2025 New(s) Knowledge Symposium Highlights

Two weeks ago, MEAG brought together an extraordinary group of researchers, journalists, and technologists for the New(s) Knowledge Symposium: From Research to Intelligence, a day devoted to understanding how news data can illuminate the world’s most urgent challenges.

With support from the Gates Foundation, the symposium featured projects spanning global media monitoring, humanitarian mapping, AI ethics, and data equity. Across sessions, three themes stood out:

• News as data for public insight: From early warning systems for food insecurity to mapping ICE activities, participants demonstrated how journalism can double as a sensor network for global events.
  
  
• AI and responsibility: Presenters highlighted the power and pitfalls of large language models, calling for transparency and care in their design.
  
  
• Equity and representation: Whether in gendered media patterns or algorithmic sourcing, the question of who gets seen remains central.
  
  

Presenters included:

• Ethan Zuckerman — Monitoring Events Through Media Coverage
• Abby Manuel & Jack Vu — Mapping Events with AI: The Icemap.dev Project
• Bia Carneiro — Early Warning on Food Crises
• Phillip Zimmer — Leveraging News Data for Food Insecurity
• Sarah Macharia — Tracking Gender Representation in Global News
• Jay Patel — Bridging Text and Images for Multimodal Media Analysis
• Catherine D’Ignazio & Rahul Bhargava — The Counterdata Network
• Andrew Fisher & Vijay Mago — Health News Summarization for Communities
• Calvin Isch — How the News Covers Causes of Death
• Marianne Aubin Le Quéré — What Sources Power Google’s AI Overviews?
• Theresa Amobi — How Media Shapes HPV Vaccine Decisions in Nigeria
• John Marshall — Testing the Power of Radio to Improve Health Outcomes in Tanzania

Thank you to all speakers and attendees for contributing ideas, dialogue, and data. Check out our LinkedIn for session recaps and photos from the event.