Author Archives: Ralph Hanson

Guest Post: What the heck is Gangnam Style, anyways? Part 1

Posted on October 2, 2012 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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 15, Chapter 7 | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

When Fox Accidentally Aired a Suicide on Live TV

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Ralph Hanson

During the day, Fox News has been known to show live car chases for as long as an hour at a time.  The coverage typically is fed to the cable news giant by an affiliate’s news or traffic helecopter. Today, … Continue reading →

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Questions Worth Asking – Maybe

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Ralph Hanson

Should we long for the good old days of the Alien and Sedition Acts? A look at how our understanding of the First Amendment has changed over the years. (Lawyers, Guns & Money) What does free speech look like globally? … Continue reading →

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WP’s The Fix Lists Top Political Ads of 2012 (so far)

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Ralph Hanson

I don’t think that this election cycle has given us a lot of brilliant political ads, but here are four that the writers at The Fix political blog at the Washington Post really like, and I have to agree with … Continue reading →

Posted in Chapter 2 | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Science in the Movies – Right and Wrong

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Ralph Hanson

Science fiction movies are science fiction, right? But that doesn’t mean movie makers are free to completely ignore reality.  The Smithsonian’s Collage of Arts and Sciences recently ran a pair of entries looking at SciFi and fantasy movies that did a … Continue reading →

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Are phone apps ancillary markets for movies?

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Ralph Hanson

I would think so.  Questions on Twitter today from students using Mass Communication: Living in a Media World:

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Talking about media coverage of health care debate

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Ralph Hanson

I’m going to be talking to a business class about media coverage of the health care debate tonight.  Most of the figures I’ll be using come from two Pew Foundation reports: What Americans Learned from the Media about the Health … Continue reading →

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When politicians’ private remarks go public

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Ralph Hanson

The news broke today that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said some pretty disparaging things about the 47% of Americans who don’t end up having to pay income tax while speaking at a private fund raising event.  The leaked video … Continue reading →

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Working with social media

Posted on September 15, 2012 by Ralph Hanson

I’ve been talking lately with folks about social media.  Here are a few thoughts on the subject: What are social media? Online sites that allow users to generate content, comment, tag, and network with friends or other like-minded people. What … Continue reading →

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Truth 7 – There is no “they” – Does the anti-Muslim film blamed for rioting even exist?

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Ralph Hanson

On Tuesday evening, the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt were attacked by protestors.   The attack in Benghazi led to the death of American ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens and three other … Continue reading →

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