The Media Matter Action Network recently published their report on a study of Cable News programs and how they treat the issue of illegal immigration. By studying cable news commentators Lou Dobbs, Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck, the report sheds light onto the propagation of immigration myths and how the anti-immigrant message is dissemenated to the general public. The findings are detailed and shocking. By creating a culture of fear, these programs often deliver inaccurate and outlandish information that goes unchecked by their broader viewing audience. The report analyzes a number of myths about immigration, debunking them and demonstrating how each commentator has worked to perpetuate them. It also offers detailed information on the content of the programs and a list of direct quotes from various commentators and pundits that cultivate a culture of fear, anger and hate.
An excerpt:
Media Matters Action Network undertook this study in order to document how immigration is discussed and debated on cable news. When it comes to immigration, cable news overflows not just with vitriolic rhetoric, but also with a series of myths that feed viewers’ resentment and fears, fostering hostility toward immigrants.
We focus our analysis on a trio of cable commentators: Lou Dobbs, Bill O’Reilly, and Glenn Beck. While hosts on other cable programs regularly discuss illegal immigration (particularly on Fox News, where it is a frequent topic on Hannity & Colmes and Special Report with Brit Hume), these three are the most notable for a number of reasons. 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.
Check it out and sign the petition to end “the steady diet of fear, anger, and resentment Dobbs, O’Reilly, and Beck promote day after day”!!
Rampant population growth threatens our economy and quality of life. Immigration, both legal and illegal, are fueling this growth.
I’m not talking just about the obvious problems that we see in the news – growing dependence on foreign oil, carbon emissions, soaring commodity prices, environmental degradation, etc. I’m talking about the effect upon rising unemployment and poverty in America.
I should introduce myself. I am the author of a book titled “Five Short Blasts: A New Economic Theory Exposes The Fatal Flaw in Globalization and Its Consequences for America.” To make a long story short, as population density rises beyond some optimum level, per capita consumption of products begins to decline out of the need to conserve space. People who live in crowded conditions simply don’t have enough space to use and store many products. This declining per capita consumption, in the face of rising productivity (per capita output, which always rises), inevitably yields rising unemployment and poverty.
This theory has huge implications for U.S. policy toward population management, especially immigration policy. Our policies of encouraging high rates of immigration are rooted in the belief of economists that population growth is a good thing, fueling economic growth. Through most of human history, the interests of the common good and business (corporations) were both well-served by continuing population growth. For the common good, we needed more workers to man our factories, producing the goods needed for a high standard of living. This population growth translated into sales volume growth for corporations. Both were happy.
But, once an optimum population density is breached, their interests diverge. It is in the best interest of the common good to stabilize the population, avoiding an erosion of our quality of life through high unemployment and poverty. However, it is still in the interest of corporations to fuel population growth because, even though per capita consumption goes into decline, total consumption still increases. We now find ourselves in the position of having corporations and economists influencing public policy in a direction that is not in the best interest of the common good.
The U.N. ranks the U.S. with eight other countries – India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Uganda, Ethiopia and China – as accounting for fully half of the world’s population growth by 2050. The U.S. is the only developed country still experiencing third world-like population growth, most of which is due to immigration. It’s absolutely imperative that our population be stabilized, and that’s impossible without dramatically reining in immigration, both legal and illegal. Otherwise, rampant population growth soon won’t be the only thing we have in common with the third world.
If you’re interested in learning more about this important new economic theory, I invite you to visit my web site at OpenWindowPublishingCo.com where you can read the preface for free, join in my blog discussion and, of course, purchase the book if you like. (It’s also available at Amazon.com.)
Please forgive the somewhat “spammish” nature of the previous paragraph. I just don’t know how else to inject this new perspective into the immigration debate without drawing attention to the book that explains the theory.
Pete Murphy
Author, Five Short Blasts
Hey guys -
Just wanted to let you know that Paul Waldman (senior fellow at Media Matters for America) will be on Lou Dobbs tonight to discuss the report from this post. Tune into CNN at 7:00 for what will surely be interesting television!