Strategic PR firm The Dilenschneider
Group out of New York continues its lowkey
shout-out (make that “whisper-out”) for
Lou Dobbs, bridge-builder on immigration
reform.
Dobbs exited his regular CNN gig late
last fall after catching increasing flak for his
longstanding and, opponents argued, divisive
criticism of U.S. immigration policy. He
has since been mulling the next chapter in
his life, which could include a run for office,
possibly even the nation’s highest.
“My goal is to engage with those individuals
and groups representing both sides
of the debate, with seemingly intractable
positions, and bring them to the middle,
where I live,” Dobbs wrote in a thoughtful
letter to Multichannel News last December
in response to an inquiry as to just what his
next move might be.
The Dileschneider Group has also sent
a couple of letters to the magazine in the
past couple of months to keep us apprised
of Dobbs’ status. The latest, dated Feb. 9,
enclosed a copy of a January story from The
Hill about Democrats in the Senate reaching
out to the former CNN anchor on the immigration-
reform issue.
The letter pointed out that Dobbs has
done “significant and substantial outreach”
to the Hispanic community, and would be
doing more of it.
Both Dobbs and the Dilenschneider folks
talk about bridge-building in their correspondence,
and the latter even talk of
Dobbs’s “work toward concrete solutions,”
though the connection might be some unintentional
linguistic rebar.
“While there may be no immediate story,”
wrote Robert Dilenschneider, “I wanted
you to know about what Dobbs has had underway
with no fanfare.”
Well, none except a PR firm helpfully
pointing it out so that Dobbs has both
hands free to build those bridges and does
not have to use one to blow his own horn.
WE TV Star ‘Locates’Role on Oprah’s Show,Benefitting His Own
Last Thursday was a big day for WE TV: Troy
Dunn, star of The Locator, was an in-studio
guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show when
Oprah turned her attention to Dunn’s efforts
helping people relocate loved ones
after years of separation.
It was a coup for Dunn and for WE TV,
which had never booked a guest on Oprah’s
show before. The segment included Dunn
reuniting a mother and foster daughter
after 42 years — tearfully, natch — and a
terminally ill woman and her father after 20
years.
Reuniting families and friends has become
a familiar theme on TV: ABC aired a
show called Find My Family, and Winfrey’s
upcoming OWN network with Discovery
Communications has ordered a pilot called
Search, featuring search specialist Pam Slaton,
who also performed a reuniting act for
Oprah’s show last week.
But Dunn potentially benefits the most
from the Oprah endorsement: his show
returns for a fourth season on WE TV at 10
p.m. on March 3.
