CNN's Dobbs: Creating a Hostile Image of Hispanics

Every weeknight, CNN airs one full hour of Hate TV -- it’s called, Lou Dobbs Tonight.

For 260 hours every year, Dobbs has a bully pulpit from which to spew race-baiting, fear, and intolerance stamped with the CNN seal of approval.

As I wrote last week, when America’s Voice launched its new TV ad:

Few individuals have done more to bring extremism and race-based hate speech into the mainstream than Lou Dobbs.

We’re starting to get a clearer picture of just how extensive that belief is among Latino leaders --- and how much of an impact CNN’s Dobbs has on the lives of Latinos in America.

Last week, Democracia Ahora released a report, “Latino Leaders and their Opinions of CNN’s Lou Dobbs,”  which surveyed 100 Latino leaders about Dobbs. The results should raise serious concerns for CNN’s executives and its on-air talent.  Via Politico:

One of the country’s leading Hispanic organizations is launching a campaign designed to pressure CNN to rein in host Lou Dobbs.

The organization behind the campaign, Democracia Ahora, is kicking off the effort Friday with the release of a report based on interviews with 100 Hispanic leaders about the impact of Dobbs’ evening show.

The results of the report are not surprising – 90 percent of the interviewees believe Dobbs is helping create a negative image of Hispanics, with his frequent criticisms of illegal immigration.

Dobbs claims that his show and propaganda only target “illegal immigrants,” but how is the average person to tell the difference between an undocumented immigrant, a legal permanent resident and a U.S. citizen?  You can’t. The results of Dobbs’ nightly televised rants damage an entire community of Americans. 

Surely, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien will include this new report on her upcoming series, Latino in America. Her CNN colleague, Dobbs, is doing enormous harm to Latinos in America.

Ninety percent of Latino leaders believe that Dobbs is having a hostile impact on Hispanics. We know Dobbs doesn’t care about this, but does his network?

The silence from CNN has been deafening.

Note: Chip in here to help get our new Lou Dobbs TV ad on the air – together we can turn the channel on hate.

Cross-Posted at America's Voice, Daily Kos, and the Sanctuary.