Update: Dobbs is leaving CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/11/lou.dobbs.leaving/index.html
CNN’s Lou Dobbs personal crusade to rant about the plethora of problems with our bizarre immigration policy came to a fun “head” tonight as he berated and then looked ready to jump out of his chair to strangle the very composed Paul Waldman of a (liberal/ left) media watchdog group called Media Matters.
The group studied stories on “Lou Dobbs Tonight” and suggest the obvious: Dobbs’ routinely crosses the line of reasoned journalism in his personal crusade to stem the tide of illegal immigration.
“When was the last time you did a positive story about immigrants” Dobbs: “I don’t know”.
I’m more than tired of blowhards like Lou Dobbs, Bill O’Reilly, and Keith Olbermann all of whom routinely discard good standards of quality journalism in favor of either bombastic nonsense or simplifications of complex issues. These guys are not journalists – they are *entertainers*. That is OK, but stop the pretense! TV “news” is mostly garbage now, and we should all be very, very ashamed.
Joe Duck 
I couldn’t agree with you more, Joe. Whether or not you agree with the opinions these blowhards spout, they shouldn’t be passing them off as news. I’ve been in the media business for nearly 40 years and have to say I’m ashamed of what passes for journalism these days. The way I learned the craft, the only opinions that got expressed in a story were those from a source, not the reporter’s. And reputable media checked those before they aired or printed them. Today, I write for about 35 magazines and newspapers, but exactly two of them employ fact-checkers. You hear a lot about how online media has few if any journalistic standards, but the MSM is truthfully no better.
That fact check stat is alarming Dave and thanks for the inside perspective. I would say that print puts TV to shame but the ‘truth’ probably puts us all to shame in our commercial driven frenzy. I’m not so much against commercializing which is going to happen naturally, but I want us to understand we are not reading/watching “news”, we are reading stories that have as a key component their ability to attract attention rather than to present complex issues rationally. Online media, in theory, could help with more total insight on a topic but in practice it is presenting more junk per capita than any commercial entity could ever dream about.
Pingback: Bill Oreilly Celebrity Gossip | Is Lou Dobbs’ Head Going to Explode?
Lou Dobbs’ foamy-mouthed, self-serving ranting is, indeed, disgusting, especially at dinner time. I suggest that CNN awards him the 2-3 am slot
Lou dobbs saying words like “cotton picking”does go
over the line.He is entitle to his own personal
opinions but I make good use of the remote control.