Throughout his career, he has sought out the technological changes that are now upending traditional media—from being one of the first contributors to a nascent MSNBC.com, to pioneering digital content creation as a globe-trotting solo broadcaster.
His recent film Independent America: The Two-Lane Search for Mom & Pop was an early exercise in the use of digital technology in storytelling and ongoing interaction with its audience. It has been seen around the world, thanks to his innovative grassroots marketing campaign and blog. Self-produced and self-financed, the award-winning documentary has also been featured by Yahoo!, USA Today, BusinessWeek, Variety, ABC News, National Public Radio, and has been broadcast by NHK Japan, SBS Australia and the Sundance Channel.
In the last few years, Hanson has also shot and edited groundbreaking films for the American government in southern Africa, for TurnHere.com and Discovery Channel Mobile in Latin America, and for aid organizations such as PATH and Mercy Corps.
In 2004, he coordinated NBC Nightly News’ coverage of the U.S. handover of power to the new Iraqi government and was embedded with the First Cavalry Division. He also reported live from Baghdad for Canada’s Global News National and CBC Newsworld.
In 2003, Hanson served as an NBC correspondent and solo journalist during the war in Iraq. Armed with a laptop, satellite phone and camcorder, he filed ongoing Persian Gulf coverage live from the deck of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. He then covered the aftermath of the war from Beirut, Damascus, Amman and Jerusalem.
Hanson won an Emmy for his NBC Nightly News coverage “The Fall of Kosovo” as well as an Overseas Press Club Award. He was NBC News’ Middle East Producer and MSNBC.com correspondent, based in Tel Aviv from 1997 to 2001.
Among other stories, he covered the Palestinian uprising, as well as the 1999 Turkey earthquake, the death of King Hussein of Jordan and Princess Diana, and Al-Qaeda’s bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. Prior to that, he was an investigative producer for “NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw” for three years in New York City. He has also worked as a TV correspondent and backpack journalist for CBC News.
Hanson has an M.S. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. He has law degrees (LL.B., B.C.L. and M. en droit) from McGill University and the University of Paris, and retains his membership in the New York Bar.
Heather Hughes is an accomplished television anchor, writer and producer. She specializes in voiceover work, production management, photography and food writing. She is presently providing marketing and communications services to the Seattle-based food company, Sahale Snacks, drawing on her online branding and web community building skills.
Prior to co-founding HRH Media Inc., she worked for CHBC Television in Kelowna, British Columbia. During that time she anchored and produced the evening newscasts for this local station. Heather also reported live on the devastating forest fires that descended upon Kelowna in the summer of 2003, contributing to the station's RTNDA-award winning coverage.
Heather has a decade of experience in broadcast journalism.
She spent six years working for NBC News in New York and for MSNBC in New Jersey. During that time, she worked on a number of stories including the Atlanta Summer Olympics in 1996, the 1997 Presidential Inauguration, the death of Princess Diana, and the Hong Kong handover.
After she left NBC, Heather became a freelance producer and writer in Tel Aviv, where among other things, she covered the historic visit of Pope John Paul II to the Holy Land.
Heather graduated from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington in 1993 with a bachelor of arts in broadcast journalism.
See her ever-popular blog "Viva Epicurea!" about the gastronomical delights of the Okanagan Valley. Heather is also a co-producer of the acclaimed documentary film "Independent America."