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Lou Dobbs to Leave CNN
The longtime anchor, whose views on immigration and the Obama “birther” movement caused controversy at the cable news network, announced Wednesday that he is departing CNN.
Lou Dobbs, the controversial prime-time populist, said on his show tonight that he’s leaving CNN, to “engage in constructive problem-solving” at a destination unknown. “As for the important work of restoring inspiration to our great free society and our market economy, I will strive as well to be a leader in that conversation,” said the longtime anchor, who has been a champion of immigration opponents and the “birther” movement, which questioned President Obama’s citizenship.
Dobbs told his staff about the decision today, according to a source who attended the meeting. Although the anchor didn’t say where he’d be going, there has been considerable speculation that he’d follow fellow popular conservative host Glenn Beck to the Fox News empire, perhaps as an anchor for the long-struggling Fox Business Network. Dobbs reportedly had lunch with Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes in September.
• The Daily Beast’s Lloyd Grove asks, What Happened to the Real Lou?Dobbs, a former business anchor, reinvented himself as a cheerful nativist only in recent years, finding fame with his nightly rants about illegal immigration. He clashed openly with CNN President Jon Klein this year for giving credence to questions from some on the far right about whether Obama was born in the United States.
In July, Klein sent Dobbs’ staff an email citing research that proved Obama was indeed born in Hawaii. “It seems this story is dead—because anyone who still is not convinced doesn't really have a legitimate beef,” he wrote, adding that he did not expect to see it on the show again. Shortly thereafter, openly flouting Klein’s request, Dobbs returned to the birther story.
Since then, there has been speculation that Dobbs would leave CNN, perhaps for the friendlier airwaves of Fox News.
In recent weeks, Dobbs made headlines for another reason: A shot was fired outside his New Jersey home, which he attributed to left-wing rage. "My house has been shot and hit...,” he said. “This shot was fired, with my wife not 15 feet away. It's part of life. The anger, the hate, the vitriol."
Rebecca Dana is a culture correspondent for The Daily Beast. A former editor and reporter for the Wall Street Journal, she has also written for the New York Times, the New York Observer, Rolling Stone and Slate, among other publications.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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Rebecca Dana is a culture correspondent for The Daily Beast. A former editor and reporter for the Wall Street Journal, she has also written for the New York Times, the New York Observer, Rolling Stone and Slate, among other publications.
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Rebecca Dana is a culture correspondent for The Daily Beast. A former editor and reporter for the Wall Street Journal, she has also written for the New York Times, the New York Observer, Rolling Stone and Slate, among other publications.
What Happened With Lou Dobbs
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Rebecca Dana is a culture correspondent for The Daily Beast. A former editor and reporter for the Wall Street Journal, she has also written for the New York Times, the New York Observer, Rolling Stone and Slate, among other publications.
I'd care if I watched CNN.
Good. He was a good journalist until he turned into a bitter old man. Now if they only get rid of Wolf Blitzer I might give them another chance.
I have to admit, he is the reason I quit CNN.
Exactly! The immigrant bashing made me want to smash the Boob Tube.
Right before his show starts is when I make the mad scramble to grab the remote before all the hate he spews reach my ears. I don't mind hearing different view points of view, but I can literally cut the hate that fills the air when that man starts talking. He literally sews seeds of hate and anger to a wide audience day in and day out. And I really don't trust that everyone that listens to him is totally stable.
I have to admit, he is the reason I watched CNN.
You are the only one.
CNN will now lose the few who do watch it.
oooh! Winston with a blistering, razor sharp comeback!
You're not fooling anyone Lou. We know it's you!
winston
your jackboots need a polish
He's the reason I quit listening to CNN radio. I switched to NPR for my drive home.
Same here. Lou Dobbs used to be a reasonable "breath of fresh air" ; somewhere along the line he morphed into an inflexible ideologue. (If you ask me, he fell in love with his own reflection.)
Absolutely fell in love with his own reflection. A larger ego I have not seen. The man holds everyone in contempt. It was hard for me not to watch him sometimes because Chris Matthews has never met a guest he can't talk over.
spinozareader: I wouldn't be surprised if his transformation was motivated by ratings.
thehummerl: You pinpointed the reason I rarely listen to Chris Matthews. That guy just can't stop talking.
He's the reason I began to question the editorial judgment of CNN. But Anderson Cooper gives me hope....and there remains (in my opinion) a lot of sanity and balance at CNN.
Maybe CNN can trade Dobbs to Fox News for Shepherd Smith. Then Fox will be ideologically pure and CNN can have another spokesmodel.
JackHughes Great Idea.
winston
Go polish your jackboots.
winston,
Your jackboots are in need of a polish.
-
the
your jackboots need a polish--attend to them.
Yes, winston, why "pollute" your "news" channel with anyone who'd engage in honest debate?
Good lord, spinoza, calm down. Looks as if you've suffered a stroke.
If Winnie agrees with Jack, Shepherd Smith does not have much of a future at Fox News.
Shep is one of the few (if not the only) reasonably sane commentators on Fox that I have listened to, so he really doesn't fit in with that network.
@choptop
I'm calm and stroke-free. I just experienced some weird delay in my posting on the part of The Beast.
Nothing I wrote seemed to be getting through. Then, suddenly, EVERY attempt I made did get through.
And I'm very calm and level headed. And in this case, I'm just a dorky "victim" of the quirks of internet communication.
like the anger, hate and vitriol he breeds every night. good riddance.
Senility is a bitch.
This is Howard Beale signing off...
Like him or not he gave something that is worth while to me. He refused to be told what the news was "going to be". This whole news media thing needs overhauling bad. I have written to every network CEO and asked them to please clean up their act. WE haven't had a real news network since T V began. Each network is too busy telling us what we should think and believe and giving their own opinions. I just want to know what happened today. I frankly don't give a @#@#$$!! what THEY think. And they're all GUILTY as the devil about it.
Well, crypto, I wouldn't want to listen to any news show that only told us what YOU think we should hear and believe.
Fox already has the strongest and most articulate advocate for free trade and open borders in John Stossel. Hard to imagine Stossel AND Dobbs at the same network...
I am so.......... Happy! He is finally going where he belongs to, " FIXED NEWS". Oh thank you god, now I can finally watch CNN with hope and freedom.
Do you think he might run for public office?
do not let the door hit you on the way out to faux news.
One less Bigot polluting the news. Now if Rush Limbaugh and O'Reilly will take a hike, I'll really be happy! That's the friggin' Axis Of Evil in my opinion.
Absolutely!--And let's not forget that odious Glenn Beck. What a toxic bunch of narcissists.
Lonesome Rhodes!
simple suggestion bbc...., actual news and rational discussion
scary!
Even odds he goes to FOX. He'll reach more viewer that way.
And he will fit right in - crazy to the core.
TDB has a serious problem with posting responses tonight.
Ridiculous.
the partisan bickering on here over the most inane bullshit is hilarious...i think i smell a reality show.
There's always room for more idiots at FUX News.
NEWS FLASH
Lou Dobbs is officially a has been and has just been elevated to a never was.
This is good news for me. I stopped watching CNN this year because of him. I still kept up with my favorites there on their website, but I didn't feel right watching CNN as long as he was there.
I thought for sure he was going to ride it out until his contract expired.
CNN - Lou Dobbs - Larry King - Campbell Brown = potential for much better station.
Love you, Lou. You deserve to be in a more open environment where a differing opinion is not seen as a lack of knowledge or intelligence!
You'll no doubt find him on your regular network - Fox News - any day now, Soonchurcher.
His lack of knowledge and intelligence will not be a problem when he is with Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity.
Lou,
Good luck at Fox.
Let the door hit you on the way out.
Liberals can't tolerate a differing opinion, that's becoming clear to all. as a fox viewer, I'd be thrilled to trade Geraldo for Lou any day. Or how about Shep, he's one of yours for sure
nobody watches CNN anyway
Hilarious, tolatetocry!
Now if only Larry King, Campbell Brown, Anderson Cooper and the entire day crew would leave, CNN might be watchable again.
Wow ... people actually WATCH TV for their news? (We all know Fox is NOT news, so that doesn't count).
Thank you.
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