A MSNBC host recently underwent what one college journalism professor calls a "Lou Dobbs-like transformation," advocating for small taxpayers instead of big business, and the change seems to be helping him gain viewers, reports the New York Times.

The MSNBC host is Dylan Ratigan, and his 4 p.m. show averaged 330,000 viewers in May, representing a 20% rise in viewers from the newscast that used to appear during the time slot last year, the story says.

Ratigan tells the newspaper that he underwent his transformation in the fall of 2008, coming to the belief that the American public is being held captive by banks that function like government-subsidized casinos. " “It’s like being the guy who was running the casino, and then having an awakening and realizing that the casino is what’s killing the country,” Ratigan says.

Calling himself a taxpayer advocate, Ratigan has been using terms such as "banksters" (a combination of banker and gangster), marking a far cry from his previous stint on CNBC, which many see as a Wall Street-friendly cheerleader and where he hosted a stock-picking show, the article says.

According to the article, "Ratigan underwent a ‘Lou Dobbs-like transformation,’ from sober-minded journalist to all-out advocate, said Andrew Leckey, the president of the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University."