Latina Lista: News from the Latinx perspective > Media > Latino Groups Demand CNN Give Equal Time to Dobbs’ Assaults

Latino Groups Demand CNN Give Equal Time to Dobbs’ Assaults

LatinaLista — This week’s commentary by Lou Dobbs is titled “Give it a Rest, Mr. President.”

(CNN’s Lou Dobbs)
Funny, but that ‘s what a group of Latinos are telling CNN about allowing Dobbs to spew his opinions against immigration reform and undocumented immigrants, without giving equal time to the other side of the immigration debate.


And they have a point.
Dobbs doesn’t hide the fact that his show is HIS show with his opinions being passed along as fact. That it happens to air on CNN doesn’t bother the cable news network any because Dobbs “has the top-rated show on CNN in the 25-54 demographic.”
As we all know too well in this immigration debate, regardless of what side you’re on: money talks.
CNN probably doubts that a show hosted by Jesse Jackson and Dolores Huerta, two possible hosts for a show suggested by this new coalition, would bring in the dinero like Dobbs does, but it would bring the network something else that it’s been losing a lot of lately — credibility as a reliable news source.
Emma Lozano, president of Sin Fronteras, told Latina Lista that the groups called CNN the day before yesterday requesting either equal time on the network or that the network stop referring to Dobbs’ show as the “news hour.”
So far, CNN has been silent.
Yet Lozano, who is spearheading this demand with the president of La Familia Latina Unida, Elvira Arellano – the same Elvira who has been living in sanctuary in a Chicago church rather than be deported and separated from her son – said that Dobbs’ rhetoric is only distorting the truth and inflaming the situation rather than help find a reasonable solution.

It’s time for healing, coming together. You can call undocumented immigrants lawbreakers but look at the employers.
There’s no one in this country whose family has not been helped (by the labor) of the undocumented. Don’t yell at the victims who have left their homes because of our foreign policy that flooded the Mexican market with cheap corn and drove many of those people to the maquiladoras to find work.
We really need for democracy to work because public opinion is on our side but Congress isn’t listening.

The groups are not interested in just a one-time rebuttal to Dobbs.
As long as Dobbs is allowed to broadcast his show with no regard for accurate facts and a blatant biasness for his own agenda, CNN owes it to the Hispanic community and the basic principles of democracy to let a show, such as the one Lozano and the others propose, air.
High ratings shouldn’t justify the distortion of truth or the oppression of self-expression by a demographic under constant verbal assaults.
Otherwise, CNN is in violation of one of the most basic tenets of journalism:
Being the voice for all people.

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Comment(8)

  • yave begnet
    June 13, 2007 at 10:00 pm

    Cable news is a joke. If it’s not on Comedy Central, it’s usually best not to take it too seriously.
    As we all know too well in this immigration debate, regardless of what side you’re on: money talks.
    Unfortunately, so far in this debate, money–a.k.a. the business community–has been virtually silent, ceding the podium to their noisy closed-border compatriots in the GOP. Business + the pro-immigrant silent majority vastly outweigh the restrictionist minority in numbers and clout, but the way this issue is being covered, you’d think the reverse was true.
    Like I said, cable news is a joke.

  • Bea
    June 14, 2007 at 7:01 am

    Apparently, you don’t get it. Illegals are only looking at it from their own personal perspective and gain as do groups that represent them. Americans are fed up with the invasion into our sovernign country. It doesn’t matter what race (although most who invade our country are from the south). It is the invasion itself, not the race of the invaders, that is the problem. Illegals started marching in the streets of America demanding rights they do not have the right to demand with many carrying the flag of Mexico and we will never forget this insult. The demands and attitudes of illegals show a total lack of respect for Americans and for our country and the rule of law. In at least one instance the flag of the United States was remmoved and replaced by the Mexican flag in LA, I believe. That’s really showing a gratitude for America – NOT. Once the magnets dry up (which is what Americans want) the illegals (no matter what race) will eventually go back home. If we need to increase legal entry into our country then it should be done for many countries in equal porportions. Believe it or not legal Americans have rights, too, and we are demanding them.

  • Sentido
    June 14, 2007 at 4:33 pm

    Apparently Bea doesn’t get it.
    She claims she knows what “Americans” want. But, she misses the point of this post.
    I am an American citizen, and there are millions of Americans citizens who want compassionate immigration reform which includes a path to citizenship.
    I hate when people claim to speak for all Americans… especially when the issue is whether CNN should present more than one side of the debate.

  • Jeanjeanie
    June 14, 2007 at 8:35 pm

    I live in a house with two other Hispanic women and we all agree with Bea. This invasion has to stop. CNN’s Lou Dobbs is one of the few who is a straight shooter and tells the truth, no matter how much La Raza and the open borders fanatics want to spin the race and victim card. I do most of my opinions on first hand observations and I’ve seen enough. By the way Bea you were right, they did take down an American flag at a federal post office in a town called Maywood in the East part of Los Angeles. It’s a sanctuary city where illegals can drive without drivers licenses and not be stopped. Can Americans do that in your town?

  • nezua limón xolagrafik-jonez
    June 14, 2007 at 8:59 pm

    I live in a house with a hundred aliens, and we all agree with each other. And disagree with both Bea and Jeanjeanie. So there.

  • George
    June 16, 2007 at 10:09 pm

    I have to laugh when I hear that illegal alien advocates expect that non-Hispanics will somehow accept the domination of a new culture without so much as a protest. Could any Latin American say that in all honesty that he would welcome an influx of millions of Europeans into his coutry while demanding all their countries benefits and bilingual education to boot, all without requesting permission first? Think long and hard whether you are qualified to be so righteous in you criticism of those of European culture in this country. Illegal alien advocates have a real problem with hypocrisy.

  • tizoc
    June 17, 2007 at 3:43 pm

    what’s to think about? this land was ferociously invaded since 500 years ago , the hypocrisy’s all yours for advocating the foreign europeon dominance in this land

  • George
    June 22, 2007 at 8:29 pm

    Well, tizoc, the principles of democracy as found in the Constitution originated from Europeans, mainly Englishmen. Since Englishmen were the Founding Fathers, ie Washington, Adams, Hamilton, Jay, Jefferson, etc., it’s natural that they and their progeny would be the dominant inhabitants of the U.S., along with the American Indian. The Spanish were here, but they failed to establish a democracy, preferring to enslave the indigenous peoples and keep their race pure for as long as they could. Mexico has only been a democracy for less than 10-years, being dominated by the wealthy patrones who still prefer to keep the poor in their place. It’s been those nasty Anglo-Europeans that has been the model of democracy for Latin America for over 200-years. If it weren’t for the U.S., there probably would be little hope for Mexico in the way of economic justice. Hispanics already comprise the dominant group granted legal residency in this country, by far over any other group. Hispanics unfairly demand more, however, and criticize the U.S. for not permitting it.
    Bea and Jeaniejeanie are right. Mexicans should stay home and have their own revolution for economic justice, after all, no revolution has ever taken place by the revolutionaries abandoning their homeland. Mexicans should do what Americans do to their government, throw the politicians out of office when they don’t work for the benefit of the people. Instead, Hispanics prefer to give up and offend their neighbor by invading him and calling him racist. Gee, you’d think they’d show a little gratitude for the legal immigrants, but I guess that would be too much to ask.

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