Tuned In+Television | February 27, 2012

Lou Dobbs Vs. Kids’ Movies: Does Children’s Morality Have a Well-Known Liberal Bias?

By James Poniewozik

Dobbs spun a scary new bedtime story for his audience: "the President's liberal friends in Hollywood" attempting to "indoctrinate" children by exposing them to the anti-capitalist credos of Occupy Wall Street. The claim is ridiculous on its face—and more so if you take it seriously.

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Tuned In+News Media | October 7, 2010

Was Lou Dobbs' High Horse Groomed By an Undocumented Worker?

By James Poniewozik

    Lou Dobbs, the former CNN host who turned up this week as a client on The Good Wife, is in a real-life legal controversy. After he made a name for years with his crusade against illegal immigration, a year-long investigation by The Nation charges that Dobbs himself employed undocumented workers to maintain his [...]

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Tuned In+December 2, 2009

TV Tonight: "The Body" of Evidence

By James Poniewozik

We live in the age of paranoia: Presidential birth certificates, Vice-Presidential-candidates’ grandkids, terrorist attacks, flu vaccines—there is nothing that cannot become the stuff of conspiracy theory. So it is prescient thinking, if not spectacular TV, that TruTV enlisted wrestler-turned-governor-now-turned-TV-star Jesse “The Body” Ventura to host Conspiracy Theory, which debuts tonight.

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | November 13, 2009

Should Lou Dobbs Run for President?

By James Poniewozik

Well, “should” rarely enters into the decision, I realize. But among the theories propounded by Dobbs’ resignation from CNN—and prompted by his vague reference to seeking “options” in the public sphere—is that he’s considering running for office. Salon’s Joe Conason thinks he may be thinking of running for The Big One. So when I say [...]

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Tuned In+November 12, 2009

Cable-News News: King Moves Up, Hannity Owns Up

By James Poniewozik

That was quick: Less than 24 hours after Lou Dobbs abruptly left the air, CNN has announced he’ll be replaced by magic-wall-wrangler John King, hosting a daily political program. King’s show begins early next year. Thereby ensuring that the network’s 7 p.m. hour will not have to deal with future Dobbs-like controversies, or, most likely, [...]

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Tuned In+Uncategorized | July 28, 2009

CNN's Klein on Dobbs and Birthers

By James Poniewozik

At TV press tour, there are the things networks want to talk about and the things you want to ask them about. CNN president Jon Klein wanted to talk about John King, Christiane Amanpour and Soledad O’Brien, who joined him on stage to promote, respectively, State of the Union, a new international-news show and the [...]