intro for journalism 26

 In a paragraph or two ... or three ... share a bit about yourself (major, career goals, why at LBCC ...)

I was majoring in journalism with a minor in criminal justice but as of a recent acceptance to WOU I've switched to a major in criminal justice and a minor in small communications (being a more governmental focus of journalism.) I started LBCC because I had only gotten my GED and not my diploma but with more recent and better grades western Oregon has been happy to have me. As to why I chose my major I was going to do psyc before I decided on journalism but I decided the psychiatric industry and the private prison industrial complex was far too bureaucratic and unethical for my taste or to have a long term career in. I also, for a short amount of time, considered beauty school for barbering and nails but fun act you actually need more training to be a barber or nail artist than to be a police officer. in school being a mandatory 40-55 hrs weekly with almost no room for mistakes. further solidifying for me, that justice needs to be written about. 

What are you most interested in learning about the media and culture?

this is almost all of journalism haha! it also just fascinates me as a subject even before I started collage this was something I was heavily interested in and kept very apt attention towards. I love politics as a concept honestly and I think it shows much about human nature. One of my favorite party tricks or pickup lines at parties lately has been "Ever debate politics with a girl in a miniskirt before?" To which the response is usually no. To which I say " I can debate you in almost any political topic and win." And you know what? I've never lost. So take that as you will. 

Tell us something you are passionate about outside of college (e.g. I'm a runner and follow sports obsessively! Go Kraken! Go Packers! Go Beavers! Go Ducks! Go Mariners! Go Brewers! When running, my mantra is ... start slow and taper off ...)

I love to dance and fashion! I've done many types of dance but most notable in Arial arts and gymnastics! I've recently got back into silks its a very beautiful art. I also know three different fighting styles being jiu jitsu, wrestling and boxing. I love working out and of course if you've ever seen my social media or seen me on campus you know I love love love fashion, I'm currently working on cleaning my vintage furs a very prolonged process being that they truly belong in a museum and are real fur. 

What do you consider your THREE main sources of information? This can be a platform (e.g. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok) and/or media sources (e.g. New York Times, Fox News, Huffington Post). Why are these your "go-to" sources of information?

Mainly independent journalists that I've built a slightly parasocial relationship with, my favorite for local news is Kevin Foster you can find him on any social media under that name he covers mainly Portland but also gives consistent and accurate updates on things like ICE and protests with citations and sources. I actually met him in Portland without knowing who he was haha. 

the second one is a very popular name Dean Withers. he projected the "Unfu*ck amarica tour" in response to Charlie kirks MAGA university debates. Although a slightly controversial and slightly money hungry attitude I do take many debate skills from him and he never says anything he doesn't believe to be true with sources. I also believe the left has truly failed in debating spaces which dean has truly taken over which is a very brave thing to do in my opinion. 

the third would of course be regular every day news like FOX, CNN ect. mainly just as a source for cross referencing or to get videos or pictures that might be trademarked by the new station. I take whatever big media says with a grain of salt they lie and cover things up all the time to gain money or status. there's truth in every story but everything's is interfaced with the ideals of capitalism and "climbing the corporate ladder" however that looks very different when the stakes are truthful information to the public. 

Second, how reliable do you consider these sources, and WHY?

Oop I may or may not have just typed that out so instead I'll share my strategy step by step of receiving and cross referencing news. I always research before I speak on anything considering politics. I usually end of receiving news on my daily Instagram  or Tik Tok feed or if its really bad my mother will call me haha. from there I almost always check fox news. best to have a perspective of the enemy and know how and when they're trying to spin the story. Then I check CNN or a more "progressive" channel. to which they paint the entire thing in sunshine and rainbows or create mass hysteria by implying they're the only good guys you can trust furthering a parasocial relationship with the viewer. Then lastly i see what multiple independent journalists say on the subject, which is usually the most accurate with some sprinkles of personal bias. much easier to detect in one individual rather than an entire news station though. 

Given what you know about or have learned about "fake news," "deep fakes" and misinformation ... how concerned are you about the information out there in the media ecosystem? How do you ensure that the information you take in is "accurate"? What steps, if any, do you take before passing along this information?

As of lately with generative AI I'm not going to lie it has become a growing concern with me not only when accounting for fake news but also the environment. I've been training myself to spot AI better and there's many accounts on Instagram and Tik Tok who put much dedication to teaching people how to spot AI and differentiate what's real and what's not. However I will admit its getting harder by the day with how fast it's growing. Even some of the best I've seen who spot these things for a living on social media are at a loss. I usually try to pay attention to the background. most ragebaiters aren't going to pay for a high quality video and by conquence the background people of the video will act weird such as, not blinking, morphing into the background or different objects. a very important one is also brands. AI doesn't own the copyright (yet) to use most big corporate household names so most things will either blank it out or make it gibberish that looks just close enough to real brand that you don't take a second look. However to get around this you can make the video very grainy and of very bad quality, for this you can usually look for blacked out watermark from AI In the corner, again something you probably wouldn't think twice about. also when viewing ask yourself, why is this footage so grainy when it would be almost hard to find a working phone with that and of quality in this age of technology? is this because its a security camera? if so is it too grainy for even a realistic security camera footage? is this just a regular video or does this seem as though it was targeted and manufactured for rage bait?