WASHINGTON, April 26, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Hispanic Institute, a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., called upon CNN Worldwide President Jim Walton to censure CNN News Anchor Lou Dobbs for what the organization describes as outrageous and incendiary language in his reporting on immigration policy and the debate on that issue in congress.
Gus West, a member of the Board of Directors of The Hispanic Institute said, "We are specifically calling upon the management of CNN to censure Mr. Dobbs because it is obvious CNN is allowing him to sacrifice the notion of objective and balanced reporting for sensationalism and ratings increases. At a time when a balanced and thoughtful debate is required to address the security of our borders, and how we deal with individuals that come to this country seeking a better life, Mr. Dobbs's inflammatory rhetoric does not contribute to a solution."
As part of its mission, The Hispanic Institute seeks to educate policy makers and the general public, on the economic contributions of Hispanics to the United States.
The Hispanic Institute released the following editorial to the media:
Enough is enough. Over the past three years, CNN has, through its commentator Lou Dobbs, transformed a serious domestic/economic issue into a rant against international terrorism. Yes, we believe immigration reform is needed. We believe it is an issue that can and should be debated, discussed, and dissected. We do not however, believe that Mr. Dobbs's use of incendiary language when describing the situation or the people involved is productive. He describes border crossings by people in search of work as an "invasion" that leads to an "environment of lawlessness and anarchy". He somehow ties the "illegal alien crisis" to drugs and terror. Further, he describes the people and organizations who disagree with him as an "obscene alliance of corporate supremacists, desperate labor unions, and ethnocentric Latino activists." He even agreed with the head of a Political Action Committee when she suggested the Catholic Church is advocating the breaking of the law. Beyond the inflammatory words and phrases, Mr. Dobbs continually uses inaccuracies and incomplete information. During one show he states "people are flooding across the border carrying dangerous diseases." Dangerous diseases! This is irresponsible. On another show he claimed that illegal immigrants were "clogging up the federal prisons" but by the end of the show his own reporter, Bill Tucker, stated that there was "no way of telling whether they are illegal or not." Finally, his numbers keep growing. On each show he uses different figures for the number of undocumented people in this country. He has used eight million, ten million, twelve million, and then reported that Bear Stearns says that there are twenty million in the country. Again, as we have said an open and honest debate is required here. But if you study the Dobbs Show guest list you will see a preponderance of anti-immigration advocates, and extremist politicians. The ratio of these versus his so-called "obscene alliance" is well over two to one. It is time to be fair. It is time to be honest. To paraphrase Joseph Lash, "Have you no sense of decency sir? At long last have you no sense of decency!" We want to add our voice to the symphony of voices that call on Mr. Dobbs and CNN to be fair, honest, and accurate in the presentation of this issue.
The Hispanic Institute is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. The Hispanic Institute provides an effective education forum for an informed and empowered Hispanic America.