Lou Dobbs Quitting CNN; Obama Grants Fox News Interview

Meredith Jessup | November 11, 2009 10:49 PM

A couple of major media stories breaking this evening...

During his November 11 broadcast, CNN host Lou Dobbs announced he will be leaving the network. Apparently his resignation is effective immediately and tonight's broadcast was his last. According to the

NYTimes, this announcement comes as a surprise as his contract was valid through 2011:

Newsbusters questions the sincerity of Dobbs' "resignation," wondering if Dobbs is being forced out by the left-tilting network. NB also reports there are rumors that Dobbs may be headed over to Fox News...

Speaking of Fox: In another media news item this evening, Drudge is reporting that President Obama has agreed to a sit-down interview with Fox News White House correspondent Major Garrett. The interview will reportedly take place during the president's trip to China next week.

So here's the obvious question--was it Major's charm that persuaded the president to do this interview? After all, we know how much the Obama administration has gone out of its way recently to single-out the conservative network.

The president's own communications director

Anita Dunn insisted that the president would appear on Fox, but only "because he engages with ideological opponents. He has done that before and he will do it again... when he goes on Fox he understands he is not going on it as a news network at this point. He is going on it to debate the opposition."

So is the president thirsty for a good debate? Or does the White House wish to retract its accusations about Fox being "either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party"?