Seven Francis Lewis student journalists explored the future of media and journalism at the Newsies 2025 Conference, gaining practical insights and inspiration from seasoned professionals at Baruch College on April 25. The event provided different workshops to attend, seeing other school’s newspapers, and even an awards ceremony, to recognize the true effort and dedication students have put in for journalism and their beloved schools. A total of 32 high schools were in attendance, with fifteen high schools winning Best in NYC Public High School Journalism Awards from the Baruch College’s High School Journalism Program. At the workshops, many real-life journalists were there, with topics ranging from sports and finance to AI technology and podcasts. The journalists worked for several different news outlets, and spoke about their career and their journey, and were insightful for the student journalists there that day.
One of the presenters at the conference was Rebecca Ungarino, a journalist who writes for Barron’s, a financial and investment magazine and newspaper. Ungarino presented a workshop called “Quote Unquote”, where she spoke specifically about the impact that good, effective quotes can have on an article, and how they can truly uplift a story to its full potential. She discussed what brought her to the profession.
“I love writing and breaking news and journalism is so essential to our democracy,” Ungarino said. “[It] sounds cliche, but it’s a hundred percent true. And journalists are so important to the fabric of our society, and I always wanted to be part of writing truthful, impactful stories.”
Ungarino shared that wanting to become a journalist doesn’t necessarily mean that you must major in journalism itself. The essence of journalism and its recognizability is enough, regardless of what your major is.
“Majoring in journalism doesn’t have to be the only route to becoming a journalist,” said Ungarino. “You can major in economics, can major in business, can major in English and intern with news organizations. I think that, you know, any major can ultimately lead to a great career in journalism. You just have to be willing to learn how to write news, become an expert quickly, and make sure that you know how to present the best as possible.
Kathrine Yusupov, co-editor-in-chief of Francis Lewis, found particular value in a workshop focused on artificial intelligence. It was called “Future-Proof Your Journalism” and dived into where journalism and artificial intelligence intertwined, and how AI could enhance reporting and news delivery skills.
“We are constantly looking at the negatives of artificial intelligence,” Yusupov said, “But I think it showed a really nice perspective of something we often don’t think about.”
Kathrine added on to her statement, saying that AI can be practical at times, giving the example of when you are face to face with a difficult situation, and how AI tools can be effectively used for research, content generation, and audience engagement.
“If you need to interview a person of influence and you’re a little nervous because it’s your first time,” Yusupov said, “you can use Google Gemini to program it so you can anticipate what type of questions they could ask you.”
She continues to give her full opinion on this, and how it can set the scene of a newsroom. AI used strategically and with a purpose, can map out evolving career paths in the media landscape, showcase roles like content design, and empower students to navigate ways of reporting with finesse.
“It can help make newsrooms flow much easier and improve the efficiency of a workplace,” Yusupov said, “which is something journalists can use as well.”
Although AI does have its perks, Yusupov implored the fact that “it’s always important to proofread, double-check their facts and make sure you’re always giving the most accurate information, especially as journalists.”
Sophomore Keiera Calderón from the Brooklyn Institute for Liberal Arts shared her thoughts on the event. As a fairly new journalist, she claims that the event “just gave me great ideas”, and liked being there overall.
“It actually inspired me a lot personally to keep putting articles out there,” Calderón said, “and find stuff that will interest other people.
Calderón currently focuses on school funding and promoting current events and tying them back to her community. The various workshops at the Newsies helped motivate her to “advocate for different issues that others may face” and opened her eyes to new things she– and many others– could report on in the future.
“It was a very good event to bring together young aspiring journalists,” Calderón said. “People who share similar thoughts and experiences just want to make things better for other people.”
