Long-time CNN news anchor Lou Dobbs announced Wednesday night that he would be leaving the cable network after more than 30 years.
"Over the past six months, it's become very clear that strong winds are buffeting the country and affecting all of us," Dobbs said before the first break of his 7 p.m. broadcast.
"Some leaders in media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem-solving as well as to contribute positively to a better understanding of the great issues of our day and to continue to do so in the most honest and direct language possible."
Dobbs said he was leaving CNN to help facilitate positive changes to public issues like immigration policy, job creation, the environment, and U.S. involvement in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, among others.
"These issues are defined in the public arena by partisanship and ideology," he said.
Dobbs, one of the first anchors at CNN, said network president Jonathan Klein agreed to release the 64-year-old anchor from his contract to pursue possibly one of "a number of options."
According to The New York Times television and digital media reporter Brian Stelter, News Corp's (NASDAQ:NWS) Fox Business Network is considering adding Dobbs to its lineup.
Dobbs met with Roger Ailes, the chairman of the Fox News Channel, in September, the Times is reporting.
At the time Dobbs was reportedly viewed as a potential hire for the Fox Business Network. But a Fox spokesperson on Wednesday told the Times, “We have not had any discussions with Lou Dobbs for Fox News or Fox Business.”
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