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Louis Dobbs
Born September 24, 1945 (1945-09-24) (age 63)
Childress, Texas, U.S.
Occupation CNN News Anchor
Managing editor
Talk radio host
Spouse Debi Lee Segura
Notable credit(s) Lou Dobbs Tonight

Louis Carl Dobbs (born September 24, 1945), is a CNN anchor and managing editor for Lou Dobbs Tonight. He is an editorial columnist and syndicated radio show host, and has also been mentioned as a possible candidate for the governorship of New Jersey in 2009.

Contents

Early life

Dobbs was born in Childress, Texas, the son of Frank Dobbs, a co-owner of a propane business, and Lydia Mae Hensley, a bookkeeper.1 When Dobbs was 12, his father's propane business failed and the family moved to Rupert, Idaho.2 He attended Minico High School in Minidoka County, serving as student body president in 1963.3 He earned a bachelors degree in economics from Harvard University, graduating in 1967.3

After graduating, Dobbs worked for federal anti-poverty programs in Boston and Washington, D.C. and as a cash-management specialist for Union Bank in Los Angeles. He married his high school sweetheart in 1969 and in 1970 their first son was born. Dobbs moved to Yuma, Arizona and got a job as a police and fire reporter for KBLU-AM. By the mid-1970s he was a television anchor and reporter in Phoenix, and he later joined Seattle's KING-TV. In 1979, he was contacted by a recruiter for Ted Turner, who was in the process of forming CNN2. He is married to his second wife, Debi Lee Segura, who is an American born of two American born parents of Mexican descent and a one-time CNN sports anchor. Together, the couple has four children.4

Career

CNN

Dobbs joined CNN when it launched in 1980, serving as its chief economics correspondent and as host of the business news program Moneyline on CNN. Dobbs also served as a corporate executive for CNN, as its executive vice president and as a member of CNN's executive committee. He founded CNN fn (CNN financial news), serving as its president and anchoring the program Business Unusual, which examined business creativity and leadership5

Departure and founding of Space.com

Dobbs repeatedly clashed with Rick Kaplan, who became president of CNN in 1997. Dobbs said Kaplan, noted friend of then president Bill Clinton, was "clearly partisan" and "was pushing Clinton stories," while Kaplan said Dobbs was "a very difficult person to work with."2

In May 1999, CNN was covering a speech by President Clinton in Littleton, Colorado, following the Columbine High School massacre. Dobbs ordered the producer to cut away from the speech and return to broadcast Moneyline, feeling it was a staged event and not newsworthy.2 Dobbs was countermanded by Kaplan, who ordered CNN to return to the speech. Kaplan later said, "Tell me what journalistic reason there was not to cover the President at Columbine soon after the shootings? Everyone else was doing it." Dobbs announced on the air that "CNN President Rick Kaplan wants us to return to Littleton." A few days later, Dobbs announced that he was leaving the network to start Space.com, a website devoted to astronomical news.2 Dobbs was subsequently replaced as host of Moneyline by Willow Bay and Stuart Varney.6

Return to CNN

Kaplan left CNN in August 2000, and Dobbs returned the following year, at the behest of his friend and CNN founder Ted Turner, becoming host and managing editor of the new and initially more general news program Lou Dobbs Reporting, which later became CNN News Sunday Morning. He also regained the helm of the newly renamed Lou Dobbs Moneyline (which became Lou Dobbs Tonight in June 2003).7

Dobbs also hosts a nationally syndicated radio show, The Lou Dobbs Financial Report, and he is a regular columnist in Money magazine, U.S. News & World Report and the New York Daily News.2

Radio

As of 2008, Dobbs currently hosts Lou Dobbs Radio on United Stations Radio Networks. The three hour daily show has been working on lining up affiliates in major markets, including Los Angeles (KGIL) and San Francisco Bay (KNEW), as well as stations such as WGNY-AM in Newburgh, New York. The show is guest-centered and features political discussion and listener calls. It airs from noon to 3 p.m. Pacific Time (3 to 6 p.m. Eastern), directly competing with The Sean Hannity Show and Dr. Laura. Dobbs also hosts the financially themed Lou Dobbs Minute on the same network.

In June 2008, Dobbs reached an agreement with Business TalkRadio Network to carry a rebroadcast of the show from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern, displacing Bruce Williams. Dobbs's show is also carried live on CRN Digital Talk Radio Networks, on CRN4.

Dobbs was among the hosts who tried out for the position vacated by the cancellation of Imus in the Morning on WFAN, a position that was eventually filled by Boomer and Carton in the Morning.

Political views

Originally fiscally conservative, Dobbs' views changed from conservative to "Independent populist," becoming a critic of the "excesses of capitalism," which he identifies as globalization, offshore outsourcing, runaway film production (the outsourcing of Hollywood jobs),89 illegal immigration, free trade deals, corporate/big business influence in government and the Bush administration's tax cuts. He describes himself as an advocate of economic populism, warning that outsourcing and the U.S. trade and budget deficits threaten the American middle class. Dobbs tends to oppose long-run trade deficits and outsourcing for the sake of labor arbitrage to obtain cheap labor.

In the 2000s, Dobbs has used CNN programs and columns to express his strong personal views on several subjects. He has become particularly noted for two positions: Dobbs is a critic of expanded international trade. He is particularly wary of outsourcing and off-shoring, especially with China. On November 15, 2006, Dobbs described himself as a populist.210 In recent years, he has also been increasingly referred to as "Mr. Independent."

Illegal immigration and border security

Dobbs is strongly opposed to illegal immigrants, the H-1B visa program and guest worker programs.1112 Along with this, he has been a critic of what he regards as the Mexican government's unwillingness to change its laws to help the poor and of church leaders in Mexico for not criticizing the Mexican government's policies.

Lou Dobbs Tonight frequently features related issues under the themes "Exporting America," "Broken Borders," and "War on the Middle Class". The newscast often describes illegal immigration as an "invasion." Dobbs dismissed concerns about his rhetoric as excessive or misguided "political correctness" in the segment billboarded "P.C. Nation".

In his "Broken Borders" segments, Dobbs focused primarily on the southern border with Mexico and the drugs and the people that cross it. As of the end of May 2006, some 829,109 illegal immigrants had been apprehended crossing from Mexico into the United States that yearcitation needed. Illegal immigrants apprehended crossing from Canada to the U.S. during that same time period are a tiny fraction of that amount – 4,066.13 Dobbs also has lauded the Canadian government for cooperation in securing the border with their American counterparts.

In an interview with Lesley Stahl, Dobbs spoke about his meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus saying they implied that he was anti-Hispanic by asking him, "if I'd ever eaten a taco before, for God's sake".14 Representative Joe Baca, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, later wrote to CBS insisting that the group did not meet with Dobbs to discuss whether he'd eaten Hispanic food, "but to respectfully recommend that he cease the negative portrayal of Hispanics...and treat the issue of immigration in a responsible manner."15

Dobbs has criticized local officials for taking what he considered a lax approach to border security. In October 2007 he labeled ex-New York Governor Eliot Spitzer an "idiot" for advocating the issuance of driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.16 Hillary Clinton labeled his show on his illegal immigration segments as being "full of hot air."17

Other views

Dobbs once described himself as a "lifelong Republican,"18 but has stated that he has switched to being an unaffiliated independent populist, as he no longer openly supports any party.19 Though he made a donation of $1,000 to the Bush-Cheney campaign in January 2001,20 he often has described the administration of George W. Bush and the then Republican-controlled Congress as "disgraceful." At the same time he has argued that voters have very little choice under the U.S. two-party system, as both parties are controlled by big business and corporate interests, making them almost one and the same and thus do not offer real debate or policy alternatives to ordinary Americans. Dobbs also faulted Bush's 2004 presidential election opponent, Democrat John Kerry, for first criticizing outsourcing and then backing off.21

Dobbs is pro-choice, against-gun control, and supports some government regulations though a fiscal conservative, as revealed in a 60 Minutes interview.22

Dobbs' stance on trade has earned plaudits from some trade union activists on the traditional political left, while his stance on immigration tends to appeal to the right.2 In an interview with Larry King, Dobbs revealed that he is now "an unaffiliated independent" due to dissatisfaction with both the Republican, and Democratic parties.

Dobbs has been generally supportive of gay civil rights. In June 2006, as the U.S. Senate debated the Federal Marriage Amendment, Dobbs was critical of the action. He asserted that traditional marriage was threatened more by financial crises perpetuated by Bush administration economic policy than by gay marriage.23

In July 2006, Dobbs criticized U.S. foreign policy as being disproportionately supportive of Israel, pointing out the U.S.'s rapid recognition of Israel in 1948, foreign aid to Israel, and other policy choices in the past and present.24

Lou Dobbs is the author of 'War on the Middle Class', which describes what he sees as failure of the two-party system, and claims that both sides are harming the middle class. In it, he comes out strongly against the Bush tax cuts, which he argues favor the wealthy, and argues for raising the U.S. minimum wage from what was then $5.15 an hour.25

Recently, Dobbs has been critical of the rescue package brought about by the Bush Administration and supported by the Democratic-controlled Congress which he and others call as a "Wall Street Bailout." Dobbs describes this package as a way for Henry Paulson to help his friends on Wall Street rather than main street.

Controversy

Dobbs's critics, including columnist James K. Glassman of the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank, have accused him of inciting xenophobia.26 Others have accused him of Hispanic racism, a charge he denies27 and one which he has said offends him deeply, as his wife Debi Segura is an American of Mexican heritage herself.28. In 2003 and as reported by USA Today and other media, Debi Segura Dobbs was arrested at the Newark Liberty International Airport after airport security found a loaded gun she was carrying in her handbag. She was charged with criminal possession of a weapon. After being fingerprinted and photographed by Port Authority Police, Debi Segura Dobbs was released without bail. Mrs. Segura Dobbs faced arraignment in a Newark court but the outcome of the case is not generally known.29

A CNN report, filed by CNN correspondent Christine Romans for Dobbs's April 14, 2005 program, reported on the carrying of diseases across the border by illegal immigrants. Romans' report cited an article in the Spring 2005 issue of the non-indexed Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, written by the late Madeleine Cosman, which made the statement that 7,000 cases of leprosy had emerged in the United States within the previous three years (2002-2005), an increase attributed mostly to an influx of immigrants into the country.303132 Critics of the program argued that, in fact, the actual number of leprosy cases had reached 7,000 in the registry over thirty years, not the previous three years, with 137 cases reported in 2006.3334 In addressing the leprosy issue, Dobbs compared his critics from the left and right political spectrums to "commies" and "fascists."35 On December 4, 2007, Dobbs rejected Cosman's claims as unsubstantiated, calling her "a wackjob".36

On the May 23, 2006 edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight, Dobbs's program displayed a map of Aztlán sourced to the controversial Council of Conservative Citizens. CNN spokeswoman Christa Robinson apologized for the graphic's use saying: "A freelance field producer in Los Angeles searched the web for Aztlan maps and grabbed the Council of Conservative Citizens map without knowing the nature of the organization. The graphic was a late inclusion in the script and, regrettably, was missed in the vetting process."37

He has been described by some as a protectionist and a nativist.

Dobbs' critics have launched a boycott of CNN and Dobbs' advertisers.38

Awards

Dobbs has won numerous major awards for his television journalism, most notably a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award and a Cable Ace Award. He received the George Foster Peabody Award for his coverage of the 1987 stock market crash. He also has received the Luminary Award of the Business Journalism Review in 1990, the Horatio Alger Association Award for Distinguished Americans in 1999 and the National Space Club Media Award in 2000. The Wall Street Journal has named Dobbs "TV's Premier Business News Anchorman". In 2004, Dobbs was awarded the Eugene Katz Award For Excellence in the Coverage of Immigration by the Center for Immigration Studies and in 2005 he received the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution's Statesmanship Award.3940 Dobbs was named "Father of the Year" by the National Father's Day Committee in 199341

Associations

Dobbs serves or has served on the boards of the Society of Professional Journalists Foundation, the Horatio Alger Association, the National Space Foundation and the Imaginova Corporation, formerly known as Space.com, in which he owns a minority stake, as he does in Integrity Bank. He is a member of the Planetary Society, the Overseas Press Club and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Family life

Dobbs resides on a 300-acre horse farm in Sussex County, New Jersey.42

Books

  • Lou Dobbs, Independents Day: Awakening The American Spirit (2007). ISBN 978-0-670-01836-9.
  • Lou Dobbs, Exporting America: Why Corporate Greed Is Shipping American Jobs Overseas (2004). ISBN 0-446-57744-8.
  • Lou Dobbs, Space: The Next Business Frontier (2005). ISBN 0-7434-2389-5
  • Lou Dobbs, War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back (2006). ISBN 0-670-03792-3.
  • Ron Hira and Anil Hira, with foreword by Lou Dobbs, Outsourcing America: What's behind Our National Crisis and how we can reclaim American Jobs. (AMACOM), American Management Association, (May 2005). ISBN 0-8144-0868-0.

Quotes

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  • "I don't know about you, but I can't take seriously anyone who takes either the Republican Party or Democratic Party seriously — in part because neither party takes you and me seriously; in part because both are bought and paid for by corporate America and special interests.... Political, business and academic elites are waging an outright war on working men and women and their families, and there is no chance the American middle class will survive this assault if the dominant forces unleashed over the past five years continue unchecked." 43 – Lou Dobbs' Commentary, CNN.com, October 18, 2006.
  • "Tonight, an amazing development in banking directly benefiting illegal aliens in this country. Bank of America is now issuing its credit cards to people with no Social Security number, who have broken the law, and who are in this country illegally. To Bank of America, apparently, they are simply a new market." 44 – Lou Dobbs Tonight, CNN, February 13, 2007.
  • "The idea that the Pope would come here and criticize the United States this way, I think is, first of all, bad manners. And I don't care if you're infallible or not. So that's bad manners, and No. 2, it's absolutely, out of all proportion with the world scale. This is the most welcoming nation, the most generous nation on the face of the earth and for this Pope to have this attitude and to make these comments, is in my opinion, absolutely repugnant." 45 – Lou Dobbs Tonight, CNN, April 17, 2008.

References

  1. ^ "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997 (Ancestry.com database on-line)". Retrieved on 2008-03-24.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Auletta, Ken (2006-12-04). "Mad as Hell: Lou Dobbs's populist crusade". The New Yorker. Retrieved on 2007-01-17.
  3. ^ a b Mullins, Luke (2006-11-28). "The Secret Life of Lou Dobbs". The American. Retrieved on 2007-06-03.
  4. ^ Lou Dobbs Biography - Biography.com
  5. ^ Business News Luminaries
  6. ^ MONEYLINE Launches Bicoastal News Format
  7. ^ Johnson, Peter (2003-06-09). "'Lou Dobbs Moneyline' gets a new moniker", USA Today. Retrieved on 17 January 2007. 
  8. ^ "Lou Dobbs Tonight transcripts", CNN (2005-06-07). Retrieved on 3 June 2007. 
  9. ^ "Lou Dobbs Tonight transcripts", CNN (2004-05-01). Retrieved on 3 June 2007. 
  10. ^ Dobbs, Lou (2006-11-16). "Dobbs: I'm a populist, deal with it", CNN.com. Retrieved on 17 January 2007. 
  11. ^ "Massive Earthquake Strikes Japan; A look at Recent Political Debates", CNN (2003-09-25). Retrieved on 17 January 2007. 
  12. ^ Dobbs, Lou (2005-06-30). "CAFTA's big secret", CNN.com, The American Resistance. Retrieved on 17 January 2007. 
  13. ^ Pomfret, John (2006-07-02). "At the Northern Border, No Talk of Fences", The Washington Post. Retrieved on 17 January 2007. 
  14. ^ http://www.irnnews.com/news.asp?action=detail&article=17106
  15. ^ "Rep. Joe Baca Responds To Lou Dobbs", CBS News (2007-05-17). Retrieved on 29 October 2007. 
  16. ^ McShane, Larry (2007-10-29). "Dobbs Shows No Love For Guv", courant.com. Retrieved on 29 October 2007. 
  17. ^ http://www.bloggernews.net/112835
  18. ^ Associated Press (2004-04-09). "CNN's Lou Dobbs is a man on a mission", MSNBC. Retrieved on 3 June 2007. 
  19. ^ "Lou Dobbs Tonight transcripts", CNN (2006-10-10). Retrieved on 3 June 2007. 
  20. ^ "Lou Dobbs's Federal Campaign Contribution Report" (2007-02-04). 
  21. ^ Dobbs, Lou, (2006). War on the Middle Class. The Dobbs Group, pp. 127-128
  22. ^ Lou Dobbs, "Advocacy" Journalist?
  23. ^ "Dobbs: Gay marriage amendment sheer nonsense" (2006-06-08). Retrieved on 17 January 2006. 
  24. ^ Dobbs, Lou (2006-07-25). "Dobbs: Career-wise, not so smart when it comes to the Middle East", CNN. Retrieved on 3 June 2007. 
  25. ^ "Dobbs: Middle class needs to fight back now" (2006-10-18). Retrieved on 17 January 2006. 
  26. ^ Glassman, James K (2006-02-23). "Good for America", TCS Daily. Retrieved on 3 June 2007. 
  27. ^ Berkowitz, Bill (2006-06-30). "Lou Dobbs' Dubious Guest List", Inter Press Service News Agency. Retrieved on 17 January 2007. 
  28. ^ "Lou Dobbs, "Advocacy" Journalist?", CBS News (2007-05-06). Retrieved on 3 June 2007. 
  29. ^ "Dobbs' wife arrested for having handgun at Newark airport". USA Today (2003-01-23). Retrieved on 2008-10-06.
  30. ^ Cosman, Madeleine Pelner. "Illegal Aliens and American Medicine". Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. Retrieved on 2007-06-03.
  31. ^ "Lou Dobbs Tonight transcripts", CNN (2005-04-14). Retrieved on 3 June 2007. 
  32. ^ "Lou Dobbs Tonight transcripts", CNN (2007-05-07). Retrieved on 3 June 2007. 
  33. ^ "Lou Dobbs Tonight transcripts", CNN (2007-05-20). Retrieved on 3 June 2007. 
  34. ^ "Truth, Fiction and Lou Dobbs", [[David Loenhardt, The New York Times] (2007-05-30). Retrieved on 16 August 2007. 
  35. ^ "Lou Dobbs Responds to 'Scurrilous' Attack By 'NYT'", Editor & Publisher (2007-05-31). Retrieved on 3 June 2007. 
  36. ^ Transcript of DemocracyNow! broadcast, 4 December 2007, accessed 4 December 2007
  37. ^ S.S.M (2006-05-25). "Dobbs's immigration reporting marked by misinformation, extreme rhetoric, attacks on Mexican president, and data from organization linked to white supremacists", Media Matters for America. Retrieved on 24 July 2007. 
  38. ^ Lou Dobbs
  39. ^ "2004 Eugene Katz Award For Excellence in the Coverage of Immigration". Retrieved on 2007-01-16.
  40. ^ "Reporter, analyst Dobbs is AdTI Statesman". Retrieved on 2007-01-16.
  41. ^ "Lou Dobbs", CNN. Retrieved on 3 June 2007. 
  42. ^ Lou Dobbs Biography - Biography.com
  43. ^ "Lou Dobbs' Commentary", CNN.com (2006-10-18). Retrieved on 16 July 2008. 
  44. ^ "Lou Dobbs Tonight transcripts", CNN (2007-02-13). Retrieved on 16 July 2008. 
  45. ^ "Lou Dobbs Tonight transcripts", CNN (2008-04-17). Retrieved on 16 July 2008. 

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