About the Author...

Hello! My name is Lilly Krohlow, but I am often referred to as LK. I am a second-year student at Linn-Benton Community College, on track to complete my Associate of General Sciences in the Spring of 2026. After LBCC, I am hoping to pursue my Bachelor's in public health from either Oregon State or Western Oregon University. In my professional life, I have extensive experience with water safety, including lifeguarding, youth team coaching and instruction, open water lifeguarding, boating instruction, as well as curriculum and emergency protocol management. All of these skills and experiences tie directly into my passion for the outdoors and movement. I am an avid hiker- I typically cover around 60-100 miles a month, depending on the weather in Oregon. Growing up, I was very involved with various sports, but mostly focused on swimming, which is what gave me the opportunity to compete into the beginning of college. I also spend a lot of time on the Oregon Coast. Primarily around the Newport area, where I fish, swim, surf, and dive with my friends and family.

I'm really interested to learn about different types of media and how they come together to affect the culture of our society. The media ecosystem, especially news, has rapidly evolved into a visceral and divisive place. Most people you know walk around with access to every morsel of information on the internet in their back pocket all day long, yet we often find ourselves stuck in an echo chamber of our own opinions. I credit most of the blame to social media algorithms, which track any interaction that an individual has with the platform so it can tailor an experience for every user. This, alongside obviously biased news sources, has caused a very big issue within the United States that I look forward to exploring and hopefully someday helping to fix.

When I am staying informed on current events, the three main sources I consult are Instagram, because everything on there is usually very up to date and easily checked or further researched, and YouTube. After all, it is not very difficult to find digestible information from experts about almost any topic. And finally, podcasts. I don't particularly follow any specific people; rather, I enjoy hearing long-form interviews with politicians and academics because it allows the listener to understand them in a less formal lens. I also enjoy podcasts because there's been a cultural shift towards more independent journalism, meaning that hosts or journalists are not pressured to ask questions that will give specific answers one way or another, like we are seeing in traditional news outlets like CNN or Fox. Podcasting and the transition to more streaming/internet-based content give interviewers the freedom to ask the hard questions in a more relaxed and conversational setting that, in my opinion, gives a much more comprehensive understanding of a topic to the consumer.

Given my understanding of misinformation and media deep fakes, it is fair to say that I am a very skeptical person. Everything that I take in, I take with a grain of salt. Luckily, we live in an age of full transparency, where a simple Google search can either confirm or deny the validity of any post, or at least help you gather information so you can make your own informed decision about it. When I feel the need to share any information, I almost always try to research the topic of the post so that I am not spreading misinformation.

Anyway, that is all I have to ramble about for this first entry. I will post here periodically for either my class or my own enrichment.

Go touch grass

~LK