Author Archives: Ralph Hanson

The Many Faces of the Distracted Boyfriend Meme

You all know this photo, right? It’s the image from the Distracted Boyfriend meme that you’ve seen used a 1,000 different ways.  The image was made by Spanish photographer Antonio Guillem in 2015 as a stock photo that could be licensed … Continue reading

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Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

How will the Music Modernization Act help musicians? The new MMA simplifies streaming payments for songwriters, older recorded music and producers. And how does the music industry loses $2.65 billion a year from coffee shops? When the owners use their … Continue reading

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Dangerous Times Globally for Journalists

I’ve been putting off writing this blog post because I really don’t want to write it. I don’t like writing about a journalist being raped and murdered for trying to cover totalitarian regimes. another journalist has been murdered, once again … Continue reading

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Talking about the news and how we respond to it

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I’m working to finish all the supporting materials for the seventh edition of Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, which hasn’t left much time for blogging. Hope to get back on a regular schedule … Continue reading

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Everyone’s Gone To The Movies – Diversity in storytelling edition

A week ago or so I saw and loved the popular movie Crazy Rich Asians. Not usually much of a rom-com kinda guy, but this film was clever and smart. One of the things I liked best about it was that … Continue reading

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A Motorcycle Ride to the United 93 Memorial on a Rainy Summer Day

This has nothing to do with the media. It’s a brief story about a ride I took on my motorcycle to the United 93 Memorial on a rainy June day back in 2004. It was written shortly after I had … Continue reading

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Should people’s heads be exploding over NY Times anonymous commentary from inside the Trump White House?

This week has not suffered from lack of news for people like me who are obsessed with the coverage of news coming out of Washington. First, there was all the fuss over Nike featuring NFL kneeling protester Colin Kaepernick being … Continue reading

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Nike, Colin Kaepernick, Politics & Social Media

There’s been an ongoing battle going on in social media for the year or so over the meaning of Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling during the national anthem to protest police violence against black men and the fact that he has not … Continue reading

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Remembering Senator John McCain

There is much about Sen. John McCain that I have admired throughout my adult life, starting when he was my senator in Arizona back in the early 1990s. The wide range of people praising Sen. McCain demonstrates that we do … Continue reading

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Portrait of the National Portrait Gallery

I recently was in Washington, D.C. for an academic conference, and fortunately enough, the conference hotel was about three blocks from the National Portrait Gallery and Museum of American Art. I’ve been there on several occasions in the past, but … Continue reading

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