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“We knew about that one specific case, and so we started digging, and we come to find out that it was happening all across the country, and it still is,” said Molina. “And so we spent a lot of time having zoom conversations with them. Tell me what happened? Tell me about your family members? Tell me how long has this been going on?”

Molina’s team even created a video to showcase the stories of the multiple families impacted by the issue.

Henry Schuster, a reporter for 60 Minutes, discussed a story about healthcare for the uninsured and the difficulties of reporting on that issue. He explained how the team found a free clinic for the uninsured and had to report on the spot, using consent forms to ensure privacy and build trust.

The speakers provided insightful advice through shared experiences and highlighted the need to treat people with respect and dignity when reporting.

“I tell my staff, ‘My job is to handle the hard stuff. Your job is to get it done,’” Buckle said.

Panelists also emphasized the importance of having a concrete definition of what “off the record” means and communicating that to a hesitant source.

Kuzydym, who has spent the last decade reporting on the health and safety of high school athletes, said that sports reporters need to know how to get records and be persistent about them. She recounted some of her difficulties in retrieving records from school districts.

“It’s patience and determination and not taking no for an answer,” Kuzydym said.

When a student asked about collaborating with other journalists on a team, Tone, who is an editor in the sports department of The Washington Post, suggested taking the time to consider a potential partner’s values and abilities before making the commitment.

“If you have the option to think about whether you’ll be a good reporting partner beforehand, it’s worth it,” Tone said.

Panelists expressed the importance of having complementary skills in a team. They said working with other journalists requires transparency and efficient task management.

“There’s enough out there that we’re trying to cover. It’s never a bad idea to work with someone on your team,” Kuzydym said.

Finally, Kuzydym emphasized taking care of yourself as a reporter because the work can be heavy, especially when it comes to athlete injuries or death.

Soma cautioned against the temptation to treat AI as an unquestionable authority in the newsroom while also explaining what he thought the standard should be with newsrooms and AI.

“I think that disclosure of using AI feels to me like an exit pass for someone who feels like AI got something wrong, and then you can say, ‘Oh, it was AI, it’s not the author’s fault.’ And that’s a dangerous mindset,” Soma said. “If we are going to use AI, we have to own the results. We have to verify what it gives us. We cannot lean on AI as a scapegoat, or we risk losing credibility, not just for ourselves, but for journalism as a whole.”

The panelists agreed that AI can streamline certain aspects of reporting, such as sifting through large datasets or transcribing interviews, and even gave some examples of valuable AI softwares that can help with that, but that its limitations must be acknowledged.

Dukes likened AI to a tool that can aid journalists without replacing essential human judgment.

“This is the potential exoskeleton for empowering the work. That’s what AI is. It is not the work itself. It is not the journalist. It is the tool that helps the journalist. But the moment we let it take over, the moment we stop verifying, the moment we stop applying skepticism, we are no longer journalists—we are just publishers of unchecked text,” Dukes said.

A common message throughout the panel was that there are not any hard answers when it comes to AI. As the technology continues to evolve, journalists must navigate how to responsibly integrate AI into their workflows without compromising ethical standards or public trust.

“Democracy functions on values, right? And those are the values that I would look for. And in front of our eyes, our values are shifting. So that’s a question. What are the lines for you? Forget what you see on the news. Draw your lines. What’s important to you?” Ressa asked.

The conversation took a more sobering turn as Ressa addressed the tangible dangers of misinformation and online harassment and how the issue had evolved from when she first started giving lectures. She pointed to concrete examples of how misinformation had fueled extremism and violence, warning that unchecked disinformation can have dire consequences.

“Online violence leads to real-world violence. By the time of the Nobel lecture, it became online violence is real-world violence. If you go back, even from terrorism, the Buffalo shooter, for example, was radicalized online and then he went and killed people. What happens when it’s genocide?” Ressa said.

Ressa also highlighted the direct consequences of misinformation, especially in crisis situations, explaining how false information can exacerbate existing problems and put lives at risk.

“Who needs facts? We actually do. You know, starting with you, like in the Philippines, we have an average of 20 typhoons every year. And if we give the wrong information, that could mean the difference between life and death,” Ressa said.

She linked the issue of misinformation to election integrity, warning of the broader implications that go beyond national borders.

“You cannot have integrity of elections if you don’t have integrity of facts. We learned that in the Philippines, and it is far more complicated in the United States,” Ressa said.

Ressa has developed her own social media-like news website, Rappler, which was born out of the necessity to combat misinformation. In her talk, she explained how modern social media platforms amplify disinformation at an alarming scale, creating an environment where the loudest and most inflammatory voices dominate the narrative.

“Social media took populism and put it on steroids. The reason why? It rewards the worst of who we are. And when you weaponize it, democracy becomes vulnerable,” Ressa said.

She also addressed the role of tech companies in shaping the information ecosystem, criticizing platforms for prioritizing engagement over accuracy. Ressa argued that the responsibility of combating misinformation lies not only with journalists but also with tech executives, policymakers, and individual users who engage with digital content daily.

Ressa closed her hour-long speech with a powerful message about the role individuals play in safeguarding democracy.

“Your courage will determine our future. Don’t voluntarily give up your rights, because when you do, you’re never going to get them back,” Ressa said.

As the landscape of journalism continues to change, Ressa made it clear that the responsibility of protecting democracy extends beyond reporters; it is a shared duty among citizens, media institutions, and policymakers alike. She urged attendees to remain vigilant, engage critically with information, and take an active role in defending press freedom. Her call to action served as a reminder that the fight for truth is an ongoing battle.