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CHC uses watchdog report to blast news anchors for immigration fear-mongering |
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By Jared Allen
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Posted: 05/21/08 07:30 PM [ET] |
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) on Wednesday seized on a media watchdog group's scathing review of prime-time news coverage of immigration, saying the fear-mongering being practiced by several anchors is partly responsible for sabotaging last year's failed immigration overhaul.
CHC Chairman Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) said the report by Media Matters, “Fear & Loathing in Prime Time: Immigration Myths in Cable News,” confirms what the CHC has long suspected — that CNN anchors Lou Dobbs and Glen Beck and Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly trade in “divisive, inflammatory and often misleading information that only creates fear, hatred and stereotyping of immigrants.”
Baca joined other members of the CHC and report author Paul Waldman at an afternoon press conference to blast the immigration coverage of Dobbs, O’Reilly and Beck and to send a message to CNN and Fox News executives and advertisers that “we’re watching.”
According to Media Matters, a liberal watchdog group, their research of the three shows over the course of 2007 found “a series of myths that feed viewers’ resentment and fears, seemingly geared toward creating anti-immigrant hysteria.
“On their eponymous programs, Dobbs, O’Reilly and Beck serve up a steady diet of fear, anger and resentment on the topic of illegal immigration,” Waldman said.
Calling Dobbs the “most obsessed” with immigration, Waldman said the CNN anchor especially perpetuates a misperception that immigrants are more likely to commit crimes and is responsible for spreading urban legends regarding the trade relationship between Mexico and the United States.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said the report only supports the same anecdotal conclusions they had reached long ago.
“We all want to figure out a solution [to immigration],” Menendez said. “But if we are to have a civilized debate about it, we have to come to the table with the facts.”
A CNN spokesman declined to comment on the report. A Fox News spokesman could not immediately be reached.
Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) said a meeting between Dobbs and the CHC held last year to discuss these issues apparently yielded no results.
“We challenged him to put our community in a more positive light,” she said. “He apparently wasn’t up to it.”
Baca said the false perceptions being broadcast with increasing frequency are hindering efforts to bring comprehensive reform back to the table.
Following the press conference Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) said the CHC will be looking for ways to call more attention to the report as it continues to push for a broad immigration bill.
“I’d love to have the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] comment on it, I’d love to have the committees of jurisdiction in Congress comment on it, I’d love to have the networks comment on it,” Becerra said. “Because as consumers and viewers of news, we have a responsibility to make sure that the public airwaves are being used appropriately.”
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