Author Archives: Ralph Hanson

Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

Can journalists ever safely retweet the opinions of others without appearing biased? And should that stop them from retweeting those opinions?  Here’s what the AP thinks about it, and an interesting response from 10,000 Words. Will NBC still matter anymore, … Continue reading →

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Coverage of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer received national attention in 2010 with her promotion of the state’s controversial “papers please” immigration bill.  This week, she was back in the news for rejecting a congressional redistricting plan put together by a state commission. … Continue reading →

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Portrait of the Tablet User

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

The Pew Foundation has a new report out on how people are using their tablet devices.  According to Pew (and what do we learn about the media these days that doesn’t come from Pew Foundation studies…), here are few things … Continue reading →

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Link Ch. 3 – Re-imagined Disney Princesses

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

Because Halloween is coming up, and because I can…. You may remember a couple of years ago when illustrator Jefrey Thomas gave us an evil take on Disney princesses, such as Zombie Little Mermaid: UPDATE: He did a second round of these … Continue reading →

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News about News

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

Chicago Defender facing financial trouble One of the nation’s oldest and most storied black-owned papers has laid off its top editors and is behind on its rent. Disney tells ABC affiliates not to talk to Johnny Depp about his new … Continue reading →

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Stuff Siri Says….

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

As you may know, Apple has just released its new iPhone 4s.  Analysts and the stock market were not impressed, with Apple’s stock taking a pretty significant hit in the days that followed.  And then Apple reported selling 4 million … Continue reading →

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David Frum & the Problem with “Balanced” Commentary

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

UPDATED: (Here’s a link to Frum’s farewell conversation on the show.) Today, center-right commentator David Frum stepped down in his role as a commentator for American Public Media‘s business radio news show Marketplace. Frum, a former speech writer for George W. Bush, has … Continue reading →

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Writing Issue-Oriented Feature Stories

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

This blog entry is really for my feature-writing students, but the rest of you are welcome to read some great issue-oriented feature stories: Omaha World-Herald: Living The Gluten-free Life Living with celiac disease in the heartland. Washington Post: Loving the … Continue reading →

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Link Ch. 10 – Everything Is a Remix looks at The Matrix

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

The folks at Everything is a Remix look at all the cyberpunk quotes in the Matrix movies.  The argument at EIAR is not that The Matrix is ripping off previous movies and books, rather that everything in popular culture is … Continue reading →

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Link Ch. 3 Steve Jobs – A Hero not a Saint

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

Steve Jobs died today, Oct. 5, 2011, following a long battle with pancreatic cancer.  As I am writing this, cable news hosts and commentators are lionizing him and Internet trolls are savaging him. To me, Steve Jobs was a hero. … Continue reading →

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