Lou Dobbs Explains His Decision to Leave CNN
The text of Mr. Dobbs’ announcement about leaving CNN:
This will be my last broadcast here on CNN, where I’ve worked for most of the past 30 years, and where I have many friends and colleagues whom I admire deeply and respect greatly.
I’m the last of the original anchors here on CNN and I’m proud to have had the privilege to helping to build the world’s first news network.
I’m grateful for the many opportunities that CNN has given me over these many years. I’ve tried to reciprocate with a full measure of my ability and my energy.
Over the past six months it’s become increasingly clear that strong winds of change have begun buffeting this country and affecting all of us, and some leaders in media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem solving as well as to contribute positively to the great understanding of the issues of our day. And to continue to do so in the most honest and direct language possible.
I’ve talked extensively with Jonathan Klein — Jon’s the president of CNN — and as a result of those talks, Jon and i have agreed to a release from my contract that will enable me to pursue new opportunities.
At this point, I’m considering a number of options and directions, and I assure you, I will let you know when I set my course. I truly believe that the major issues of our time include the growth of our middle class, the creation of more jobs, health care, immigration policy, the environment, climate change, and our military involvement, of course, in Afghanistan and Iraq.
But each of those issues is, in my opinion, informed by our capacity to demonstrate strong resilience of our now weakened capitalist economy and demonstrate the political will to overcome the lack of true representation in Washington, D.C.
I believe these to be profoundly, critically important issues, and I will continue to strive to deal honestly and straightforwardly with those issues in the future.
Unfortunately, these issues are now defined in the public arena by partisanship and ideology rather than by rigorous, empirical thought and forthright analysis and discussion. I’ll be working diligently to change that as best i can. And 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 national conversation.
It’s been my great honor to work with each and every person at this wonderful network. I will be eternally grateful to CNN, to Ted Turner, and to all of my colleagues and friends, and of course to you at home. I thank you, and may God bless you.
Mr. Dobbs then went to a commercial break.
Lou Dobbs Abruptly Quits CNN
Months ago the president of CNN/U.S., Jonathan Klein, offered a choice to Lou Dobbs, the channel’s most outspoken anchor. Mr. Dobbs could vent his opinions on radio and anchor an objective newscast on television, or he could leave CNN.
For a time, Mr. Dobbs did tone down his TV rhetoric, but on Wednesday he made a more drastic decision: He chose opinion.
Mr. Dobbs told viewers that he was resigning from his CNN job immediately. Sitting before an image of an American flag on his studio set, he said “some leaders in media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem solving as well as to contribute positively to the great understanding of the issues of our day.”
He remained vague about how he would contribute “to the national conversation,” saying that he was considering “a number of options and directions.”
The abrupt announcement caught even some of his closest staff members by surprise. They were told about the decision only hours before Mr. Dobbs’s 7 p.m. program. CNN, a unit of Time Warner, said it would name a replacement for Mr. Dobbs on Thursday morning.
Mr. Klein said in a statement that “Lou has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere.”
“All of us will miss his appetite for big ideas, the megawatt smile and larger than life presence he brought to our newsroom,” he said.
Mr. Klein and Mr. Dobbs declined interview requests.
Well known for his opposition to illegal immigration, Mr. Dobbs was an outlier at CNN, which has sought to be seen as the neutral turf of cable news.
“If CNN wants to be seen as the thoughtful, unbiased, middle of the road alternative to Fox News on the right and MSNBC on the left, this decision goes along with that,” said Geneva Overholser, the director of the School of Journalism at the University of Southern California.
She said the anchor’s decision also makes sense “if he really wants to be Lou Dobbs, man of opinion.”
Mr. Dobbs’s show drew an average of 631,000 viewers in October, putting him in third place behind Fox News and MSNBC. Like those for other CNN programs, his ratings have declined in recent months.
His contract was not to expire until the end of 2011, people with knowledge of his deal said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because contract information is typically treated confidentially. Mr. Dobbs told viewers that Mr. Klein had agreed to release him from his contract early.
People inside CNN have speculated for months that Mr. Dobbs could pick up and move to another network, a possibility that gained momentum in September when he met with Roger Ailes, the chairman of the Fox News Channel.
At the time Mr. Dobbs was characterized by people close to him as a potential hire for the Fox Business Network. But a Fox representative said Wednesday, “We have not had any discussions with Lou Dobbs for Fox News or Fox Business.”
Mr. Dobbs quit CNN once before, in 1999, after disputes with the network’s president at the time, Rick Kaplan. That time, he also exited midweek, on a Tuesday. He became the chief executive of Space.com, an astronomy news source, but returned to the network two years later.
“I’m grateful for the many opportunities that CNN has given me over these many years,” Mr. Dobbs said, noting that he is “the last of the original anchors here on CNN.”
Over the years Mr. Dobbs evolved from being a sober business anchor to a commentator who labeled himself “Mr. Independent.” The issues at the top of his agenda — ones that he mentioned again on Wednesday in explaining his departure — include immigration policy, the growth of the country’s middle class, climate change, and the military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq. He had saved his most ideological remarks for his afternoon radio show, which made its debut in March 2008. It is on the radio show that he talked repeatedly about the conspiracy theory claims that President Obama is not a United States citizen. When he mentioned the citizenship issue on CNN over the summer, he raised the ire of his bosses and provoked criticism from progressive groups.
More recently, his coverage of immigration provoked protests by Hispanic groups. On Wednesday one of the groups, Presente.org, which had called on CNN to fire the anchor, declared a “victory.”
Roberto Lovato, a co-founder of the group, said, “We are thrilled that Dobbs no longer has this legitimate platform from which to incite fear and hate.”
Speaking on CNN Wednesday, Mr. Dobbs said he would strive to strengthen the public discourse from an as-yet-unnamed podium.
“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 national conversation,” he said.
He concluded his last CNN broadcast by saying, “I’ll see you next on the radio.”
Then he crossed 58th Street in Midtown Manhattan, walked into an Irish pub frequented by colleagues and was greeted with a round of applause.
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Sources: NY Times, MSNBC, CNN, Youtube, Google Maps
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