This year, Mobile Me & You has decided to switch formats.
Instead of two days of public sessions, speakers will be visiting courses within the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa. The day will wrap up with a student-focused Pizza Q&A-style Keynote. While these talks are not open to the public, each session will be recorded.
Click on a name below to jump to that speaker on the page. Some speakers only have public sessions and some have both public and class sessions. Alphabetized by last name.
| Anthony Adornato | Christopher Alan Ball | David Cohn |
| Brant Houston | Mitra Kalita | Damon Kiesow |
| Marc Lavallee | Jacob Ohara | Ryan Restivo |
| Elite Truong | Zach Wade | Jason Webb |
Click here to learn more about this year’s speakers!
Public Sessions
This year’s public sessions will be on the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 10 12:30pm–5pm on the University of Iowa campus. We encourage media professionals, academics, and students to attend for an afternoon considering the future of storytelling.
Session 1:
The Future of Storytelling
Brant Houston, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
This panel discussion led by Brant Houston will focus on the future of newsrooms and journalistic storytelling.
Session 2:
What I’ve Learned from 60,000+ Headlines
Ryan Restivo, YESEO
YESEO app founder Ryan Restivo will debut what he’s learned building and rolling out the Slack app he’s built as a 2022-23 Reynolds Journalism Institute fellow.
Drawing from over 60,000 headlines, this session will engage the audience with the ultimate task: can you spot an AI headline from a real headline? Ryan will reveal what he has seen in over two years worth of data, what words indicate the likelihood of headlines that come from Large Language Models and teach you a thing or two on how to spot them. This promises to be a participatory session and welcome to anyone who is new to AI or is an expert level. Hopefully everyone can learn something new when Ryan reveals this never before seen data.
Session 3:
Stepping Into the News
AR/VR Storytelling in Journalism Today and Tomorrow
Christopher Alan Ball, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
In this talk, Dr. Christopher Ball explores how immersive technologies like augmented and virtual reality are reshaping the way journalists tell stories. He will highlight current uses of AR/VR in journalism, showcase student storytelling projects, and look ahead to emerging technologies that may redefine how we produce and consume news.
Session 4:
When News Goes Vertical — Insights from TikTok and Beyond
Jacob Ohara, Wall Street Journal
In an age of information abundance, how can trusted journalism stand out? This presentation will break down the evolving relationships between newsrooms, journalists and audiences on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. We’ll discuss what works, what doesn’t and what’s next for social video journalism.
Class Sessions
Anthony Adornato, Syracuse University
Authenticity in the Age of Influencers: What Journalism Can Learn from Content Creators
As influencers redefine how audiences consume information, journalists face pressure to be not only accurate but authentic. Audiences are increasing turning to content creators because of their authentic approach that breaks the mold of traditional news outlets. This session unpacks what we can learn from influencers and incorporate in our work as communications professionals.
David Cohn, Advance Local
Everything Old is New Again: Revisiting Audience Engagement with AI
As part of his capstone project at CUNY’s AI Journalism Labs David sought to apply an AI layer to audience engagement. In this talk David will go over his general approach to AI and its various applications in the newsroom, with a specific eye to how we can revisit and rethink audience engagement.
Brant Houston, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Nonprofit Communications
Mitra Kalita, URL-Media
What I Wish Journalism Students Knew: Beyond the Classroom
A candid look at the skills, attitudes, and audience awareness that truly matter in professional newsrooms — insights I wish every journalism student had before stepping into their first role. This session goes beyond writing and reporting, exploring how to think critically about your audience, adapt to newsroom realities, and build the proactive mindset news organizations value most in this current climate.
Damon Kiesow, Missouri School of Journalism
Systems of Doubt: Ethics at the Intersection of Technology and Journalism
@dkiesow
Big Tech builds for profit; journalism works for the public. In this session, we will explore how and where those missions collide, and how newsrooms can best evaluate and utilize technology without abandoning our values.
Marc Lavallee, CEO & Founder of Lyra TK
Q&A Keynote and Panel Speaker
Jacob Ohara, Wall Street Journal
When News Goes Vertical — Insights from TikTok and Beyond
In an age of information abundance, how can trusted journalism stand out? This presentation will break down the evolving relationships between newsrooms, journalists and audiences on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. We’ll discuss what works, what doesn’t and what’s next for social video journalism.
Ryan Restivo, YESEO
What I’ve Learned From 60,000+ Headlines
YESEO app founder Ryan Restivo will debut what he’s learned building and rolling out the Slack app he’s built as a 2022-23 Reynolds Journalism Institute fellow.
Drawing from over 60,000 headlines, this session will engage the audience with the ultimate task: can you spot an AI headline from a real headline? Ryan will reveal what he has seen in over two years worth of data, what words indicate the likelihood of headlines that come from Large Language Models and teach you a thing or two on how to spot them. This promises to be a participatory session and welcome to anyone who is new to AI or is an expert level. Hopefully everyone can learn something new when Ryan reveals this never before seen data.
Elite Truong, DocumentedNY.com
Rethinking Revenue, Audience and Editorial Strategies for Local Communities
What do local newsrooms have to think about differently when it comes to connecting to their audiences and making their money sustainably? Where does AI fit into the picture?
Elite Truong, product lead for Documented, a local newsroom serving immigrants in NYC and former R&D and advertising-editorial liaison director at The Washington Post, will spotlight strategies and experiments from research and local newsrooms to address how we can think about what helps us move our newsrooms (and industry) forward or backward in our economic landscape.
Zach Wade, CNN
How To Drive Audience Growth: From Research To Execution
Zach will share methods of moving audiences from considering content to committing to your story.
Jason Webb, Syracuse University
There Is No Spoon: Rethinking Presence and Perception in XR Storytelling
In this classroom presentation, we will delve into the dynamic world of extended reality (XR) and explore how it enables creators to design immersive stories and interactive worlds. We will explore both the technology and the theories that shape XR, considering how embodiment and presence transform not only the spaces we build but also the ways we experience and inhabit them. Like choosing the red pill, XR invites us to step beyond the familiar and discover extraordinary new possibilities for storytelling.