MaRS Mornings - Reporting through the noise: AI and the newsroom

Like it has in virtually all sectors, AI has swept through the newsroom, changing how information is produced, distributed and consumed. Journalists and reporters are now harnessing AI to support reporting and streamline workflows, while also contending with a growing wave of synthetic content, misinformation, deepfakes and scam journalism that threaten to blur the line between credible reporting and automated noise.

How is AI changing the role of editors and journalists, and what does that mean for trust in the news? How should media organizations approach transparency and verification as AI becomes more embedded in the information ecosystem? And as audiences are flooded with increasingly convincing AI-generated content, what role will human judgment and editorial voice play in cutting through the noise?

Join leading editors, journalists and media innovators for a timely conversation on the future of news in an AI-mediated world and what it will take for credible journalism to stand apart in an increasingly crowded information environment.

Agenda:

9:00 a.m.: Registration, Coffee & Networking

9:10 a.m.: Welcome

9:15 a.m.: Panel discussion

9:45 a.m.: Audience Q&A

10:00 a.m.: Networking

Speakers:

Sonali Verma, Lead, Newsroom Innovation Initiative

Sonali Verma runs the International News Media Association's Newsroom Innovation Initiative, after leading the GenAI Initiative for two years. Sonali is an independent consultant working on digital sustainability projects in the news industry and as an AI coach for media companies. She was a Visiting Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University and worked for 15 years at The Globe and Mail on its machine-learning Sophi product and in audience and editorial roles. She had prior stints at Bloomberg, CNBC, and Thomson Reuters in Toronto, Singapore, Delhi, London, Hong Kong, and Manila.

Nikita Roy, Founder, Newsroom Robots Lab

Nikita Roy is a data scientist, journalist, and Harvard-recognized AI futurist. She is the founder of Newsroom Robots Lab, an AI strategy and innovation firm for media organizations currently incubating at Harvard Innovation Labs. She also hosts Newsroom Robots, a globally charting podcast on AI and the future of journalism. As a Knight Fellow at the International Center for Journalists, she led AI upskilling efforts across media organizations in six continents and launched the AI Journalism Lab at the City University of New York, supported by Microsoft. She has testified before the Canadian Parliament’s Heritage Committee on AI's impact on media and cultural sovereignty. Nikita serves on the boards of the Online News Association and the Canadian Association of Journalists, and is co-chairing the CAJ's 2026 national conference in Ottawa. She was named one of twelve pioneers and power players shaping the future of news by the Future Today Strategy Group. An alumna of Harvard University and the University of Toronto, she is the co-author of The Science of First, a book on how AI is rewriting the value chain of journalism.

Nicolas Hune-Brown, Executive Editor, The Local

Nicholas Hune-Brown is a writer and the Executive Editor of The Local, an online non-profit publication that tells in-depth stories from corners of Toronto too often overlooked. In its first six years, The Local has been recognized as one of the country’s best new journalism outlets, earning some of the industry’s highest honours. As a magazine writer for publications like The Walrus, Toronto Life, and The Guardian, Nicholas has won a number of awards, including multiple National Magazine Awards, the Canadian Association of Journalists award, and the 2022 Hillman Prize.

Sarah Bartnicka, Founder and Editor, Milk Bag

Sarah Bartnicka is the founder and editor of Milk Bag, Canada's most-read business newsletter on Substack. She is the former founding editor of The Peak and contributes to The Globe and Mail and FASHION Magazine.

Moderator: Nicole MacIntyre, Editor-in-chief, Toronto Star

Nicole MacIntyre is the Editor-in-chief of the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily newspaper. She joined the paper in 2021 as a managing editor, returning nearly two decades after she was part of the Star’s esteemed one-year internship program that has launched many of the country’s top journalists. Previously, Nicole served as the deputy national editor and Toronto editor at the Globe and Mail. In the early years of her career, Nicole was an enterprising reporter covering crime and municipal politics in several of Ontario’s largest metro newsrooms.

Produced in partnership with the Toronto Star.

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