Portfolio Final

Hannah March

Washburn University Mass Media and Journalism Student

ABOUT

Hannah is working to accomplish her Bachelors Degree in Mass Media with an emphasis in Journalism. Hannah is on her fourth year at Washburn University and is passionate about effective communication skills and influential writing abilities.
She currently works as a part time News Reporter at the Manhattan Broadcasting company. She has excellent experience in professional writing situations. Hannah has inducted several interviews in a professional setting. Hannah thrives in a learning atmosphere and does not shy from challenge. She excels in highly social events and settings and challenges her intellectual abilities daily.
Hannah is from the small town of Riley, KS and migrated to Topeka, KS to study at Washburn University. She loves books, outdoors and spending quality time with friends and family.

PROFESSIONAL WRITING EXAMPLES:

Crisis Center Story
Manhattan Broadcasting Company
Manhatttan, KS

Thanksgiving Turkey Trot Story
KMAN News Radio
Manhattan, KS

Memorial Blood Drive Story
KMAN News Radio
Manhattan, KS

GET IN TOUCH

Hannah is always available for a friendly conversation. If you want to chat about, writing, books or anything else don’t hesitate in reaching out.

• Twitter
• Instagram

EXPERIENCE:

Interviewing community members

October 2021-Current

Creating and Sharing News Stories

October 2021-Current

Remote interviewing experience

Professional Resume
Download

2021 Professional Career Headshot
https://1350kman.com/author/hannah/

Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go is an augmented reality mobile game released in 2016 by Niantic. The purpose of the game is to locate Pokémon creatures in the real world using a GPS built into the game. The nostalgia of childhood memories, the exercise that people get while searching for these creatures, and those who love to collect all play Pokémon Go for these similar reasons are why this game is played often and still popular to this day.

In an article written by Virginia Heffernan called Beautiful and Butterfree in WIRED magazine, Heffernan interviews multiple people from different ages, professions, and cultures about why they play this game, “I’m a biologist. I like collecting and organizing things. My Pokédex is like my own little museum of animals I’ve collected.” says Elizabeth Carlen, a Biology PhD candidate.

This is a game where people can meet others and share their same interests in an online and real-life interaction. It gives the experience of playing a game while also being active and possibly meeting new people on the journey. However, there are time where people believe that these monsters are real. There are dangers to augmented reality, especially when over 150 million monthly players decide to get on and immerse themselves into a world that seems familiar but is only a game. Remember to stay safe while going outside to catch these creatures.

Graphic by Shelby Munoz

References

Pokémon Go Wikipedia

WIRED Article

The Last Best Place On The Internet

If you grew up with the internet, I bet you had to sit through teachers’ lectures on why you shouldn’t use Wikipedia as a source. Your English and history teacher would explain in detail why Wikipedia isn’t reliable. However, The Last Best Place On The Internet by Richard Cooke writes about Wikipedia, Britannica, and why Wikipedia can be useful.

Wikipedia, according to Wikipedia, is a multilingual open-collaborative online encyclopedia. Cooke remarks that it’s an open-source project. Having casual writers and editors who work on it in their spare time. The writers are not experts in their field, but it benefits from being useful for updated information and summaries. What many argue, however, is that a topic can be edited by anyone. This could result in inaccurate facts and inappropriate statements.

As a Mass Media student, we can use Wikipedia to summarize topics, the updated information, and various languages. As students in general, we should use Wikipedia for their free sources. Wikipedia should be used strategically, and we should use it to our advantage.

SLIDESHOW:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Y6G2BIdeeZCjN7aqwk8vbr_wYI3HayIJQm1-XegP3RE/edit?usp=sharing

PDF:

https://d2l.washburn.edu/d2l/le/dropbox/130579/129704/DownloadSubmissionFile?fid=2297346&sid=1201482

Media- Out to Ruin Your Day…?

(10/16/20) By Alexa Boyd

You’ve seen the headlines: wildfires ravishing the west coast, pushing families out of their homes, eating up our precious forests…Every second there seems to be a new update being reported that is specially crafted to make the smile fall from your face and worry about what’s coming next. If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed this year- you’re not alone. 

Our current environment almost forces us to consume media at a rapid pace and now there is a moral obligation to stay updated. This forced consumption threatens to influence our perspective with propagandized subtext that most aren’t aware of. Siva Vaidhyanathan with Wired Magazine believes this overstimulation is intentional. 

“We find ourselves numb by over stimulation, distracted by constant movement and sound, unable to relate to those ensconced in different bubbles and influenced by different versions of reality”(WIRED). We are presented with feelings of defeat in the face of being bombarded by media that we can’t trust or change. However, the author encourages taking a step back and centering yourself in order to organize productive change.

“When thought prevails, it’s by weathering this downpour and pushing through to higher ground”(WIRED).

This article addresses the topic we are all thinking but haven’t conceptualized yet- that media is overwhelming right now, and hard to trust. We are being overstimulated without a guarantee of accuracy or traction and the results are proving to be discouraging. Siva encourages resilience: addressing that sometimes, with persistence, we can turn consumable media into productive, resulting action. But what Siva fails to mention is how to do this when the media (for some), is their only connection to the outside world. 

“Since the lockdown, there has been an 87% increase in social media usage” (Cureus).

As a result, a new psychological phenomenon has been observed as a result of these large “waves” of media coverage. It’s common now for consumers to report feeling “stressed, overwhelmed, and hopeless” concerning the content of 24 hour coverage. 

Following the 2016 election, psychologist Dr. Steven Stosny identified this syndrome as “headline stress disorder”, an unofficial diagnosis. The term’s relevance has skyrocketed since the start of COVID19, with media coverage and usage on the rise.

It’s becoming increasingly apparent that media consumption has a direct effect on  the psyche, and it’s important to be aware of what you are consuming, and how long you surround yourself with it.

Not all sources have your best interests at heart. Take care of yourself. 

Bustle, Here’s How To Tell If You Have Headline Stress Disorder — And How To Protect Yourself From It

Cureus, Role of Mass Media and Public Health Communications in the COVID-19 Pandemic

WIRED, The Dangers of Ubiquitous Video

The Reel Thing

We have all come to love the company Polaroid but did you know that if it wasn’t for Florian Kaps, the company would’ve have been gone in 2008? Once the company decided to call it quits, Florin decided to gather all the old management and convinced them to all come back and work together. At first they were name Kaps Company but once they took off they paid homage and rebranded as Polaroid.

Within the article they spoke about the 3 main types of photography at the time. Wet-plate collodion photography was used before roll film was invented in 1888. Analog photography was gave the photographer the opportunity to edit a photo and make it as perfect as possible. The final one was smart phone photography which really puts all the older types to shame. Makes it easier for anyone to take a nicer picture that would’ve taken more time used the older methods.

False media realities leading to suicide.

After watching the film “social dilemma” one of my biggest concerns regarding the media and the internet is the unrealistic views on normal day lives, looks and personalities. When I was a child the internet seemed way safer than what we are accessed to today. In today’s time we are able to see almost everything and everyone lives and information if they allow us too, and with this type of access companies and public figures take advantage of the media and the consumers (us) by keeping us online as much as possible to promote themselves or brands.

When it comes to promotions, No it is not like companies are forcing us to stay online and acknowledge their product or public figure. But when you have research that supports the use of technology and phones is comparable to a drug because it releases dopamine, you have to be careful of viewers and their mindset. My problem is that we are introduced to products and people online 24/7 and companies try their hardest to show no type of error whatsoever, but realistically human nature is all about error, I have a concern with media promoting unrealistic views that confuse audiences to force them to try to be as perfect as possible with no error. In the early 2000’s plastic surgery was not as popular as it is today, we hear kids from a young age that haven’t even reached adolescence yet speak about things that they would like to have surgery on because they are so brainwashed on human perfection, there is no interest in having self love and motivation which is leading children and adults to suicide.

The Social Dilemma Video

The Social Dilemma was a very thought-provoking video going through what we don’t actually see or consider when browsing through our social media accounts. As the generation who grew up when all these new platforms were created and with all the new technology being developed, we barely remember what it was like to not have social media and all this technology at hand. With that growing power that the media has, problems are caused that are not addressed by the big corporations running these platforms. It’s obviously their job to provide us with this new way of communication, but the means of providing this service can be seen as problematic. With all this information being displayed throughout the documentary, it raises the concern that nothing is being done about this issue. It seems that we have acknowledged this new issue but we just have accepted what is happening. Anyone who has seen the video has learned about the power that social media has over us, but they choose to ignore it. This just shows how far we have come with social media. It has been developed so much into our brains that we cannot remember what life was like before we had to check our feed every few minutes. 

“Sucked in” -Social Media on an Agenda

The Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma, gives an inside look on how the social media industry profits from usage at the cost of the consumer, bringing into question whether or not moderation is an ethical obligation. In this film, they describe the lengths to which platforms will try to incentivize interaction on their sites in order to increase their net value worth and opportunities to sell space to advertisements. Teenagers and small children without online supervision are especially vulnerable to manipulation and are targeted frequently for their access to disposable income, or the ability to ask adults to spend income on their interests.

The particularly insidious way that social media is structured to “suck you in” in order to keep users frequently using their platform has impacted teens and small children cognitively, leading to scarily large statistics on increasing depression, anxiety, and suicide rates.

Although the film was largely dramatized, there are truths to these concepts and the way that media can be held responsible. As of now, there is no incentivization for companies to limit themselves and subsequently stifle profit- corporations such as Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat gain profit by selling their information on you to someone who can use it. In an increasingly online society, it’s important to consider how we interact and consume media. It’s never fun to consider that we are subtly being manipulated for corporate gain, but these discussions are important to consider for the health of online users.

Should online restrictions be offered to spare children? It’s a difficult question, but one worth investigating.

What really happens with your information?

Social Dilemma is a Netflix documentary where ex-employees of major companies, such as Facebook and Google, come to explain everything these companies are doing with our information. They come to show that although we may think we understand what is happening with our profiles and information we don’t. Companies have large computers in their building that work with your profile and send you out ads that you may click on or posts that will keep you engaged in their company’s media platform so they can earn more money. It is truly eye-opening to understand what they are truly doing with our information. I knew my information was being used but not to the extent it truly is.

Another thing that was brought up is the suicide rate among young women. Suicide is an important topic and many know that social media is a cause of some suicides but in pre-teens, the rate of suicide has done up 150%. Young people with social media feel they need to be perfect and put on this act to be someone’s not just so they can receive enough likes and positive comments. 

Social Dilemma does exaggerate how they portray these activities that are happening in the documentary but the truth is it is happening and people need to be more aware of what’s going on behind the scenes.

Is Anything Really ‘Free’?

Social Dilemma is a Netflix documentary that goes in depth about what is actually going on between the people and the social media industry. The documentary really opened my eyes to the fact that us as consumers are the product that is being sold. There is always that question of “how do companies make money if the app the produce is ‘free’?” By selling your data to companies that are making ads that keep you on the specific app for any given amount of time. The more we are on the app, then the more the app creators are profiting.

The wildest part to me is how there is no age limit of who sees these ads or who the companies are trying to get on their app. In Social Dilemma there was is a daughter named Isla is at a very young age and shows how addicted she is to her phone once she broke her mom’s case at dinner just to get her phone back. Having a child so addicted to a phone at such a young age is not the best thing for the family because there are people who go on the internet just to be mean and spread hate because they area behind a screen. Personally, I feel like if you give your kid a phone they should know that people use it in a hurtful way.