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Lou Dobbs may be the most hated man in television today among immigrant advocacy groups, so the fact that CNN is planning to run a new series about the Latino experience in America without even mentioning the role Dobbs has played in vilifying them isn’t going over so well with the advocates.
Today, Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice, a nonprofit group that advocates comprehensive immigration reform, issued a long statement in response to CNN, calling Lou Dobbs “one of the biggest menaces facing Latinos in America” due to his frequent immigrant-bashing and blaming just about every problem in the U.S. today on illegal immigrants.
America’s Voice, along with Media Matters and others, has called on CNN to drop Dobbs from its news lineup. Sharry today asked whether CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, who will host the new show, was ordered not to mention Dobbs and his controversial role.
“Truth is, when it comes to Latinos in America, Lou Dobbs is the elephant in the room,” says Sharry. “If the ‘Latino in America’ series is to be considered credible, doesn’t the series have to deal with that fact? Moreover, isn’t it time for the serious journalists at CNN to stand up for the network’s brand and their own reputations? Isn’t it time for journalists to stand up to executives who sully the reputation of this once-great news network every time they put Lou Dobbs on the air?”
“Well, there’s still time,” he says. “But is there hope? We’ll see when the series begins to air on October 22.”
