Author Archives: Ralph Hanson

Media News Roundup

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Ralph Hanson

Hawaii passes Steven Tyler Act Would ban “unwanted photos or videos of others in private moments.”  Nice idea, but do celebs really get the right to say “pay attention to me now, but not now”? How Sen. Rand Paul used … Continue reading →

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Mass Communication and Fear Readings

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Ralph Hanson

Next week I’m going to be guest lecturing in a class about the nature of fear.  So hear are several readings that deal with the notion of how we deal with fear and the media: George Gerbner on why we … Continue reading →

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Pop Culture Charley – Handicapping the Oscars

Posted on February 24, 2013 by Ralph Hanson

Charley Reed has done enough guest blog posts here that I’m no longer going to consider him a guest poster.  Instead, I’m going to put his great commentaries on pop media culture under the heading Charley’s Pop Culture.  Here are … Continue reading →

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What to do on a snow day in media literacy class

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Ralph Hanson

To all the faculty out there who are teaching an intro to mass comm / media literacy class, here’s an idea for a quicky online snow day assignment built off the great Pew Project Excellence in Journalism State of the … Continue reading →

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Columnists for my commentary class – 2013

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Ralph Hanson

Here are links to a number of columnists and columnist index pages from newspapers around the country for my commentary writing students, and anyone else who’s interested. National Columnists Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald 2004 Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist.  His column written in response … Continue reading →

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Guest Post – Do the Oscars Really Matter?

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Ralph Hanson

Today’s guest post is from Charley Reed, who does public relations work of the University of Nebraska at Omaha.  He’s also the guy I turn to when I need critical analysis of pop culture issues such as censorship and the show South … Continue reading →

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Is Carnival cruising for a PR bruising?

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Ralph Hanson

Updated By now, virtually everyone in America knows about the mess that is the Carnival cruise ship Triumph.  The ship suffered an engine fire earlier this week that resulted in the ship being without electricity and drifting in the Gulf … Continue reading →

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Comcast completing purchase of NBCUniversal from GE years ahead of schedule

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Ralph Hanson

The transition of NBCUniversal from being owned primarily by General Electric to Comcast had been expected to be an extended process, with the cable and phone giant gradually acquiring the entertainment company’s stock.  But that changed this week with the … Continue reading →

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Media News Roundup

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Ralph Hanson

Comcast buying out rest of NBCUniversal stock from GE for $16.7 billion, years ahead of schedule So, it looks like General Electric will be completely out of the media business by the end of March, according to reporting from Brian … Continue reading →

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When news catches up with my long-term pop culture diet

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Ralph Hanson

I’ve been planning for several days to write a blog entry today about three movies from 1968 that I’ve watched over the last couple of weeks  – 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ice Station Zebra, and The Shoes of the Fisherman. Why … Continue reading →

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