Author Archives: Ralph Hanson

Farewell to Pebble – Indie smartwatch maker shuts down after being acquired by Fitbit

It was with real sadness yesterday when I read that Fitbit had purchased smartwatch company Pebble in order to acquire their software engineers and intellectual property – but not their core smartwatch business. Fitbit is the giant fitness band manufacturer, and … Continue reading

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Guest Blog Post: The Price of Global Journalism

My friend Dr. Chris Allen, a journalism professor at University of Nebraska at Omaha, has been working on global journalism issues from Russia, to Afghanistan, to Oman, and beyond.  I am reposting what he wrote on November 22 with his permission as … Continue reading

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Blue Hill students present challenging “Laramie Project”

Story from NTV – Nebraska TV Blue Hill, Nebraska is a small town by most people’s standards, with a population under 1,000.  But that doesn’t stop the local high school from having a vibrant theater program.  Over the last few … Continue reading

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All Media are Social – alt-right figure off Twitter, death threats on Facebook & fake news ban on Google

Lots of social media in the news this week: Twitter suspends prominent alt-right accounts Twitter has suspended a number of accounts associated with alt-right figure Richard Spencer.  Spencer is the president of a white nationalist think tank. In the past, … Continue reading

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“Do they still sing the blues in Chicago?”

I first became a Cubs fan back in the late 1970s in the years before lights were installed at Wrigley Field. That meant that all of the Cubs’ home games were day games.  This meant that during the long days … Continue reading

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Election News in the News

There’s a lot of strange news about the upcoming election going on.  Here’s a sampling: Jay Rosen: Newspapers shouldn’t apologize for criticizing Trump Media critic and NYU professor Jay Rosen argues that newspapers that have been harsh in their reporting … Continue reading

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Local TV station news operation has a bad day

So, my local NTV News television station has had a bad day covering a murder trial in Kansas.  We’ll let them tell the story:

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Washington Post reporter Wes Lowery discusses voting on Twitter

Wes Lowery at the Washington Post is a reporter I respect, and I follow his work closely.  Here’s what he had to say on Twitter today in response to a critic who claimed Lowery was likely voting for Hillary.  Read … Continue reading

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Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

How can Fox maintain their journalistic reputation? WaPo conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin argues that Trump campaign gives commentators a challenge when it comes to responding to extreme spin. And she also wonders what Fox can do to maintain their journalistic reputation. … Continue reading

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AT&T Buying Time Warner – Which Apocalypse Will It Be?

Oh, wow, a tech giant is buying up Time Warner, one of the big legacy media companies for an unheard of amount of money. The tech company is talking about how the purchase will help them leverage synergy in the … Continue reading

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