Lou Dobbs announced the end of his tenure as a CNN anchor today, explaining his departure from the news agency “to pursue new opportunities.”
“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 a better understanding of the great issues of our day”
read the whole transcript here.
Though Dobbs was under contract until 2011, CNN President Jonathan Klein called the release “extremely amicable,” and the CNN story is very polite, noting Dobbs’ various awards and calling Dobbs “a valued founding member of the CNN family.”
The timing of Lou Dobbs’ quitting his show undermines the civility of the above-mentioned article, as Dobbs had been under fire as of late for his positions on immigration issues and his continuous “birther” stories questioning the validity of Obama’s citizenship. The birth certificate stories put Dobbs at odds with the network, while the immigration prompted a few organizations to push for the firing of Dobbs, including Presente.org and Media Matters. We can expect the “DumpDobbs” people to call this a victory. It will be curious to see how Dobbs comes out in all this. Fox News reportedly aren’t planning on picking him up. Will he fade into obscurity? We’ll see.
A kinder, gentler
- Dick Harvey
