Author Archives: Ralph Hanson

Jeremy Littau’s tweet storm on the news business goes viral

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Ralph Hanson

On January 24, 2019, my friend Jeremy Littau, a journalism professor at Leigh University, started a tweet storm of 30 or so posts that outlined an argument of why news media layoffs keep happening. Within half an hour I had … Continue reading →

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Readers Respond: Ought newspapers delay reporting names in fatal accidents for 24 hours?

Posted on January 30, 2019 by Ralph Hanson

A couple of weeks ago I wrote blog post discussing an editorial from a western Nebraska paper explaining why the staff had decided to delay publishing the names of people killed in accidents for 24 hours to try to make … Continue reading →

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Ought newspapers delay reporting names in fatal accidents for 24 hours?

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Ralph Hanson

The Scottsbluff, Nebraska Star-Herald  announced a new policy in an editorial of delaying reporting the names in fatal accidents for 24 hours. The editors are concerned that extended family members, such as aunts, uncles and grandparents, might find out first … Continue reading →

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Ten Favorite Twitter Feeds

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Ralph Hanson

I assigned my students in Commentary and Blogging (JMC406) to post ten interesting Twitter feeds they follow – I decided I would do the assignment as well. Here’s ten accounts I follow on Twitter that are among my favorites. 1. … Continue reading →

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Check out my JMC 406 student bloggers

Posted on January 11, 2019 by Ralph Hanson

This spring I’m teaching my commentary and blogging class, and as always, I like to share links to my students’ work here. They will be writing and commenting on a wide range of issues over the course of the semester. … Continue reading →

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Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

Posted on January 9, 2019 by Ralph Hanson

Did the major television networks collaborate together on deciding to give live coverage to President Trump’s border wall speech?  Kinda looks like it. They all gave coverage to 45’s speech, and they all declined to give coverage to President Obama’s … Continue reading →

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SECRET 7: There Is No “They”

Posted on January 1, 2019 by Ralph Hanson

If you listen to media criticism for long, you will hear a pair of words used over and over again: they and them. It is easy to take potshots at some anonymous bogeymen—they—who embody all evil. I even engaged in … Continue reading →

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SECRET 6: Online Media Are Mobile Media

Posted on December 31, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

Going online used to mean going someplace where there was a computer plugged into an Ethernet cable, but increasingly, going online now means pulling out your mobile device. And in many parts of the world, the mobile internet is the … Continue reading →

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SECRET 5: All Media Are Social

Posted on December 30, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

No matter what media you are using—whether it be a legacy newspaper or television station or a social media channel like Facebook—you are always interacting with it at a social level—whether it be face-to-face, with friends on Facebook, or with … Continue reading →

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Secret 4: Nothing’s New: Everything That Happened in the Past Will Happen Again

Posted on December 27, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

Secret 4 is a little different than the oft-repeated slogan, “Those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it.” Instead, it says that media face the same issues over and over again as technologies change and new people come … Continue reading →

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