Lou Dobbs is gone from CNN: Now what?
By Angelo
Falcón New America Media, Commentary
The "resignation" of Lou
Dobbs from CNN this evening at 7:06 p.m. during his program is an
important victory not only for Latinos but for the country as a whole.
Hopefully, it represents a movement toward a more responsible journalism
and a more constructive political discourse.
As Dobbs struggled to
complete his last broadcast on CNN with his trademark smirk gone, his
announcement of plans to be an active participant in the leading issues
facing this nation clearly indicates that he is not going to disappear.
However, the issue was never his ability to speak out on issues but the
problem of using a news organization like CNN to spread his bigoted
views and propagating out-and-out lies about Latinos, the President
Obama and pass them off as news.
Dobbs was increasingly
isolated at CNN, and his approach to the news greatly tarnished the
integrity of the station's journalistic standards. His departure will
hopefully result in CNN restoring its journalistic objectivity at a time
when the media in general is losing credibility with the American
people.
We wish to thank all of
our colleagues who came together with one voice to call for the removal
of Dobbs from the CNN roster. Groups like the National Hispanic Media
Coalition, Presente.org, Democracia Now, Free Press, Media Matters,
National Council of La Raza, and others came forward to take this issue
on. We at the National Institute for Latino Policy (NiLP) were glad to
have been a small part in this successful movement.
Now the question is: What
will CNN be doing with this vacant time spot. They recently aired the
series, "Latino in America," to acknowledge our community and attract
more Latinos as viewers. They did so because there are those at CNN and
their parent company, Time Warner, who recognize that Latinos are a
critical part of this country's future and of their market. But what are
their plans for addressing their historic neglect of the Latino
community?
Will we be seeing more
Latino executives, anchors, commentators, contributors, and producers at
CNN? Will we be seeing more programming like "Latino in America"? A good
starting point would be for the leadership of CNN to meet with Latino
leaders to develop a partnership for change.
I know we will be hearing
from Lou Dobbs soon again. His sign off tonight was, "We will see you
next on the radio." But will we be hearing from Jonathan Klein and the
other CNN and Time Warner leadership? Only time will tell.
Angelo Falcón is
president of the National Institute for Latino Policy (NiLP).
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