Questions Surrounding Dobbs' Gunfire Incident Cast Doubt on CNN's Credibility

Conflicting reports about a bullet that hit the top of Lou Dobbs' house in Sussex, New Jersey, are raising new and serious questions about the credibility of Lou Dobbs, CNN and its President, Jon Klein. Reports in the New York Post and here on the Huffington Post now indicate that the bullet was likely a hunter's errant shot. Yet Dobbs and CNN have rushed onto the airwaves, treating the incident as a de-facto murder attempt against the news host and his wife.

During Monday's broadcast on his radio show, Dobbs declared in the most urgent tone that "Three weeks ago this morning a shot was fired at my house," and that the shots "followed weeks and weeks of threatening phone calls." Dobbs went on to link the alleged attack to a vast Latino conspiracy made up of Fox News' Geraldo Rivera, LULAC, the National Council of La Raza and other "ethnocentric interest groups," groups that he says are "creating an atmosphere" that led to the alleged phone threats and supposed attack.

Spreading conspiracy theories about immigrants and Latinos is, of course, nothing new to Dobbs. With minimal evidence and maximum bluster, he insinuates that his serious critics -- none of whom endorse violence of any sort -- are somehow linked to a supposedly violent attack on his home. Sadly, such a leap is all too believable to some, like one irate Twitterer who commented "Looks like the Mexican hate groups shooting up Lou Dobbs home" or another who added "Better watch them America. These people are out of control."

To anyone familiar with the growing chorus of religious leaders, national organizations, community groups, Latinos and others demanding CNN cancel Dobbs' show, the timing of Dobbs' announcement is, at best, suspect. Last week, to coincide with the launch of CNN's "Latino in America" series, Latino groups held events across the country demanding the end of Dobb's program on CNN, attracting considerable national press, including an article in the New York Times. Then, on the following Monday, just days before MSNBC was scheduled to air an ad critical of him and CNN (an ad CNN refused to air), Dobbs suddenly unveils that his house has been fired on 3 weeks ago, and that his critics are somehow linked to the incident.

At this point, we expect this kind of faulty reporting from Dobbs. His show has increasingly given space to conspiracy theories--like the so-called "Birthers"story--and he has never been one to let facts get in the way of a good argument. But some of the most disturbing questions about the incident are about how CNN and Jon Klein are dealing with it.

Yesterday, Wolf Blitzer helped fan the Twitter fire with a much re-tweeted post: "Shocking news about a gun shot at Lou Dobbs' home in NJ -- while his wife was there. She is OK but a police investigation continues." Blitzer then had Dobbs on The Situation Room, where Dobbs told a "shocked" Blitzer that the alleged threatening phone calls-were "tied to the positions I've taken on illegal immigration." Rather than play the role of serious journalist by asking Dobbs how he links an incident the New Jersey State Police considers not "unusual" to alleged death threats caused by his positions on immigration issues, Blitzer simply let pass these assumptions without question and declared, "I hope they find out who's responsible for this."

By allowing Dobbs to use the incident to continue and expand his attacks on his critics without corroboration from New Jersey police or gaming authorities that the gunfire was anything more than a stray hunting bullet, Dobbs, Klein and CNN are taking potentially dangerous deviation from journalistic norms for "the most trusted name in news."

The move is especially concerning given that the struggling network is being forced by popular demand to reconsider their commitment to someone who has regularly dragged its journalistic credibility into the mud, as Dobbs has for many years. Viewed from this perspective, Klein and CNN's uncritical and unprofessional response to the alleged gunfire incident appears to indicate that it is closing ranks behind Dobbs, whose questionable behavior often brings it ratings and dollars--and angry viewers ready to join the prime time host in his war on immigrants and Latinos.

It's time for CNN and Jon Klein to take a hard look in the mirror. That they should fire Lou Dobbs is, at this point, without question. But CNN now has to manage the fallout from this latest journalistic black eye, or risk further damaging their credibility.

In the event that the NJSP and other law enforcement officials alter course and turn the incident into an investigation of an assassination attempt, Dobbs and CNN must cease and desist from making links between the incident and immigration issues. Those links should first be made by law enforcement, not Dobbs or CNN. But, if it turns out that the incident was but another from among the many hunting accidents in the exclusive area in Sussex County, then Wolf Blitzer should retract his reporting, and other CNN shows should cover the confusion to make sure the public is aware of the truth. CNN viewers deserve better than what they are getting. And if Jon Klein can't deliver a network with real news, maybe it's time for him to step aside too.

 

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

Comments

[Imago]

About Wolf Blitzer: "Rather than play the role of serious journalist­..."

Hahahahaha­hahahahaha­hah!

Blitzer couldn't play the role of a serious journalist if he was cast in Deadline USA opposite Bogart.

[Black Prince]

Quote: "the bullet was likely a hunter's errant shot."

People who do not know about such things should not print them in public. There isn't ANYPLACE within gunshot range of Dobbs' house where hunting is allowed. You couldn't hit his house from the nearest hunting area with a cannon. It is MILES outside the range of ANY firearm used for hunting.

What I want to know is all of the concern over the First Amendment that you liberals were spouting during the Clinton administration? Hillary shouted that the opposition had a DUTY to say what they thought as long as it was against Bush. Why doesn't Dobbs have the same right or duty?

Can you say HYPOCRITES? Can you say DOUBLE STANDARD?

[liviapeacock]

I haven't watched CNN since Dobbs went over the edge with the birther garbage. Good riddance. Maybe Fareed Zakaria will jump ship to MSNBC. The rest are tired boobs and bad at their jobs.

[brady61995]

8 people watched dobbs tonight up 3 from last night

[westbrooks01]

Sounds like classic race-baiting to me.

[Feesister]

I'm not a journalist, but I would think at minimum Mr. Blitzer would have thought to have a law enforcement representative on his show to discuss the investigation. But then that would have undermined Dobbs' paranoid rant.

[LBaby]

"Mr. Blitzer would have thought...­."

how do we get that to happen?

[Feesister]

Good question!

[illinoisan]

Is that the same Wolf Blitzer who let the balloon boy's family go on with their story for a half hour on Larry King Live after the boy let slip his confession that the whole incident was a hoax?

[ainfl]

Amanpour, Zakaria and Michael Ware need to leave CNN. I wouldn't mind if they went to Faux news. Maybe they could teach the "real America" about world events.

[WinterParkMom]

Bite your tongue. Faux would never have them because 1: They do actual investigative reporting and in depth interviewing and have hard facts to relay. And 2: They're all foreigners. They should go to msnbc and get rid of david gregory and mtp altogether.

[nexxtep54]

Bite your tongue again. Amanpour will be the one reporting about Fox when Fox goes in the toilet.

Besides, she isn't a blond, side-part business sexy kind of girl. Just sexy.

[DontselltheUS]

Lou Dobbs has spun this into an attention-getting issue. It worked! Sussex, NJ is a small rural town in the northwest corner of the state. With the exception of a few New Yorkers who have large parcels of land, it is mostly populated by lower-income folks who have been there for generations. Hunting is common. With no further proof than a bullet landing on his house, Dobbs has come off as paranoid. I lived near Sussex for many years.

[janeycat]

I wonder why Wolfe Blitzer did a short segment on this Lou Dobbs lie he is spreading.­Wolfe should
stay as far away from Dobbs as he can.I know Wolfe does not want to have the same Reputation as
Dobbs has.

[ProfessorDuh]

Dobbs resolved all questions about his credibility some time ago. He has none.

[mapmaker515]

Dead on........­..fanned

[SeaBlood]

This reminds me of KristalNacht. The Nazis used the assassination of a German leader by a Polish jew as an excuse to begin what terminated in the Holocaust . For 'Nazis' read Dobbs and friends.

[FawkesNews]

Lou Dobbs blames foreign-made bullet for failure to penetrate his house

http://wineandexcrement.com/lou-dobbs-blames-foreign-made-bullet-for-failure-to-penetrate-his-house/1825/

[Flavor]

This is weird, if this happen the police report would have stated this as truth. Coming from a line of law enforcement myself they have to make a report and they do. The officer will report what you state happens as well as what they observed at the scene. I don't know what happened to Mr. Dobbs, because I wasn't there but the report that the officer reported, should have lined up with what he states happened to he and his wife.

[jakiew]

It's shocking that cnn would act like fake news. dobbs has to go. boycott advertisers of his show.

[maggie mccarthy]

I am new to this comment page and am wondering why everyone is insisting that Lou Dobbs be fired when Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, etc. are, by all indicators-- untouchable,
Where are the campaigns against Fox News personalities? Dobb's lies are, at best, amateur lies compared to the above "newscaste­rs."

[towens]

The difference is that Hannity et. al. work for Fox and most people with any critical intellect have long given up on Fox as a serious news outlet. It is actually better for all of us to have these nut jobs concentrated on one network that only other nut jobs watch. It sort of like keeping one area fenced in for the garbage dump. It only smells if you get near it.

[PatA]

Don't forget this, there are more of them than there are of us.
The 'believers' are extremely scary. I live in Texas!

[jakiew]

extremely scary.

[SeaBlood]

They are, indeed, scary. But, if they insist on their second amendment rights, then everybody else has second amendment rights too. Any right wing "revolution" won't be able to go too far for that very fact. Not very comforting! But they will get a run for their money.