Rappler’s Gemma Mendoza on Innovation, the Role of Gen Z in the Newsroom, the Proliferation of Deepfakes and Journalism’s Evolution

As a media organisation, they stand on three pillars: journalism, technology and the wisdom of crowds. From the very beginning, they have worked at the intersection of journalism, technology and community engagement.

It was co-founded by a woman who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for safeguarding freedom of expression and for her efforts to address corruption in her country.

They were the first media organisation in their country to publish guidelines on AI use in 2023.

They were among ten digital media organisations selected by OpenAI to participate in "innovative experiments around deliberative technologies".

By now, I am sure you have guessed that in a new episode of the AI-FLUENT podcast, I am talking to Gemma Mendoza. Along with Maria Ressa and other journalists, she was one of the co-founders of Rappler, the most prominent Filipino news website. Now she leads digital innovation and disinformation research at Rappler.

Main Topics We Discussed In This Episode:

• How to balance the speed and efficiency that AI offers with Rappler's commitment to slow journalism and deep investigative reporting
• AI's impact on the relationship between journalists and their sources
• The biggest misconception about generative AI in journalism and the most surprising aspects of its development
• Rappler—one of the most famous Filipino news websites in the world—stands on three pillars: journalism, technology and the wisdom of crowds. How does their newsroom rely on this wisdom?
• How they utilise AI at the intersection of journalism, technology and community engagement
• At Rappler, they create their own AI tools in-house. What determines whether they create their own tool rather than use existing market solutions? How do they address ethical implications when using their own data, including ensuring it isn't biased?
• The role and input of Gen Z journalists in Rappler's newsroom
• Required changes in journalism schools' educational systems to better prepare future journalists for the new reality
• Gemma, who leads Rappler's efforts to address disinformation in digital media, shares recent examples of how AI tools have made their work more efficient
• Patterns and peculiarities in how people use deepfake technologies
• In 2023, Rappler became the first Filipino newsroom to publish guidelines on AI use. Gemma's recommendations for other newsrooms worldwide on approaching AI—what are the crucial aspects not to overlook?
• The future of journalism in three words
• Gemma's case for journalism: why should a 15-year-old become a journalist in this AI-driven world?