Hispanic congressmen demand corporate action against CNN host

Carolyn Hileman - The Voice* | April 29, 2008

The anti-immigration views of CNN host Lou Dobbs have made him a darling in the ratings but a nemesis among US Latinos, whose frustration has risen to the Washington corridors of power.

After their requests for a meeting with the chief executive of CNN’s parent company were rebuffed, Latino members of Congress condemned the TV network for failing to recognise the “potentially dangerous” consequences of Dobbs’s “divisive commentary”.

Dobbs has become a sensation thanks to his populist outbursts against undocumented immigrants, whom he calls “aliens” and accuses of “invading” America to steal jobs.

The TV host also has targeted the Democratic presidential candidates, naming one segment “Hillary’s hypocrisy” and describing Barack Obama’s endorsement by Latino governor and former Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson as “pandering to ethnocentric special interests”.

Joe Baca, the chairman of the congressional Hispanic caucus, told the Guardian that CNN’s parent company should be held accountable for the content of programmes the network airs.

“Words matter and words have power. One-sided rhetoric can lead other programs to cite opinions as fact and adopt polarising word choices as the standard,” Baca, whose caucus is influential within the Democratic party, said.

Baca and Latino senator Robert Menendez, a close ally of Hillary Clinton, said they were “deeply offended” by the lack of response from Time Warner, which owns CNN, to their criticism of Dobbs.