Tag Archives: opinion writing

Newspaper Editorials: Stories from the insurrection, Part 4

Posted on January 10, 2021 by Ralph Hanson

The violent insurrection in Washington, D.C.  Wednesday was both utterly predictable and unimaginable. My feelings about those events go well beyond the scope of this blog, so instead of laying out my feelings, I’m going to share a variety of … Continue reading →

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Should people’s heads be exploding over NY Times anonymous commentary from inside the Trump White House?

Posted on September 7, 2018 by Ralph Hanson

This week has not suffered from lack of news for people like me who are obsessed with the coverage of news coming out of Washington. First, there was all the fuss over Nike featuring NFL kneeling protester Colin Kaepernick being … Continue reading →

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Video Blogging Examples for my Commentary Students

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Ralph Hanson

My Blogging and Commentary students are hard at work right now on their video blogging assignments, so I thought I would put up some links to work by former students from this class and also just some fun examples I’ve … Continue reading →

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Kathleen Parker for my commentary students – 2013

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Ralph Hanson

Updated 3/6/18 My commentary and blogging students are reading Kathleen Parker for class this week.  She’s one of my favorite columnists because she is always challenging conventional labels.  No Dreaded Talking Points from Parker! Class (and everyone else) here are … 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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Blogs From My Commentary Class

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Ralph Hanson

As I mentioned the other day, I’m teaching commentary and blogging this semester, and I’ve got an interesting group of students who will be commenting on just about everything over the semester.  Here are their blogs! Eric Nelson – nelsonej2’s … Continue reading →

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NY Times v. Guy Fieri – The News Value of a Brutal Review

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Ralph Hanson

You may have heard that last week New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells absolutely savaged Food Network host Guy Fieri’s new Times Square restaurant Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar. The review, written entirely as a series of questions, suggests that … Continue reading →

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Questions Worth Asking (Maybe)

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

Can a woman express opinions on the Internet without threats of sexual violence? Laurie Penny has her doubts.  Should we be frightened that Harry Potter director David Yates is working on a big screen Dr. Who reboot? Ashamed to say … Continue reading →

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Patriot-News Devotes Front Page to Editorial on Penn State Scandal

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Ralph Hanson

The Harrisburg Patriot-News ran a front-page editorial on Tuesday calling on Penn State University President Graham Spanier to resign over his failure to “do what is right – for his school, or more importantly for the alleged victims of coaching … 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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