Author Archives: Ralph Hanson

What do we talk about when we talk about fake news? Part 2

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

Over three days I’m sequentially posting a paper I’m giving at the Western Social Science Association.  Instead of being in the form of a traditional academic paper, I’m going to post it in HTML with links to many of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 1, Chapter 14, Chapter 6 | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

What do we talk about when we talk about fake news? Part 1

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

Over the next three days I’m going to be sequentially posting a paper I’m giving at the Western Social Science Association.  Instead of being in the form of a traditional academic paper, I’m going to post it in HTML with … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 1, Chapter 14, Chapter 6 | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Pepsi, United, and Sean Spicer in a race to see who can be worst at PR

Posted on April 11, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

UPDATE: Special new United nasty message to full fare first class passenger. Presented with little further commentary, tweets explaining why Pepsi, United Airlines, and the Trump administration have had a bad week in communicating with their publics: It started with Pepsi and … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 13 | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

High School Journalism Students in Pittsburg, Kansas Take Down High School Principal With Questionable Credentials

Posted on April 6, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

Pittsburg, Kansas is not a city that shows up much in the national media. Before this week, there had only been about four mentions of the city in the Washington Post over the last decade.  One was when Pulitzer Prize-winning poet James … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 13, Chapter 6 | 1 Comment

Are ‘Contact’ and ‘Prometheus’ essentially the same movie?

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

  I recently saw the 1997 science fiction movie Contact on streaming for the first time, nearly 20 years after its initial release.  And as I watched it, I was immediately struck by how many ways it resembled director Ridley Scott’s Alien … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 8, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Did McDonald’s Twitter Get Hacked or Go Rogue With Trump Dissing Tweet?

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

The tweet was up and gone from the official McDonald’s Twitter feed within 20 minutes this morning – but for the time it was up, it was a drawing a huge amount of attention: Not surprisingly, McDonald’s quickly posted that … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 12 | Leave a comment

What did Rachel Maddow do to Upset So Many People with Trump’s Tax Return?

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

Last night on her MSNBC show, Rachel Maddow and her guest, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston, revealed the front two pages of President Trump’s 2005 tax return.  The reveal had been promoted on the network and via social media for … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 6, Chapter 9 | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

If a news story punches all your buttons – it probably isn’t so…

Posted on March 3, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

You know how you’ve always been warned about being careful when something seems too good to be true? That’s never more the case than when you see a story online and say to yourself, “YES! This is exactly how I … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 14, Chapter 6 | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

Posted on February 28, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

How could have better design skills eliminated Sunday’s Oscar disaster? Oddly enough, the cards read by the presenters at the Oscars only list the winner in a reasonable sized type.  The name of the category is relegated to tiny type … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 10, Chapter 5, Chapter 8, Chapter 9 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Washington Post adopts new nameplate slogan – Democracy Dies in Darkness

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Ralph Hanson

I’m not sure how long it’s been up, but I noticed it this morning. And I think it’s the most distinctive newspaper motto since the New York Times adopted “All the news that’s fit to print.” The new motto has been … Continue reading →

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