Dobb's resignation causes confusion for some, elation for others

Wednesday night, to the shock of both the journalism world and viewers worldwide, CNN's Lou Dobbs announced on his program that he would be resigning effective immediately at the end of his show. Dobbs said, "I'm the last of the original anchors on CNN and I'm proud to have had the privilege of helping to build the first news network."

Fueling speculation surrounding his sudden decampment, Dobbs added, "Over the past six months, it has become increasingly clear that strong winds of change had begun buffeting this country, and affecting all of us." Those "winds of change" are speculated to be pressure from CNN, who had urged Dobbs to strive for a non-partisan broadcast.

For most of his career in the political media world, Dobbs did, in fact, present a relatively centrist view. However, after 9/11 his opinions became decidedly more salient. Considering himself an "independent populist," Dobbs has shared his opinion on a wide range of subjects, being captious of the American educational system, yet also equally critical of capitalism and free trade. However, it has been his views on illegal immigration that truly made him a political lightning rod.

When media mogul Ted Turner founded CNN in 1980, he wanted it to be the impartial network, and for more than two decades, that is exactly what it was. Later, with the creation of the conservative Fox News and the liberal MSNBC, CNN has remained dedicated to presenting bias-free broadcasting. Therefore, when Dobbs became increasingly opinionated on his show, network executives grew uneasy. The fact that his ratings increased in tandem with his outspokenness seemed unimportant to them.

Dobbs' sudden exit has been hailed as a victory by Latino advocacy groups, that often found his convictions concerning illegal immigration to be offensive. "We had hundreds of thousands of people who said 'enough is enough'," said Alex Nogales, president of the National Hispanic Media Coalition. "That he is gone from CNN is a great blessing and a great victory for our community." The NHMC complained that Dobbs' sentiments promoted an "atmosphere of intolerance." However, it seems that many confuse his opinion of illegal immigrants with the Latino community in general. Furthermore, why should Dobbs or anyone, for that matter, be "tolerant" of millions of people breaking our nation's laws? Dobbs was one of few in the mainstream news industry to take a microscope to illegal immigration, express his disdain while remaining credible as a newscaster - no easy feat.

When your job description entails reporting on political topics, remaining completely objective can seem unrealistic. While CNN's commitment to down-the-middle journalism is certainly admirable, the thought that the network is allegedly unwilling to keep even one opinion-based program on the air is troubling, especially considering Dobbs is an independent. When questioned, CNN President Joe Klein insisted he had not ceded to critics of Lou Dobbs Tonight, but his assurances have done little to quell rumors that Dobbs was axed for being "too controversial." Klein admits that he did urge Dobbs to perform a less opinionated newscast each night, continuing to say, "To his credit, he tried and I think eventually he found that his interests lay elsewhere."

Another theory is that Dobbs is stepping away from broadcasting in hopes of embarking on a career in politics. In his final address he said, "some leaders in the media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role here at CNN" and to "engage in constructive problem-solving." However, at this time, it is unclear as to whether stepping into the American political arena would be a wise decision for Dobbs.

Our country is at a point in history where we need our politicians to be politicians, and journalists to be journalists. Unfortunately, all we can do at the moment is speculate. Until more information is divulged, Dobbs' sudden resignation remains shrouded in mystery.

Since then, the network has hastily replaced him with political journalist John King, claiming he was the ideal choice for the job. The new program will air beginning in 2010 in Dobbs' former time slot. Only time will tell whether or not King will be able to aptly fill the shoes of his prominent predecessor.