Free Lou Dobbs

The Huffpo's lead today is about the Lou Dobbs "birther" controversy, and there are no less than 5 other headlines on the front page regarding the matter.

Having had some experience with Mr. Dobbs, I thought I might add some context to the matter. By the way, I have no dog in the "birther" hunt. I'm a little bit more concerned about the fact that we are circling the depressionary drain.

I first encountered Lou at CNN 26 years ago when I worked there in master control. I was a student at Georgia Tech at the time, and since I was majoring in Industrial Management, I asked about transferring over to work on Lou's Moneyline show, because I wanted to learn more about business. I was warned by several people not to do so, because in the words of my boss Jack Ormond, "if you work for Lou, you damn well better make sure all your facts are correct."

I changed my mind.

Flash forward to 2005, during the middle of the Walmart wars. Lou had Robert Greenwald on to discuss his anti-Walmart film The High Cost Of Low Price. I got a call from the CNN bookers that Lou wanted me to appear on his show in order to give the pro-Walmart viewpoint. I was not very good at live TV at the time (as evidenced by my yelling "Boo!" on Halloween night during an interview on Showbiz Today) but they were insistent, and rather than doing a remote from Atlanta, they flew me to New York for an in-studio so that I could have the same treatment as Mr. Greenwald.

About 10 minutes before the broadcast Lou walked into the green room and said "I really can't stand Walmart or Lee Scott, but to be professional, we're going to let you present your side of the story. However, I'm going to be pretty hard on you in front of millions of people."

I said okay and promptly excused myself to go throw up. I survived the live interview, and happily I've never had stage fright since.

My point is Lou Dobbs went way out of his way to make sure that he presented both sides of the story. He didn't have to (or want to), but his professional code insisted he should. It sounds very 8-track, but some still view journalism as a calling, not just a means to speaking gigs.

During this period I appeared on many of the major media outlets, but of all of them, Lou Dobbs operation at CNN was the most professional and fair. Ironically, the "fair and balanced" Fox News refused to have me on. Well, I do have a face for radio, and we know Fox likes them "purty."

Lou Dobbs is taking a lot of grief for essentially repeating the same professional behavior he exhibited towards me a few years ago. His journalistic methods have not changed from 3 years ago, or 26 years ago in Atlanta. He is trying to be fair on a very difficult subject, one that is clearly distasteful to him. He's clearly not doing it for the ratings, as his have fallen during this tempest.

Lou has been the big guy on campus at CNN for many years and is a friend of Ted, which is why a lot of the fire directed at him is internal to CNN, from young Turks who envy his status (and time slot). He has become a straw man proxy for the birthers, and a target for many who resent his stance on illegal immigration. He doesn't deserve it. He's simply being thorough and professional, which is why he's lasted so long in a serpentine business that revels in eating its own tail.

Follow Ron Galloway on Twitter: www.twitter.com/rongalloway

Comments

[Scarborian]

If Lou Dobbs wanted to be fair he would have hosted a discussion where the "Birthers" were allowed to present their evidence and concluded that was no substance to their case. He would then have ignored the subject unless new and sunbstantial evidence emerged.

Instead, week after week he appeared on screen trying to keep the story alive in spite of a complete lack of substance, it couldn't have been more obviously dead if he'd nailed it to its perch. He's in denial and just can't bring himself to admit the dream is over.

Next on Lou Dobbs: "Is Elvis still alive?"

[Hopeington]

If he is presenting both sides of controversy, then here's another one..Why not show the documentary "Loose Change" as to the argument of 9/11?
I quit Crap News Network completely after Dobbs affair with his ludicrous spouting off about the President's birth. How can I trust that CNN's other personalities are not taking the liberty of espousing their opinions, rather than the news. They have joined the ranks of Focks News.

[kilgore trout]

There's nothing professional about Lou Dobbs' presenting both sides of the "birther debate", anymore than there would be in presenting both sides of the Loch Ness Monster debate or the flat earth debate. Presenting both sides is appropriate only where there is some rational basis for both points of view, however scant.

[lightnessandjoy]

Guess everyone has an apologist these days. "Fair and balanced" Lou, eh? Now why does that slogan ring a bell.

PS There is nothing "two-sided" about the birther debate. Or the hate speech Mr. Dobbs has engaged in recently.

[Piet Opperman]

Oh dear. Stupid foreigner me.

I thought Lou Dobbs was a political satirist.

And, a long time ago, I heard Dan Quayle on the radio, and I thought, here is a comedian after my own heart. I lost all respect for him when I discovered that he was Vice President.

I wonder what point this comment is trying to make?

[kto]

Lou is entitled to espouse his opinions and to present information how he sees fit, he is not entitled to present something as having two sides which clearly does not. Lou is also not entitled to his own facts. The fact in this matter is that the President is a natural born citizen who was born in Hawaii. What is the other side of the equation?
I await Lou's presentation of both sides of the Moon walk controversy, perhaps he could present the conspiracy side to Buzz Aldrin.

[chicagurl]

I'm sorry for you Mr. Galloway, that your friend Lou Dobbs changed so much over the years. Maybe it was the power, the status, ego, who knows? All I know is that on his own show, with Ms. Pilgrim, the controversy was discussed and debunked. It was toted out, it was over - and Mr. Dobbs has been consistently flagging the dead horse ever since. That's not being a reporter, it's being hard headed and stubborn over a non-issue for the sake of ratings. That's what Mr. Dobbs has morphed into.

[Ron Galloway - Huffpost Blogger]

He's not my friend. I'm scared of him. You go do an interview with the guy

[ReedYoung]

You're scared of him, but you believe he was doing his best to let you present the opposite side of a story from the one he believed? Or are you just saying that because you're afraid of him?

[yosephus]

I also don't get the "other side" you refer to in the birther controversy. The documents and evidence are there that Obama was born in the US, that his mother was in Hawaii and not Kenya on the day of his birth, there are newspaper announcements from the day of the birth, and there is a legitimate birth certificate. So what is this "other side" Dobbs is, according to you, presenting? The side that refuses to acknowledge that documentation has been provided as per all requests? You don't make any sense. A conspiracy theory that ignores documentations is not a "side" of a story. You get that, right?

[damyanky]

Lou Dobbs does not have a professional code.

[Mona HB]

I agree with you. I watched the Lou Dobbs show almost every day for years. Didn't always agree but believed that he always tried to present the facts. That has changed with him and I don't why. The birther issue was the final straw for me. I get annoyed with silly things such as when he suggested that the fact that Obama didn't wear a flag pin drew his patriotism into question. He's a lot smarter than that. When I came into CNN was on and so was he. He was covering the healthcare issue and the president's town hall. All I heard was him make reference to the White House plan. My understanding is that there are several plans in both the Senate and the House which must be negotiated into one plan after they have been voted on. I have heard people suggest that perhaps it would have been better if there had been a specific plan from the White House to present to Congress as a base from which to work. If he goes back to presenting accurately both sides of an issue then I might tune in again.

[lisaman]

While listening to Lou Dobbs report on his radio show about this (non) issue, he spoke to several people. The first was a professor who was on Obama's side and he was ridiculed by Dobbs. Then came a woman who informed Dobbs of the fact that Obama had not released his medical records, well Mr. Dobbs was appalled that Obama had not done that, so much so that he repeated it as fact to others who called in. The professor's word was ridiculed but he took this woman's assertions, without substantiation and repeated it as fact.

Now that's responsible journalism! LOL

[mikefarrace]

Dobbs rarely does the homework. In the face of knowledgeable guests who dispute his claims, he sputters and changes the subject. Not once have I ever seen him display the type of understanding of issues that is earned by research and thoughtful analysis. He may have been a good reporter back in the day, but now he's a lazy old hack. He's got a nice voice, though. Maybe he could be the new Bill Kurtis, except that it would be hard to believe he's faster than... anything.

[DreamsInAction]

Be it that Lou Dobbs has a straight foward attitude and wants the President to show transparency just as much as the next guy is why the birthers are clamoring for truth, justice and the american way. What's wrong with that?

[bruin1954]

'the birthers are clamoring for truth, justice and the american way?' The birthers hide from the truth. Obama's documentationg of birth has been validated, revalidated, posted on the internet, etc etc for all to see.

[doctorwang]

Proper documentation was provided (and accepted). He was sworn in as POTUS. Deal with it.

[reasonshouldrule]

Well, you have an opinion. However, there isn't much to back it up. When he did 'Moneyline" he seemed to be fact-oriented and reasonable. However, he isn't that way now, and the people who watch Dobbs can see for themselves that he is increasingly biased and misinformed.

[Ron Galloway - Huffpost Blogger]

I don't watch him, so I wouldn't know. I know better than to get news from TV.

[lokipuck]

You wrote an entire article about a guy you don't even watch?
Where do hacks get their news?

[ReedYoung]

Hold it. I see where you're taking that, and it's no good. Although it's true that teevee news suck, it is not true that the victims -- customers, I swear I meant to say customers -- are to blame. The FCC and the statute(s) that created and empower it make(s) the airways -- frequencies, actually -- public property. We have the legal right to demand better.

You're using the existence of the status quo as both basis and primary topic of your argument. You're defending the crappy status quo in broadcast news by the fact of the crappy status quo in broadcast news (invalidating complaints about teevee news with nothing but the fact that teevee news suck) and that's circular reasoning -- petitio principii -- and that's invalid.

http://www.fallacyfiles.org/begquest.html

[rbrinega]

I believe your friendship with Mr Dobbs is blinding you to the craziness that is an important element of his show. During last year's election, he made several assertions that immigration is the top concern among Americans -- it wasn't. And the Washington Post's Lisa de Moraes quip about him (and extension CNN) "The World: Flat. We Report - You Decide" is a spot on criticism.

[ReedYoung]

I believe your right. Lou's fair treatment of his _guests_ in _presenting_ a story is taken by Ron Galloway to say something about his treatment of _research_ in _defining_ a story. It just doesn't apply. Equal time for differing opinions is good, equal time for falsified "facts" such as a legal right to more proof of birth in Hawaii than already has been provided, is not.

[SharpDressedMan]

Ron Galloway wrote "Lou has been the big guy on campus at CNN for many years and is a friend of Ted, which is why a lot of the fire directed at him is internal to CNN, from young Turks who envy his status (and time slot). He has become a straw man proxy for the birthers, and a target for many who resent his stance on illegal immigration. He doesn't deserve it. He's simply being thorough and professional, which is why he's lasted so long in a serpentine business that revels in eating its own tail."

I can only disagree with your assessment of Lou Dobbs. Someone who is "thorough and professional" would not engage on such controversial subjects and mix reporting, commentary and analysis into one word salad.

The Lou Dobbs of Moneyline is long gone and in the past. The new Lou Dobbs is more like an alter ego of the old Lou.

Walter Cronkite was "thorough and profession­al." Would he have presented himself on TV like Lou Dobbs? Even Dan Rather didn't go there and you know he was the most edgy for an evening news anchor.

[Archontruth]

There aren't two sides to every issue. Every so often, someone's just plain wrong. Is Lou Dobbs going to start inviting UFO abductees, flat-world theorists and Holocaust deniers onto his show as well?

[reasonshouldrule]

Well-said!

[Ron Galloway - Huffpost Blogger]

I'll harrumph that.

[applescruff]

Keep it up Lou. You're almost in Jerry Springer territory with this one?

[winningticket]

Jerry Springer is helluva lot more respectable than that scurrilous Lou Dobbs.

[DennisMM]

I'd say the pro-birther broadcasters are closer to Morton Downey, Jr. in their manner of presentation.