www.Dropdobbs.com

Update 11/12/2009

Drop Dobbs Coalition Members Respond to Dobbs’ departure from CNN:

Media Matters for America: A “happy day for all those who care about this nation of immigrants.”

From Media Matters:

Washington, DC – Media Matters for America released the following statement responding to late breaking news that controversial CNN host Lou Dobbs, best known for his relentless anti-immigrant rhetoric, will be leaving his long-time cable news home effective tonight.

“For too long, CNN provided Lou Dobbs with its stamp of approval as he pursued a dangerous, one-sided and all too often false conspiracy tinged crusade against immigrants,” said Eric Burns, president of Media Matters. “This is a happy day for all those who care about this nation of immigrants and believe in the power of media to elevate the political discourse.”

NDN: “This is a great victory.”

From NDN:

NDN, a leading think tank and advocacy organization, joined with Media Matters to create the DropDobbs.com coalition several months ago to hold CNN anchor Lou Dobbs accountable for the rampant intolerance promoted through his nightly news show. The coalition was later joined by several prominent organizations to promote this effort.

Today, less than two months after the launch of our online and grassroots campaign, Lou Dobbs has announced he is resigning from CNN because “it’s become increasingly clear that strong winds of change have begun buffeting this country, and affecting all of us…”

Andres Ramirez, Senior Vice President for NDN and coordinator for the DropDobbs coalition stated, “This is a great victory for all of us who have been working on this effort. We believe that Lou Dobb’s intolerant style of politics is inconsistent with the powerful and respected CNN brand. We are glad to see him go.”

We want to thank and congratulate all the organizations who participated in this coalition.

League of United Latin American Citizens: LULAC “hails the removal of Lou Dobbs from CNN.”

From LULAC:

Washington, DC – The League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest and largest Hispanic civil rights organization in the country hailed that CNN anchor Lou Dobbs will leave CNN today. The announcement was made on his 7 p.m. program “Lou Dobbs Tonight.”

“After years of giving Lou Dobbs an unparalleled and powerful perch from which to spread hate, fear, and misinformation about immigrants, the executives at CNN have finally realized that they could no longer justify his nightly smear campaign against the hardest working people in America,” stated Rosa Rosales, LULAC National President. “I am amazed that it took them so long to realize that the show was beyond the bounds of common decency.”

LULAC participated in the Drop Dobbs and Basta Dobbs campaigns to pressure advertisers to abandon his divisive show. The LULAC National Assembly had also passed a resolution calling for advertisers to withdraw.

“While we strongly believe in the right to free speech, that does not mean that demagogues have the right to a prime time show in which they bash hard working people of color,” stated LULAC National Executive Director Brent Wilkes. “CNN and other media outlets have a responsibility to provide a fair and rational discourse on important issues affecting their viewers or risk a backlash from the public.”

The League of United Latin American Citizens, the largest and oldest Hispanic membership organization in the country, advances the economic conditions, educational attainment, political influence, health, housing and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide.

National Council of La Raza: Dobbs’ resignation “is an important step forward in restoring greater fairness, accuracy, and balance on CNN and cable news.”

From NCLR:

Washington, DC—“Lou Dobbs’s resignation from CNN yesterday is an important step forward in restoring greater fairness, accuracy, and balance on CNN and cable news,” stated Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. Through its Wave of Hope campaign, and more recently as a founding member of the Drop Dobbs coalition, NCLR has long raised concerns about the gross distortions, misrepresentations, and falsehoods that Dobbs’s program has perpetuated, including by presenting extremist voices as “immigration experts.”

“We hope this resignation begins to undo the climate of intolerance fostered against the Latino community, restore journalistic integrity to the CNN brand, and bring civility and truth back to the immigration debate,” Murguía added.