Dear MSNBC,

We need you to deliver.  In health care reform, we are witnessing what will almost certainly be seen as the greatest and most important legislative conflict of Barack Obama's presidency, perhaps even a generation.  So you know, I'm sure, how infuriating it is to know that your competitor FoxNews, a 'news' channel with an unprecedented resemblance to pure propaganda, and a complete lack of objectivity or restraint, has by far the highest cable news ratings, consistently tripling or quadrupling your programs in every time slot.  The effect is debilitating, not just to health care reform but to the public opinion of moderates, independents, and other potential MSNBC viewers.  FoxNews is the most powerful weapon against health care reform and your own viewership.

As progressives, we just have you, MSNBC.  You do better than poor CNN, but Olbermann, Maddow, Matthews and the gang don't even get half of Fox's reach.  With one month to win the public opinion battle, millions of suffering people are depending on you to fight back and push Obama's agenda forward.  This is an emergency. 


So here are a few lessons from Fox I think would increase your ratings.

Tip #1: Always have in-studio young, attractive 'political consultants' in flashy clothes.  Start with a reliable point of interest for men: sexy, glamorous women.  It doesn't matter what their credentials are, but they need to be attractive, persuasive, and sharp-tongued.  Also, keeping with FoxNews, MSNBC should cover as many stories as possible that give them an excuse to show file footage of semi-nude women.

Tip #2: Broadcast news 24/7.  No more Lockup or documentaries. In the early hours of the morning on weekends, the FoxNews has a virtual monopoly on news coverage, while MSNBC saves on production costs by running documentaries. Playing re-runs wouldn't increase production costs, and the ratings difference probably wouldn't be dramatic.

Tip #3: Conservative guests should be pathetic, laughable stereotypes. Hannity convened his prestigious Great American Panel the other night, and the sole liberal voice was a timid, soft-spoken man from GreenPeace who had no problem letting Sean Hannity walk all over him. Consider two other liberal that have been regulars on FoxNews: Juan Williams and Alan Colmes.  Who can be the conservative patsy for MSNBC? The possibilities are tantalizing.     

Tip #4: Use science, psychology to increase viewership.  It's important that MSNBC use science and proven tactics to increase viewership and the persuasion factor.

Tip #5: Hosts need to become full-blown opinion outlets, and fight back against charges of partisanship.  People can get actual news elsewhere.  In many people's eyes, FoxNews isn't the conservative propaganda channel.  It's fair and balanced.  That empty tag line has been very effective, and MSNBC needs to be completely liberal while proclaiming itself as authoritative and fair.

Tip #6: Focus on how conservatives are betraying their own constituency. Include more stories of red-state, Joe Six-Pack Americans suffering from conservative policies.  Don't pander to the Northeast, the urban/suburban Americans, the upper-middle class, etc.  

Tip #7: More celebrity guests. Hannity had a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd the other night, and surely his presence made many channel surfers pause there.  And of course instead of asking him  about his music, Hannity asked him why he thinks Obama would "trash a brave police officer."  Celebrities will definitely increase viewership, but hosts shouldn't waste time asking them about themselves.  Get right into criticizing Republican leadership.

Tip #8: It's more effective to criticize Obama's opponents than to praise Obama. I would imagine that focusing on the absurdity of conservative attacks on Obama would be much more effective than outright praise for Obama.

Tip #9: Fox is "America's News HQ" and the "No Spin Zone".  Come up with a tagline that proclaims MSNBC as the true, reliable news source.

I'm not saying you are a public-service organization and you're going to change your business model out of altruism.  But it should be possible to strengthen the progressive movement while improving your ratings dramatically, by simply doing the inverse of what Fox is doing. Progressives desperately need an MSNBC that is fine-tuned to effectively promote the progressive position, while maximizing ratings.

You guys are the experts.  You know what you're doing and you have certain constraints.  But the other guys are doing something right, and we progressives would greatly appreciate it if you took a page from their book and turned it against them.

Yours,

Carl Bentham