Campus journalists tackle intersection of AI, media at Leyte conference

LEYTE, Philippines – Over 300 campus journalists from 29 colleges and universities in Region VIII gathered for the Regional Tertiary Schools Press Conference (RTSPC) at Visayas State University (VSU) in Baybay City, Leyte, on Wednesday, April 3.

The conference marked the return of the event since 2018, anchored on the theme “The Student Press in an AI World.”

The event began with a recorded message from Rappler Chief Executive Officer and Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, encouraging the campus journalists to consistently pursue the truth amid the constantly evolving information landscape.

Ressa said, “This is a time of creative destruction, and what you do today will determine the future of our country. Do the ‘what,’ but more importantly, ask the ‘whys.’”

Journalist Pia Ranada, Rappler’s community head, discussed the role of artificial intelligence in community building, highlighting the Rappler Communities App as a response to the prevalent AI threat.

She said the app is also a means for the newsroom to “harness AI in community building,” presenting a public-driven approach to social media where the algorithm is grounded solely on “news value,” determined by public interest and the importance of news they should be exposed to.

Rappler’s head of data, Don Kevin Hapal, spoke about the challenges and prospects of AI in journalism. He said the most effective approach to AI threats is to “adapt to it,” akin to Rappler’s integration of AI into its newsroom operations, focusing on various AI systems and their ethical use.

“I encourage you to use AI to supercharge your work as journalists and keep doing what you do best,” he said, adding that campus journalists can use the technology to their advantage.

However, Hapal pointed out that although AI is better than humans in many aspects, such as “pattern detection in a data set,” it can never interpret context within the data the way journalists do.

The newly elected VSU president, Dr. Prose Ivy Yepes, also encouraged the campus journalists to “use their skills and talents to keep their constituents informed with nothing less than the truth and high-quality data.”

An afternoon session featured a talk by Voltaire Tupaz, co-founder of FYT Media, about bridging media and communities through mobile journalism, and Ben Domingo Jr., a retired professor from the University of the Philippines-Diliman, which tackled the brand new ways of development reporting.

The conference will run until Saturday, April 6, and will feature a powerhouse of speakers and experts, including multi-awarded journalist Jamela Alindogan, Leo Katigbak of ABS-CBN Film Restoration, and Jeff Canoy, chief of reporters at ABS-CBN Integrated News.

Among the major awards to be handed out is the Journalist of the Year Award. For the first time in RTSPC history, its Campus Press of the Year award will be divided into three categories for the flagship campuses of state universities and colleges (SUCs), local universities and colleges (LUCs) and component campuses, and for private higher education institutions (HEIs). – Rappler.com

Jerry Yubal Jr. is a campus journalist from the Visayas State University (VSU) in Baybay City Main Campus. The executive editor of Amaranth, he is also an Aries Rufo Journalism fellow of Rappler for 2023-2024.