbs.com campaign, can't compete in a fact-based marketplace of ideas is both sad and comical given what passes for facts and ideas on his show. For Dobbs, immigrants are "invaders," and he regularly uses debunked statistics to paint them as disease-carrying criminals. He reports on conspiracy theories like the "Reconquista" and the "Birthers" as if they were legitimate topics of discussion. And worst of all, he provides a regular platform to the most extreme anti-immigrant groups like FAIR and the Minutemen, trotting them out as experts.

Dobbs left the realm of facts a long time ago. What Dobbs plies is not even "advocacy journalism," as he sometimes calls it. It's propaganda, and it's dangerous. At a time when discrimination against Latinos is growing, and FBI statistics signal a 4 year rise in anti-Latino hate crimes, experts are beginning to draw a connection between anti-immigrant messages in the media and anti-Latino discrimination and violence in communities across the country. In other words, it seems that when Lou Dobbs talks, people can get hurt.

Dobbs' effort to hide behind the First Amendment is even more cynical, and evidence of how poorly he understands the Constitution. In drafting the Bill of Rights, the Framers were concerned about government's heavy hand squelching public debate. Dobbs' use of "free speech" to defend his post and paint his critics as un-American is an insult to the Founder's intent. Nothing in the First Amendment gives Dobbs the right to a major media platform like CNN.

The truth is, just as Dobbs is free to gin up anti-immigrant sentiment, we are free to educate our community about his impact, call out his pattern of fear mongering and faulty reporting.

And that is exactly what Latinos and our allies are doing. The BastaDobbs.com campaign is bringing together groups and individuals organized in the 25 U.S. cities with the largest Latino populations to show Dobbs for what he is: the Most Dangerous Man for Latinos in America. We are exercising our free speech rights to demand that CNN live up to its claim to be "most trusted name in news."

While the movement to stop Dobbs has nothing to do with Dobbs' free speech rights, it has everything to do with CNN's business. Latinos across the country are letting CNN President Jon Klein know that if he wants our viewership, he can't keep profiting from the fear and xenophobia that is Dobbs' daily bread. By continuing to air Dobbs, CNN is making a choice: to distort rational debate about immigration and other issues of concern to Latinos. And that choice will come at a cost: legitimacy in the Latino market.

The growing movement against Dobbs also sends a broader message to CNN, and to all of the news media. For democracy to work, free speech cannot mean that news anchors offer wild opinions unfettered from fact. There is a difference, as CNN's own Rick Sanchez recently pointed out, between "covering" and "promoting" (an ironic commentary given Lou Dobbs' appearance last week at the conference for leading anti-immigrant group FAIR). As our country's national conversation on race, health care immigration and other issues plumbs new lows, the news media must be held to a higher standard; what they say has real and serious consequences. It's time for CNN to decide: go the way of Faux News, or renew its role in promoting an honest public debate.

Roberto Lovato is a Founding Member of Presente.org, the sponsor of the www.bastadobbs.com campaign. He also writes for New America Media, the Nation and other media outlets.

 

 

Follow Roberto Lovato on Twitter: www.twitter.com/robvato

Comments

[Jasel]

Can't stand Lou Dobbs. His non-stop immigrant bashing was a tired act looooooonnnggg ago.

[nee]

Lou doesn't "bash" immigrants He, along with most Americans, have a problem with ILLEGAL ALIENS. Do you understand the difference??

[nee]

For Dobbs, immigrants aren"t "invaders" ILLEGAL ALIENS are! Americans, including Latinos, are sick of spending BILLIONS on ILLEGALS ALIENS. Our government needs to enforce immigration laws. E-verify should be used and employers who hire ILLEGALS should be HEAVILY fined and/or jailed. The jobs would dry up and ILLEGAL ALIENS would self-deport. Then Lou would have to go on to another topic. Until then - Thanks Lou for shining a light on ILLEGAL ALIENS!

Lovato why don't you use your energy and money on improving the coutries who are sending us their poor? I guess it's not as sensational as trying to get someone who doesn't agree with you fired.

[CarmanK]

This is so disappointig. I liked Dobbs for the longest time. But, for some reason, he has gone over the cliff and dived into a pile of muck. He can do so much good, if he would use the talent and access to research material to get the facts out.

[nee]

Fact - We are spending BILLIONS on ILLEGAL ALIENS.

Fact- Our government isn't enforcing immigration laws.

Fact - Governments are turing their backs on their poor citizens and helping them come to our country ILLEGALLY.

Fact - Employers are knowingly hiring and exploiting ILLEGAL ALIENS.

Fact - Americans are fed up with all of the above.

[cutesky]

Lou Dobbs is a nasty old man!

[njborne]

I lost all respect for Lou when he hopped on board the Fox News conspiracy theory train. Sorry Lou, you lost me.

[wm1066]

Elwood P Dobbs saw giant rabbits, Humphrey Bogart's Dobbs went crazy from seeing gold, and Lou went crazy seeing brown people!

[Omar Medina]

Lovato makes the point that "there's nothing in the Constitution that says [Dobbs] deserves a 'news' platform to disseminate hurtful and dangerous myths about immigrants."

With this, I totally agree, the Constitution does not say he "deserves" it. Yet, there is an audience for that rhetoric and as long as there is a demand, there will be someone to fill it. My point is simply that these "hurtful and dangerous myths" are only so because the majority of the audience lacks the ability to critically think and analyze the content of such programming. In large part this inability is due to the inferior education our citizens receive when it comes to critical thought and analysis. I guess what I'm trying to say is that even with Dobbs gone, the problem will persist.

[Tulka2]

Greetings, fellow citizen. We used to have civics classes in grade schools and junior highs. Reagan disappeared them during his anti-intellectual campaign against "liberal" teachers and professors.

While it's nice to have computers in every classroom....? It is more important to a civil society and the Republic to have portraits of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and F.D. R. hanging in every classroom as we did post WWII right up till Reagan's Presidency. Bring back civics classes! Civics classes are the glue that will hold Americans together.

The above, btw, is a "liberal" idea by the dictionary definition.

[Lulubelle1]

I make it a habit to avoid right-wing conspiracists and people who seem to have (to put it kindly) become strident and nonsensical. Hence, I'm not a Dobbs viewer. He's become bitter, vitriolic, paranoid, and xenophobic. It's amazing that Dobbs can't see that his recent antics and diatribes make him far scarier than any of those he rails against.

Lou Dobbs, if a victim at all, is a victim of his own irrationality.

[blood1]

In today's heated political environment, one would think that the CNN network news broadcasters would be working very hard to present the facts, both sides of the argument to the American People. What seems to be happening is exactly the reverse, CNN is allowing their national news broadcasters to spout their own personal point of view as NEWS instead of as an editorial (and even that should be fact based).

It is OUR right to speak up and let the Broadcasting Network know that we are paying attention and as we have choices, we can choose to not watch any of their programing based on ONE Broadcaster.

It is interesting that national broadcasters or commentators WANT viewer input...but only when it is in their favor. It is time that the individual broadcasters understand that we, the people, have a voice and can negatively impact their viewership.

That is not a threat, it is a FACT and if the broadcasting company chooses to ignore us, then they too will suffer the consequences of their inaction.

[springsm]

When Lou Dobbs gave up reporting with facts and sense, he lost me. I was shocked at his vitolic mean attacks on hispanics. His wrath was over the top and so are his comments. I thought maybe he was going through a male mid life crisis or maybe he lost something to illegals (and yes, I do have some difficulty with the Illegals and the ways they are being coached to be here). Dobbs tho, has really turned the way CNN has...more conservative and more to the right crazies all the time. But Lou baby has brought this down on himself. It is easier to spew personal hates than look up and research a subject. He needs to go..perhaps Fox will need a replacement for Glenn. But to play victim is the way of most bullies.

[Joan Fahlgren]

He's obviously been taking lessons from Glenn Beck.

[StJames]

He belongs on Fox, which is where he'll end up

[Tulka2]

I am betting with you.

[AmericanDreamWarrior]

Yes you can say whatever you'd like and you're protected by the first amendment (excluding the incitement of violence or causing harm to others as Dobbs does on his "news" program). However, protecting the speaker from the consequences of their speech is entirely different. Just like the Dixie Chicks foiund out when they flexed their FOS muscle and suffered consequences (fair or unjustified depending on your POV).

Dobbs is finding out that FOS, when you have a platform such as a cable news program, bears some responsibility. Not everyone can do it, otherwise there'd be many more people spouting their mental illnesses. Hopefully people will see this and do the same with other irresponsible "news/media" figures such as Glen, Rush, Sean and others.

We can play vicitms only for so long before we realize that we have individual power and there is power in numbers as well. The right and left wing crazies figured this out, why are the rest of us so slow on the uptake? Let's start quieting the loud shrill voices that are trying to inspire fear and ignorant based violence so that saner voices can prevail and we can actually begin to get things accomplished. We have to stop playing the victims if for no other reason then our future generations are watching. How do we want to be remembered as the people that allowed our democratic process hijacked by folks in serious need of some prozac and a time out?

[maidenofdforest]

I do not watch Dobbs' show---extremely boring stuff most specially when he espoused these illy bithers movement. Liu Dobbs, when are you getting sane ideas for your boring show?

I understand the apprehension of the Latino community and it is not right to fan the flames of hateful comments when it is not true. Illegal immigration is of crouse not good for any country but Lou Dobbs paints a different picture.

Good luck to his ratings and maybe he should just have to move on to FOX FAUX NEWS Channel soon! He'll have great company there with the "birthers" insanity.

[Tulka2]

Dobbs is a great favorite at the nursing home. Really.

[Imzadi]

The last resort of desperate people caught doing wrong - play the victim card. There are now too many people to count.

[springsm]

In Dobbs case, he is a bully and bullies are always cowards who cry "I am a victim". No sympathy here.