Public Eye
February 28, 2006 1:00 PM

Dubai To Dobbs: Shut Up. Dobbs To Dubai: No.

By
Brian Montopoli
Topics
Media Issues
In what liberals are calling a "rare display of cojones by the MSM," CNN's Lou Dobbs has publicly called out the state-owned Dubai Ports World, the company at the center of the ports controversy, for trying to get CNN to silence him:
"Dubai Ports World tonight is making what I consider to be a rather astonishing new attempt to silence me and our coverage of this ports deal and our reporting of what at least I consider to be legitimate national security concerns about this transaction. Dubai Ports World has actually refused to grant CNN anymore interviews from Washington or London, and it's refused to allow CNN to videotape its operations in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong if we were to show you the video on this broadcast."
He also said that this was "not the first time that Dubai Ports World has tried to silence" him, and added the following:
"Well, let me assure you that this latest attempt to silence our reporting and to explore the national security interests just like their last effort won't succeed. CNN's management, to its great credit, says it won't comply with any of Dubai Port World's demands, and I'll guarantee you that we're going to continue to report on the facts of this deal, we're going to continue to analyze it, we're going to continue to absolutely scrutinize our elected officials and administration officials who, in some cases, are not being straightforward about the national security interests and the reasons motivating this deal."
AMERICAblog has "a little advice" for Dubai: "In developed democracies the government doesn't get to tell the media to shut up or else."

Crooks and Liars has the video if you'd like to watch the rather indignant Dobbs yourself, who, as the Associated Press's David Bauder points out, has been "on attack" over the issue. There are two issues here: Dubai Ports World's tactics and Dobbs' crusade. The former is a no-brainer: Dubai Ports World was ham-handed, and they've hurt their cause. The latter seems more complicated. Is there a clear line between Dobbs the editorialist and Dobbs the reporter? Do we care? Dobbs told AP he believes "the issues are too important to feign any kind of neutrality, or pretend to some objectivity that simply doesn't exist. I'm not one of those journalists who's interested in doing he said-she said journalism. You know as a journalist, the truth is not about fair and balanced." Countered the Media Research Center's Dan Gainor, in the same article: "He and I have different views about what journalists are supposed to do. To me, you're either an advocate or a journalist. You shouldn't pretend to be both."

Add a Comment
by djman1142 March 2, 2006 3:14 PM EST
Dobbs is trying to boost his microscopic ratings, and playing the race card against Dubai is the only way this second-rater will inflate his percentages to more than 5% of the cable viewing audience. Dobbs is no journalist and a very lousy advocate. Viewers have voted with their remotes that Dobbs is not worth watching.
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by dbravo2 February 28, 2006 10:01 PM EST
Thank you to Lou Dobbs for stepping up to the plate and taking a stand against the villianous Bush administration!
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by peterbaldwin-2009 February 28, 2006 7:29 PM EST
Risen mentions in his bestseller, State of War, how the Dubai port was the central conduit for smuggling operations for Saddam before the war. He also mentions how the Saudi intelligence operatives liked using a photo of Osama bin Laden as a screensaver. The UAE cannot be trusted with our ports; their sympathies lie with al-Qaeda and not the American people.
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by peterbaldwin-2009 February 28, 2006 6:58 PM EST
Dubai's attack on the Congress and the American people for not swollowing the nonsensical line that Great Britain (an ally with soldiers on the ground in Iraq) controling our ports is no different than the UAE (complicit in smuggling garage door openers by the boatload into Iraq)controling our ports because they are both foreign entities, is a showdown powerplay to settle who runs the world: corporations or governments. Frist went weak-kneed and voted for the corporations, and then Hillary Clinton seconded him.
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by mattcat25 February 28, 2006 5:25 PM EST
The Media should be controlled by the Government (either ours, or a foreign inve$tor) to insure that policy will not be hindered by irresponsible news hounds just looking for a story. Long live Big Brother!
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