Author Archives: Ralph Hanson

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” Printed this day in 1845

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

Today is the anniversary of the publication of what may be Edgar Allan Poe’s best known work, the narrative poem The Raven. It was printed on this day in 1845 in the New York Evening Mirror. The poem tells of a young … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 4 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Journalists can disagree and remain civil – Government Shutdown Edition

Posted on January 26, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

Last weekend, the U.S. government shut down for three days.  There was a lot of debate, especially in the partisan press, about what it all meant, and who the winners and losers were. And we’ve reached a point, especially if … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 6 | Leave a comment

Reporting Offensive Language from the White House – Part II

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

A couple of weeks ago President Trump generated a lot of news by making some highly offensive remarks about the country of Haiti, the continent of Africa, and presumably about a couple of countries in central America. The story resulted … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 14, Chapter 6 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Snow Day Recipe: Solly’s Cottage Cheese Muffins

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

The news yesterday was that a major winter storm, a blizzard even, was on its way.  Both the university and the public schools closed for today by noon on Sunday.  And so everyone in Kearney, Nebraska waited for the weather … Continue reading →

Posted in Food | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Remembering Dr. King – “Will we be extremists for hate or for love?”

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

One of the greatest honors of my life was being invited to speak at the Martin Luther King, Jr. candlelight vigil three years ago at the UNK student union, along with Kevin Chaney, who was then UNK’s women’s basketball coach.  This year’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 12 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Reporting Offensive Language from the White House – Part I

Posted on January 13, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

As you can’t help but have noticed, on Thursday President Trump made some highly offensive remarks about the country of Haiti, the continent of Africa, and presumably about a couple of countries in central America.  He was quoted in the Washington … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 14, Chapter 6 | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Meet my blogging students

Posted on January 11, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

This spring I’m teaching JMC 406 – Commentary and Blogging, a course I first taught 30 years ago this winter. (Of course, when I first taught it, there was not a blogging component, given that blogging didn’t exist yet…) Here … Continue reading →

Posted in JMC 406 | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves To Death is as relevant now as it was more than 30 years ago

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

Back in 1985, NYU communication professor Neil Postman published his book Amusing Ourselves To Death. This book has had an influence on me my entire academic career.  Among the reasons it had such an impact on me was this interview C-SPAN … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 1, Chapter 9 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Questions Worth Asking (Maybe) – Fire and Fury Edition

Posted on January 4, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

Writer/journalist Michael Wolff has a the new book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House being published imminently, and it’s attracting lots of Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)! Sounds interesting.  Where can I read it without buying the book? A … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 13, Chapter 6 | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Disney To Acquire Large Portions of 21st Century Fox

Posted on December 24, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

Yes, I know this was news a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been busy, and this will be around for a long time, assuming it gets approved… There’s been a lot of talk lately about one of media conglomerates acquiring … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 3 | Tagged , , | Leave a comment