UPDATE: Lou Dobbs responds to his critics...
For a little while now, the CNN anchor Lou Dobbs has been claiming that illegal immigrants bring a host of problems into the United States, including leprosy.
Evidently, illegal immigrants were one of the main causes of the soaring leprosy rate, which went from only a hundred-odd cases a year to 7000 in the last three years. Seven thousand! That's an awful lot of lepers! The only problem is that the figure isn't true at all. A few weeks back, during a piece on 60 Minutes, Lesley Stahl questioned the statistic, pointing out that it seems to be entirely untrue, in the sense that there is absolutely no proof for it, and that the available information seems to point in the opposite direction.
Dobbs admitted that the statistic was misleading if not entirely false. Then, the very next night, he hopped back on the air at CNN to reiterate and emphasize the immigrant-related leprosy rate. As David Leonhardt of the New York Times wrote, Dobbs "has never acknowledged on the air that his program presented false information twice. Instead, he lambasted the officials from the law center for saying he had."
This kind of behavior can really make someone unpopular in the news business. It can even make a guy a leper. So what gives? How can someone have such flagrant disregard for the truth? Is it an isolated incident or part of a pattern? Should he be permitted slips now and again? Should everyone? What standard should he be held to?
Here's a good piece on Dobbs from my magazine, the New Yorker. Below are the videos addressed above.
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Posted May 30th 2007 10:29AM by Ben Greenman
Filed under: Politics, Media, Illegal Immigration
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16. Lou Dobbs is the only nightly news program worht watching. He lets you know where he stands. If yor agree or disagree with him, it no big deal. At least his show isn't full of white house and congressial press releases. He is the only program giving the issues of illegal immergation and and america "disappearing middle clase' the time they deserve. Leslie Stall 60 minute interview, appeared like "I'm going to get this guy." The Leprosy statement was no big issue. If the numbers were wrong big deal! It's the other issues surrounding illegal immergation are much bigger and important issue. CBS new since Dan Rather left total stinks. I was watched that network for the last 40 years. It is the worst nightly news of the networks. I not a real CNN watcher but Lou Dobbs is the only Nightly news worth watching. Aaron Brown was okay, Anderson Cooper is just awful!
Sammy 48 at 12:53PM on May 30th 2007
17. Lou Dobbs is a businesman. He makes money. All this controversy is good for business, both him personally and the network. Facts? Who cares? For every person who might fact check, I'll bet there are 20,000 that don't. Ring the cash register, baby...there is money in rable rousing and Bull S...! Is this good for the country? Is Shrub good for the country? I suspect the effect of all those folks dropping out of school or buying their way through the educational process is beginning to show. Dumb is not ignorance, but which is worse? Beam me up Scotty, there is dubious ethical life down here and it doesn't appear to be in government or most media reporters.
Don Anthony at 12:52PM on May 30th 2007
18. Hey Folks Its just a show. That's all. Are you telling me you take the news media as a serious source of facts. Sit back and pick your show CNN, FOX , Networks its all the same.. you guys are silly if you think differently.
Fiorot at 1:04PM on May 30th 2007
19. Let's face it, the majority of these criminal illegals are ignorant, uneducated, dirty and smelly, unwashed rejects from another country. It's not racist to want to protect what we have here. The whole world cannot live in the US nor should it. If their own country doesn't want them then why should we? I say let's build an even bigger, longer wall with automatic gun turrents that sense movement and take care of business. A kill zone on our side of the border is our right. Problem solved.
Jeff at 1:06PM on May 30th 2007
20. I would think we should be less concerned about misrepresentations from Lou Dobbs and more concerned about misrepresentations from King George and his Court of Buffoons.
Ed at 1:24PM on May 30th 2007
21. I didn't get to finish my post. This business of private funded day care not being required to demand vacination records before taking the money for a child to attend is WRONG. It used to that a citizen could be confident that any child in the US was vacinated and etc but as we don't know if the children are actually born here or if they have had proper medical care, we don't know.
This business of the NEW TB that has been reported on the tv discussing the dangers of travel in air with a contagious individual is helping to bring this danger to the forefront. It is time, no it is PAST time, that we the citizens of the United States of America, start demanding compliance of our laws, and stop this business of whoever wants to refuse accepting federal money, can open and daycare and admit any child without first determining IF that said child has been vacinated as required if he/she were entering a public day care or school.
rollcall at 1:50PM on May 30th 2007
22. OK : Initially it said Greenman was a writer of other fiction and that in all doubt includes his bashing Lou Dobbs. So what is to be gained from calling Dobbs a liar. First of all Greenspan didn't produce any evidence that there were no lepers crossing the border and he could have added more credibility by telling the true numbers of criminals, terrorists nad other fugitives that Bush allowed in. And certainly there were more serious vilators crossing in from Mexico than lepers anyway
S. Merritt at 3:05PM on May 30th 2007
23. people who think this way about immigrants are either stupid or just plain nationalist snobs.
sei at 2:11PM on May 30th 2007
24. Suddenly, Lou Dobbs is not PC enough for the LEFTIES when he does programs that exposes the
problems related to one of the SOCIALISTS 'PET COWS', ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS!
I watch Lou Dobbs and saw the program with the
Southern Law Center stooges and Mr. Dobbs remarks concerning Leprosy were clarified.
Now it seems the remarks have again been twisted and spun in order to fit that groups agenda!
SPLC isn't this the same SOCIOFASCIST CESSPOOL organization that Morris Dee's crawled out of?
Beeker D. at 2:15PM on May 30th 2007
25. Watch Dobbs every nite and he is the only one who
tells it like it is.
Lillian Roach at 2:17PM on May 30th 2007
26. Looks like the right-wing hacks are trying to discredit another legitimate truth-sayer, Lou Dobbs is about as honest and legitimate as you can find on mass media today... of course the Right Wing pundits and hit-squads are going to try and take him down -- but let pill-popping Limbag and lying O-Reilly keep spinning their hate and lies; that's how the Bush-Cheney liars got re-elected.
mike at 2:21PM on May 30th 2007
27. Lou Dobbs a liar? Not hardly.... After over a year of being the only one in mainstream media to point out the facts of this illegal invasion (THE LARGEST INVASION EVER RECORDED IN HISTORY)All you have to fall back on is this one account? count them ONE time that his facts may be off?)Out of THOUSANDS OF REPORTS, THOUSANDS... Now lets count the numberous lies coming from the pro illegal invasion camp... Lie after lie, by the thousands and when that doesn't work, the revert right back to calling everyone racists... (While they openly boo and hiss at Miss America in Mexico City)Lets never talk about the Floats the mexicans used in the May Day Invasion rally in LA of the Titanic and the Posiden sinking, with "USA THE SINKING SHIP" painted on the sides of both, And Lets Not Talk About the Seattle Police Beating a US Citizen, And laughing at him as blood poured from his face while illegals remained above the law once again (in this supposed land of laws, but only if you're a US Citizen) and the illegals freely vandalized his car right in front of the police(There is Video on the web to prove it you tube has it if you keyword in seattle cops illegal protest) Lets not talk about 9 out of 10 of the most wanted in Los Angeles county being illegal aliens..... Lets not talk about the Literally thousands of other things kept out of the media, and the other thousand lies about how this is good for America.... And with all of the Media Lies and cover ups, it just wouldn't shock me one bit if Lou's estimation on leprocy is actually conservative and the Anti American Corporate illegal invasion rally has just buried the numbers on it, like they have on the education system, and on the health care system, and the toll that illegals have put on our courts, and penal system, and the BILLIONS of tax dollars that they cost US Citizens, or the 6000 + US Citizens that were victimized violently by illegals last year alone... But I understand Ben, You have a bloodthirsty appetite and war machine to feed, You need more soldiers, And more support for your foriegn occupations and blood oil for your corvette to suck down..... So continue on with your pro-blood drinking ways and try to keep up the persona as being another anti-pro-war American that is only concerned about human rights.... But not the human rights of Americans... You only have one instance over the past year to smear Lou with and it's probably a false smear to begin with, But you better ride it out for the next five, you had to seeth and wait 390+ days for this one, and probably another year or so for the next, so ride that pony until it cant breathe any longer.
Lon at 2:46PM on May 30th 2007
28. I watch Lou every night. There was NO distortion, no lie. The only mendacity I see here is Greenman's. It says above Greenman is the author of several works of fiction...hey, don't forget to include his blog. Ole Ben says of Dobbs, "This kind of behavior can really make someone unpopular in the news business" Oh? You are in the news business, Greenman? What a joke. You're a typical lying scumbag liberal. This is true hypocrisy...a "news guy" lying in his "news" about another "news guy" he falsely accuses of lying. Why not try working this blog from a non-fiction angle?
jcd at 2:51PM on May 30th 2007
29. The blog: "For a little while now, the CNN anchor Lou Dobbs has been claiming that illegal immigrants bring a host of problems into the United States, including leprosy."
That's the understatement of the year. Lou Dobbs has been fixated on "Our Broken Borders" for years - I have to listen to it when my parents visit, as my Dad loves him. He started out with legitimate security concerns, but whipped cream every day gets boring and nauseating. Apparently now, he's joined the crowd in attributing everything evil on earth to the Mexican people (if its not done by gays).
I'm not for the new illegal immigration plan. I believe in enforcement, not facilitation. But, to me the hispanic people are wonderful, and I've been close to a lot of them for years. My reasoning is that our government can't seem to take care of whose here already, without adding millions more to the mix.
Lou needs psychiatric treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder.
Phil at 2:53PM on May 30th 2007
30. Wow. All the good little minions of the Republic Party REALLY don't like to address the issue at hand. OK, NY Times this, Bill Clinton and Al Gore that, the Liberal Media Elite this, 911 changed all the rules for The Chimp that...
But, ummm, can you maybe just deal with the fact that Lou Dobbs TWICE broadcasted misleading and factually incorrect information to promulgate an agenda (aka. propaganda, spin, disinformation...)
Is anybody out there able to suck it up and deal with THIS fact?
Nellie at 3:00PM on May 30th 2007