Lily Fadell - Lily Fadell: San Diego Journalist

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Explore the latest stories, insights, and work from Lily Fadell, a dedicated journalist based in San Diego. Dive into her bio, resume, and get in touch for collaborations or inquiries.

Lily Fadell: San Diego Journalist

Lily Fadell is a third year student at San Diego State University studying journalism, originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota …

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About Lily

Engaging talks and panels on journalism, media ethics, and storytelling for conferences and events.

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Lily FadellSan Diego, CA | <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="mailto:fadelllily@gmail.com">fadelllily@gmail.com</a>EducationSan DIego State University (SDSU) - Junior, Journalism majorExperienceThe Daily Aztec - Writer<ul><li>Contribute daily articles, covering campus news, events and student perspectives.</li><li>Conduct interviews, research in fact, checking to ensure accurate reporting.</li></ul>Inewsource San Diego - Documenter<ul><li>Attend and document community meetings for story creation focused on community reporting</li></ul>Professional AffiliationsSociety of Professional Journalist (SPJ)- Active Member<ul><li>Participate in journalism and workshops, networking and professional development opportunities.</li></ul>Skills<ul><li>Reporting &amp; Writing | Multimedia Storytelling | Research &amp; Documentation | Interviewing| Data Tracking</li></ul>

Welcome to my editor!My name is Lily Fadell, and I’m very excited to be taking this class! I am super passionate about journalism and writing in general, but I don't know much when it comes to digital journalism, so I think this class will teach me a lot. I’m looking forward to improving my skills surrounding the intertwinement of journalism and technology. It feels like in every one of my classes this past year, my professor has said that it is extremely important to be a multifaceted writer who is able to work on a plethora of different platforms. That has always scared me a bit because I feel like I don't know much at all about tech in journalism, so this class will be a huge help.I am also very excited to write my evergreen story. I feel like I have rarely written pieces that remain timely, therefore I believe this will be a great experience for me. I also really like that this is a story we will be developing over the course of the entire semester rather than a few weeks. It feels like I’m going to be able to really get into my interviewing and reporting, which is awesome. I think this class will be a great opportunity for me to develop my skills, and improve as a well-rounded journalist. Looking forward to getting to know you better as well!

Blog Post #1

My first update on my final story project…My story is starting to come together pretty well. I have spoken to almost all of my sources, just need to talk to one more. My first interview with Alicia Shapiro, the CMO of AI News went really well. Ran a little long (almost an hour…), but she provided great insight on what it means to really understand and implement AI into writing stories. She talked about how she uses AI to help her find repeatable sources, build her story outline, actually write aspects of her stories and then in the editorial process. Her perspective on how AI is becoming essential to newsrooms was really interesting. Then I talked to Bella Ross, a reporter for San Diego Times, and she was able to tell me about how a professional newsroom is navigating ethical guides when it comes to AI. She talked a lot about her personal aversion to AI, and how she doesn’t really like to use it at all in her stories. Very interesting to see how some writers' opinions differ so heavily. I then spoke to Lourdes Chacon, and she gave me a great idea of what AI looks like for educators in journalism. Very confusing, complicated and an ever changing curriculum. It was really interesting to see how teachers view AI right now. My final source will be Lynn Walsh, a journalist who works for Trusting News. I’m not exactly sure what kind of perspective she’ll be able to show me, but I’m really interested in what she has to say about AI in journalism because her company is all about being transparent with readers.&nbsp;

Blog #2

Photograph: Valery Tenevoy / https://plagness.com / July 14, 2019

Recording a new podcast interview with CEOs and Founders of successful online businesses, Scale or Die. This show recently hit Apple's New and Noteworthy for business and technology categories. Watch or listen to the most recent episodes at useproof.com/scaleordie.

What I Learned in Digital Journalism This Semester

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A second little update on my final story project…I have now spoken to all of my sources, and I am beginning to put my story together. I think I am going to split it into three headlines total. The first will be something about how news organizations are trying to help their audiences understand what AI usage in newsrooms looks like. Lynn Walsh was able to provide me with a lot of awesome information about how her organization is reaching out to readers to aid them in learning more about AI literacy. I want my next subhead to be about how newsrooms are taking on the challenges of AI and how they use it in their writing. Alicia Shapiro and Bella Ross had very different stances on how AI should be used, so I wanted to compare and contrast their perspectives in this section. I think my final subhead will be about how artificial intelligence in the classroom is being handled from the perspective of a journalism professor. I think for all college programs AI is a huge topic of discussion, but journalism is a much harder one to tackle because these educators are teaching writing skills, which most people think AI can easily replace. Overall, I’m really confident and excited to see how my final story turns out. I learned a lot along the way, and I’m genuinely looking forward to writing my final project.&nbsp;

Blog Post #3

A last little update on my final story project…I’m currently finished with my evergreen story, which is focused on AI in journalism ranging from reading compression, newsroom struggles to classroom implementation. I’m feeling pretty good and also proud of my story as a whole. I spoke to some really cool people throughout the process, and became really informed on what AI in journalism is beginning to look like as the technology progresses. Some of my sources wanted me to send them my finished story which is a little nerve wracking, but I’m definitely going to send it their way once I have it fully tweaked.&nbsp;I am a little stressed about the multimedia elements of the story. I’m planning on getting my image this week and I already have completed one of my infographics, but that leaves an additional image and one other multimedia element. I have yet to figure out what I would like to do for these, so I need to figure that out soon. I’m going into class this Wednesday during open lab to make sure that my website has all of the correct components/assignments on it so I can ensure it is ready for submission.

Final Blog Post 

Synopsis:&nbsp;Throughout this semester, I have learned a handful of things that I plan to carry into my future work as a professional journalist. I would say the biggest take away from writing this story is how to approach long-form storytelling with more intentionality. Researching the evolution of the newsroom technologies and speaking with real news professionals taught me how to balance a narrative with an analysis, using both data and personal insights to better help my audience understand what AI in journalism truly looks like. Overall, I was able to develop my skills in reporting, structuring complex topics and creating stories that are engaging, accurate and continually relevant over time.&nbsp;Developing the Story Project:&nbsp;As I developed my story project, there were a lot of ethical guidelines I had to follow in order to create an authentic, truthful story. To start, I made sure to verify all of the facts/statistics I included to ensure accuracy and transparency. I also made sure to represent my interviews honestly, quoting my sources accurately and avoiding any wording that could mislead or take their statements out of context. I also tried my best to contact a variety of sources to share their opinion on AI so I could write an unbiased and multifaceted story. I approached the topic with sensitivity by acknowledging both the advantages and concerns surrounding artificial intelligence to make sure that the story remained balanced and ethnically grounded.&nbsp;The largest challenge I faced when writing this story was figuring out how I wanted to frame this story. With a topic so large and daunting like artificial intelligence, it was really hard to figure out what exactly I wanted my story to be about. After talking to all four of my sources I had so much quality information, but knew that I simply couldn’t include all of it. After careful consideration, I was able to identify what I thought were the three most important aspects of my interviews. This is how I landed on separating my story into three different subheads and creating the content around these three benchmarks.&nbsp;The largest opportunity I faced in working on this project was getting to really dive deep into how AI tools have evolved and how they are currently being used in newsrooms. I feel like artificial intelligence is such a widely known and used tool, but so many people only know surface-level facts about the technology. In this story, I was able to research the topic heavily and hear from experts who deal with this topic on a daily basis. I think it really helped strengthen my research skills and understand the rapidly changing field of journalism. Interviewing industry professionals offered firsthand insight into both the promise and challenges of integrating AI into journalism. This gave me the opportunity to bring authentic voices into my story.Digital Media Experience:&nbsp;This entire experience truly provided me with a new perspective and skillset when it comes to digital journalism. In years past, my journalism classes relied heavily on writing and story development, which are both important aspects of creation, but this class opened my eyes to the fact that journalism is more than just words on a paper. Seeing how so many different digital elements like photos and infographics can be used to further supply context to a story made me realize that success in this field is more complicated than I had anticipated. In order to be a successful journalist, you kind of have to be able to do it all. Writing is extremely important, but being able to connect with your audience by creating visual elements to accompany a story makes your work so much stronger and more powerful.&nbsp;My experience in using data for digital journalism was overall pretty enjoyable. I definitely hit a few bumps in the road where I felt like I wasn’t fully understanding the scope of my data, or I was struggling to find a way to present the data to an audience. Other than that, I found the experience very useful and felt that it strengthened my skills in digital journalism production in a way that I plan to carry into my future work.&nbsp;When creating the digital elements of my story, I mainly used Canva and Manus. Canva was relatively easy to work with because I had used it before, but I did run into some small issues. Canva can be a bit touchy when designing infographics, and I definitely got a little overly frustrated with it sometimes. Other than that, I had a great experience using the tool. For my image, I used Manus AI to help me create an image related to AI in journalism. I thought it would be an interesting tool to use for my story considering it was all about AI in journalism. I was very impressed by the software itself, but found that you needed to be extremely specific about the image you wanted to create. It took me about 5 revisions from my original statement to come up with an image I wanted to include in my story.&nbsp;The most enjoyable moment in working on my website was the fact that I was given so much freedom in the topic selection and the writing process overall. I’ve always been interested in artificial intelligence and what it means for the future of an industry that’s built on creativity in writing. This story gave me the opportunity to speak with people who had so many interesting things to say about the topic. This is probably the most fun I have had and the most I have learned from a final project for class.&nbsp;

My Experience with Digital Journalism

<h3></h3><h3>How journalists, educators and readers are navigating the promise and uncertainty of AI</h3>The newsroom is a sacred place that has been in a constant state of development since its early days — a space built on collaboration, diversity, trust and a drive to serve the public interest. For years, newsrooms have operated in a strictly uniform manner — report, write, edit and publish, but recently we’ve seen a change to this typical routine.&nbsp;Over the decades, every wave of new technology has pushed newsrooms to evolve. From shifting to digital platforms to adapting to the rise of social media, each change has reshaped how news is produced, but none has sparked as much of a debate as artificial intelligence.&nbsp;Today, that debate becomes urgent as AI transforms how information is gathered, written and distributed. Newsrooms across the country are racing to adapt. Some think it’s a powerful tool for reporting and reaching audiences quickly, while others worry it threatens accuracy, ethics and jobs. From established media outlets to college classrooms, journalists and educators alike are grappling with how to integrate this technology responsibly.<h4>Helping readers understand artificial intelligence in journalism&nbsp;</h4>The struggle of navigating AI is not a task that only journalists face, as the issue extends far beyond the newsroom. Everyday readers are also seeking to better understand this emerging technology and what it means for them.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://trustingnews.org/">Trusting News</a>, a journalism support organization, recently conducted a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://trustingnews.org/trusting-news-artificial-intelligence-ai-research-newsroom-cohort/">research study</a> which found that 94% of people believe that journalists should be fully transparent and honest about their use of AI.Lynn Walsh, assistant director of Trusting News, explained that readers are widely skeptical of AI use in general, but are also extremely curious. They want to educate themselves and learn more about the evolving tool.&nbsp;&nbsp;“[People] want to know how it works,” Walsh said. “They want to know how to spot it, how to use it and how it's being used around them.”She explained that Trusting News has gathered feedback from its audience and, in turn, has shifted its focus to one main question: How can we help educate our readers?&nbsp;“I see it as an opportunity to potentially rebuild trust and relationships with audiences and their communities through giving them something that they need and want, which is AI literacy,” Walsh said.&nbsp;Rather than assuming what readers want to know about artificial intelligence based on typical concerns — such as its environmental impact or the spread of disinformation — Trusting News has partnered with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://trustingnews.org/meet-the-10-newsrooms-testing-ai-disclosures-alongside-trusting-news/">10 newsrooms</a> across the country to share a survey with their audiences aiming to better understand what the public truly needs.&nbsp;The survey centered on questions such as:&nbsp;<ul><li>What do you want to know about the technology?</li><li>What are you worried about?</li><li>What are you curious about?</li><li>What format would be most helpful to learn from: Social media? A YouTube video?</li></ul>These surveys will close in a few weeks, and the results gathered will help shape the type of content and formatting the newsrooms will create and share about AI, according to Walsh.&nbsp;Educating audiences on artificial intelligence isn’t solely for the purpose of newsroom gains, rather it’s a process that connects both readers and professionals during a time of uncertainty, confusion and frankly fear.&nbsp;“We want to help people,” Walsh said. “Let’s be that example of one responsible use, but then also be a partner in this with them so they can understand it, and bring them along with us as we learn too.”<h4>Maintaining ethics amidst change</h4>With the uncharted environment artificial intelligence creates for the world of journalism, news organizations are struggling to find their footing in managing this new technology.&nbsp;Many argue that the main challenge of integrating AI into the newsroom lies in ethics. Maintaining a strong, trusting relationship with readers is what keeps the art of writing alive, but how should a newsroom determine what this means for a tool that is so new?Bella Ross, a reporter for <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://voiceofsandiego.org/?utm_term=san%20diego%20news%20today&amp;utm_campaign=Website+Traffic&amp;utm_source=adwords&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;hsa_acc=7340282402&amp;hsa_cam=2073817400&amp;hsa_grp=76727005895&amp;hsa_ad=372672751853&amp;hsa_src=g&amp;hsa_tgt=kwd-298130428793&amp;hsa_kw=san%20diego%20news%20today&amp;hsa_mt=b&amp;hsa_net=adwords&amp;hsa_ver=3&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=2073817400&amp;gbraid=0AAAAADoeRH25y-_Ma1YiizSbcZ5LqxnFa&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiAi9rJBhCYARIsALyPDttpIgKNvZml_Ph8Pdd8tbKkS2G1zRQgFTWvvkGHxbudC56oel4bjZwaAqQsEALw_wcB">Voice of San Diego</a>, said that its newsroom amongst <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://journalistsresource.org/home/generative-ai-policies-newsrooms/">countless others</a> has begun to embark on this journey of finding a way to make sense of ethics when it comes to artificial intelligence.&nbsp;“We’re hoping to create a general outline or options to bring to the newsroom as a whole,” Ross said. “Something like a version where you’re not allowed to use AI to write, but you’re allowed to use it as a companion, or you’re only allowed to use it later in the editorial process rather than earlier when you’re writing.”Ross explained that although the process of creating <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://omny.fm/shows/voice-of-san-diego-podcast/bonus-how-should-newsrooms-approach-ai">ethical guidelines </a>is underway, Voice of San Diego does not yet have a timeline for when they will be finalized due to other newsroom priorities and time constraints.While highlighting her personal beliefs surrounding AI, Ross emphasized the importance of authentic, passionate storytelling.&nbsp;“Writing is one of the most uniquely human things we have,” she said. “Humans want to create and appreciate art, and express ourselves through words and visuals … It just feels wrong to use AI in my writing.”&nbsp;While skeptical, she noted that AI does bring slight advantages to the table when it comes to the more tedious tasks within a newsroom such as meeting scheduling or developing short form social media content.&nbsp;“In theory, if I could spend less time doing little jobs that aren’t super important, I would love that, but in my particular role I feel like there aren’t a lot of ways I could use AI that don't completely undermine the parts of my job that I love,” Ross said.&nbsp;While she believes AI use should be limited, others argue that it exists for a reason, and that ignoring these tools would be a missed opportunity.&nbsp;Alicia Shapiro, Chief Marketing Officer and founding member of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://AiNews.com">AiNews.com</a>, said she believes that artificial intelligence is a key tool for story creation and utilizes the technology for the site's content on a daily basis.&nbsp;Shapiro, alongside Michael Mazzotta, founded AI News in the hopes of creating a site that makes AI generated news stories understandable, approachable and accessible to people around the world.&nbsp;When it comes to story writing, Shapiro utilizes AI in a unique manner compared to traditional news outlets, using it to find reputable sources, develop story outlines, draft the content itself and assist in the editorial process.&nbsp;She added that AI allows her to maximize her workday in ways she now considers indispensable.“I can usually get between three to four articles done in one day, and spend about an hour writing on each,” Shapiro said.&nbsp;Although her use of artificial intelligence has become essential, she noted that there are several aspects of the technology that fall short of human capabilities.&nbsp;“AI has mastered the skills, but what do we bring to the table that they don't?” Shapiro questioned. “It’s the human experience; it’s your personal views; it’s how you think. These are the things that fuel a story and separate a computer from a writer.”As AI continues to advance and develop, there’s no telling where the future of its abilities will land, but it's important to remind ourselves that the technology is here to help us, not replace us.&nbsp;“It’s a thinking partner really,” Shapiro said. “It helps me think and work through things, but we can’t rely on it to do everything.”<h4>Artificial intelligence in the classroom&nbsp;</h4>While newsrooms work to define their relationship with AI, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/documents/ai-report/ai-report.pdf">educators are facing their own set of challenges</a>. Across campuses, teachers are rethinking how students learn, collaborate and demonstrate their skills in an age of instant information.&nbsp;Lourdes Chacón, assistant professor in the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://jms.sdsu.edu/">School of Journalism and Media Studies</a> at San Diego State University, explained that even established education departments at SDSU are attempting to alter their curricula in an effort to manage the challenges AI brings to learning environments.&nbsp;Faculty groups from different JMS majors — such as advertising, journalism and media studies — have been exploring how AI can be used in their classrooms in a constructive way that acknowledges its benefits but also addresses the risks it poses to developing students’ writing and analytical skills, according to Chacón.&nbsp;“We have to train our students in a way where they know how to use these tools instead of teaching them skills that can be easily replaced by AI,” she said.&nbsp;In order to adapt to these changes, Chacón has had to weigh her options when it comes to how much she wants to incorporate AI in her classroom and consider what kind of impact this will have on students.&nbsp;“The university has been very supportive in terms of giving us access to tools like Gemini, ChatGPT and Copilot Microsoft, but also in creating spaces for us to be trained and have productive discussions about these tools,” Chacón explained.SDSU has encouraged its faculty to participate in <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://grow.google/ai-for-educators/">mini AI certification courses</a> in order to help teachers update their syllabi, and it has also kept educators up to date on the best approaches to the technology in an educational setting, according to Chacón.&nbsp;Over the past year, Chacón has begun to incorporate AI into different class assignments to test the waters and familiarize students with the process, ultimately embracing the technology more than she had expected.“The way I phrase it in my syllabi is to approach the technology as a creative collaborator that is going to support you in your endeavors, and maybe even challenge you in a constructive, productive way,” she said.&nbsp;Even with the addition of AI tools in her classroom, Chacón warned that we must remain cautious in the face of this ever-emerging technology.&nbsp;“We have to be very alert,” she said. “It’s a burden, but we have to keep up with what’s out there for our own good.”Photo: Advanced journalism students present their semester final projects for professor Lourdes Chacón’s class (Photo by Lily Fadell)