Author Archives: Ralph Hanson

Go For Broke – When old editorials become new again

Posted on March 25, 2025 by Ralph Hanson

I’ve been teaching Civil Rights Era Pulitzer Prize-winning editorials in my commentary class since 1988. And it seems crazy to me how some of them keep emerging to the surface from current news events over the years. For example, Ralph … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Honoring World Poetry Day 2025

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Ralph Hanson

In honor of World Poetry Day 2025, here are two of my favorite poems. The first is by West Virginia poet Tom Andrews, who in addition to being a great poet was also a first-generation hemophiliac who died way too … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

When Rachel Maddow Stood Up Against MSNBC Management

Posted on February 25, 2025 by Ralph Hanson

I don’t have a lot to say here about individual cable news/talk hosts. For one thing, I pay a lot more attention to newspapers and other print outlets than I do to broadcast/cable. But it’s also because I don’t think … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on When Rachel Maddow Stood Up Against MSNBC Management

Return to “Pink Slime” Journalism: AI Scraping Edition

Posted on February 11, 2025 by Ralph Hanson

Last fall I had a post about the phenomenon known as “pink slime” journalism. Basically it’s where websites churn out content using either low-paid writers or generative AI. The “news” is either low-quality scrapings from legitimate sites or paid political … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Return to “Pink Slime” Journalism: AI Scraping Edition

Social Media Change 2025 Part 3: TikTok – The Hate/Love relationship

Posted on February 4, 2025 by Ralph Hanson

Social media are going through some big changes this winter. Meta/Facebook has changed its policies banning hate speech and deceptive information on its platforms; TikTok was facing a ban, shut itself down, and then came back with the blessings of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Social Media Change 2025 Part 3: TikTok – The Hate/Love relationship

Social Media Change 2025 Part 2: Breaking Up With Meta

Posted on January 27, 2025 by Ralph Hanson

Social media are going through some big changes this winter. Meta/Facebook has changed its policies banning hate speech and deceptive information on its platforms; TikTok was facing a ban, shut itself down, and then came back with the blessings of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Social Media Change 2025 Part 2: Breaking Up With Meta

Social Media Change 2025 Part 1: Meta Content Moderation

Posted on January 22, 2025 by Ralph Hanson

Social media are going through some big changes this winter. Meta/Facebook has changed its policies banning hate speech and deceptive information on its platforms; TikTok was facing a ban, shut itself down, and then came back with the blessings of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Social Media Change 2025 Part 1: Meta Content Moderation

MLK’s Great Question – “Will we be extremists for hate or love?”

Posted on January 20, 2025 by Ralph Hanson

m One of the greatest honors of my life was being invited to speak at the Martin Luther King, Jr. candlelight vigil several years ago at the UNK student union, along with Kevin Chaney, who was then UNK’s women’s basketball coach.  On … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on MLK’s Great Question – “Will we be extremists for hate or love?”

And so the Ninth Edition is in print…

Posted on January 13, 2025 by Ralph Hanson

Just got my author’s copies of the ninth edition of my media literacy textbook Mass Communication: Living in a Media World. So excited to see these years of work in print! For those of you teaching with Mass Communication, it … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments Off on And so the Ninth Edition is in print…

Something Old, Something New: Favorite Movies From 2024

Posted on January 1, 2025 by Ralph Hanson

Over the last year, I and/or my Dear Wife have watched 107 movies; some that were new releases (i.e Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga), some that were vintage or classics (i.e. Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison), and some that were repeat … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Something Old, Something New: Favorite Movies From 2024