When President Bush announced his illegal-immigrant amnesty plan in January, the media were abuzz--and rightly so.When President Bush announced his illegal-immigrant amnesty plan in January, the media were abuzz--and rightly so. It's their relative silence on immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. the rest of the time that bothers Lou Dobbs--who, with his regular "Broken Borders" segment on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight Lou Dobbs Tonight is an editorial and discussion program on CNN, anchored by journalist Lou Dobbs, who is also its managing editor. The hour-long show is aired live on evenings every weekday, and repeated later at night. , does more than his part to compensate. Dobbs's continuing immigration "beat" is something rare among print publications, and practically nonexistent non·ex·is·tence n. 1. The condition of not existing. 2. Something that does not exist. non in broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism refers to television news and radio news, as well as the online news outlets of broadcast affiliates. . Dobbs began looking at immigration as a post-9/11 homeland-security matter, but found that "ancillary issues, like the economic and social impact, were not debated. There has been a critical failure on the part of policymakers in this area." Dobbs and his correspondents report a few times weekly on a wide range of issues affected by immigration, from overcrowding overcrowding overcrowding of animal accommodation. Many countries now publish codes of practice which define what the appropriate volumetric allowances should be for each species of animal when they are housed indoors. Breaches of these codes is overcrowding. in schools to the plight of ranch owners living near the Mexican border. They untangle the complex web of U.S. immigration policy to provide real answers and to educate America's public (and its leaders). This work sets Dobbs apart, and earned him this year's Eugene Katz Award for Excellence in the Coverage of Immigration (from the Center for Immigration Studies The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) is a right-leaning, immigration reduction-oriented, non-profit, non-partisan research organization and was founded in 1985 with roots in the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and anti-immigration activist John ). While most broadcast coverage of immigration relies heavily on humaninterest sob stories, Dobbs looks past this low-hanging fruit to pursue the facts--talking to all sides, and looking at all angles. This has exposed Dobbs to some harsh--if irrational--criticism: "When we started to talk about illegal immigration ... we had hundreds, maybe thousands [of e-mails]--basically accusing me of being a racist." This may be part of why so few journalists take immigration seriously. But Dobbs also blames a media "orthodoxy" that "constrains the rigorous examination of issues. We try very hard every day to break through that, and border security is a very important issue to do it on." |
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