Author Archives: Ralph Hanson

When the sponsors get involved, you know the NFL is in trouble

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Ralph Hanson

If you’ve been paying any attention to sports news for the last couple of weeks, you know that the NFL has a crisis on its hands.  A crisis of star players who have been caught committing a range of violent … Continue reading →

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

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Ralph Hanson

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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Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Ralph Hanson

Has the University of Illinois repealed the First Amendment for its faculty? New tenured prof gets contract dropped over “vulgar and insulting” tweets. What can marketers learn from the Ice Bucket Challenge? Make it fun. Make it easy. Make it … Continue reading →

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And we’re back!

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Ralph Hanson

After a busy summer with only an occasional post, the Living in a Media World blog is back – Now in it’s 11th year (Yup, started back in March of 2004!) If you aren’t already, please follow us on Twitter … Continue reading →

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Getting Old

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Ralph Hanson

Years ago when I got my first job as an assistant professor at Northern Arizona University, Jack Sisco, the gruff, old director of the program looked at me and said: “It’s bad enough when the incoming freshmen could be your … Continue reading →

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Dealing Globally With Free Speech

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Ralph Hanson

I saw a fascinating series of Tweets this morning about the conflict between public safety, ethnic violence/civil wars, and free speech around the world – especially in Turkey and MENA (Middle East/North Africa).  I’m not able to come up with a good … Continue reading →

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Link Ch. 11 – Creativity, Tastelessness, and Grabbing the Advertising Audience

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Ralph Hanson

In advertising, a tension often exists between creativity and salesmanship.  An ad may do a great job of grabbing people’s attention and generating talk, but if the ad doesn’t have a solid sales message, consumers will not remember the product or … Continue reading →

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Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Ralph Hanson

Where the heck have you been the last few weeks? Sorry for the lack of updates!  It’s been crazy during the end of this semester. But I hope to be back to posting regularly now. What did the future look … Continue reading →

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Link Ch. 15 – “Control Room” documentary on Al Jazeera’s Coverage of War With Iraq

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Ralph Hanson

Broadcast via satellite from the small Arab country of Qatar since 1997, Al Jazeera has carried interviews with everyone from Osama bin Laden to Colin Powell and has been criticized for doing so by both the United States and Arab … Continue reading →

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Into Thin Air’s Jon Krakauer on Everest Disaster

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Ralph Hanson

Jon Krakauer was reporting on the commercialization of Mt. Everest for Outside back in 1996 when a sudden storm killed eight people, including four people in the group Krakauer was climbing with.  His reporting became the bestselling book “Into Thin … Continue reading →

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