Three Things CNN Can Do To Save Itself: (Hint — Don't Hire David Shuster)

The entertainment web site TheWrap has posted a tip sheet for the embattled CNN cable news network.

CNN keeps hemorrhaging viewers, and TheWrap is offering some advice for the network to snap out of its funk.

Why any media organization feels the need to prop up a rival in our competitive culture is a mystery, but let’s assume TheWrap.com has only noble intentions. That’s why it’s a shame the web site doesn’t come close to offering practical solutions to CNN’s woes.

So, in the interest of media camaraderie, here are three steps that would actually help the network come back to life. Suffice to say TheWrap didn’t touch on any of them.

1. Stop insulting half your audience. CNN has spent far too much air time painting Tea Party activists as extremists and hate mongers, and that’s when its hosts aren’t calling them by a gross sexual term. The most recent polling tells us the Tea Party’s positions are more popular than those espoused by President Barack Obama. Insult them, and you’re telling roughly half the country to look elsewhere for its news content. Which is exactly what they’re doing.
2. Don’t hire David Shuster. The MSNBC host recently taped a pilot for CNN, a move which got him suspended indefinitely from his home network. But why try to steal a host away from your struggling rival? How ’bout prying one of Fox News’ talents away? Or, better yet, find somebody completely new? Hiring Shuster will only confirm CNN’s leftward tilt, given Shuster’s ideologically slanted broadcasts.
3. Copy the winners. Two news channels offer a very different perspective on the news. Fox News embraces unabashed conservatives as contributors and features a nightly lineup that leans to the right. MSNBC’s news content leans left, as do its high-profile talkers. The former is cleaning up in the ratings, the latter continues to lag behind.

Pop quiz time – which one would you emulate if you want more viewers? Take a moment to think about it — there’s no time constraints here. Why not analyze the stories covered on “The O’Reilly Factor” and consider covering them on your signature shows? News broadcasts have swiped themes and angles from The New York Times for years. Why not study your uber-popular competition and tackle similar topics?

It’s unlikely CNN executives will consider any of the above. Just don’t be surprised if in two years they look back on their current ratings with envy.