Media leaders address students about the future of journalism

Andy Lack (middle), former chairman and CEO of NBC News and co-founder of Deep South Today, makes a point as Andrew Morse, president and publisher of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Jen Duck, moderator of the panel, look on. Lack and Morse spoke to JOUR 3030 students on Nov. 11, 2025. (Photos/Sarah E. Freeman)

Media leaders address students about the future of journalism

November 18, 2025

Nearly 200 students participated in a master class about the future of journalism as Andy Lack, former chairman and CEO of NBC News, and Andrew Morse, president and publisher of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, talked about “The Challenges to Journalism in Difficult Times” on Nov. 11, 2025.

Lack and Morse spoke in front of students and guests in Media, News and Consumers, an entry-level journalism class open to students in all majors at UGA. The panel discussion was moderated by Jennifer Duck, clinical associate professor of journalism at Grady College, and sponsored by the Peabody Awards.

Lack and Morse spoke for more than an hour about the rapid changes and challenges journalism is facing today including AI, news deserts, video and digital platforms and the business of journalism, among other topics.

Morse talked with the students about the mentality of a good journalist. “We need toughness,” Morse said. “We need character. We need resolve.”

Morse began his comments talking about the decision The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently announced to move to a digital-only platform and stop printing the paper at the end of 2025. He emphasized that he is committed to keeping journalism at the heart of the news operation.

“It always starts with the journalism,” Morse said. “It’s about journalism at the core. The accountability of journalism, great reporting, great storytelling, original distinctive journalism…regardless of the platform…if you don’t have great well-reported journalism and valuable stories, you don’t have anything.”

Morse later spoke about the outlet’s commitment to covering its community, whether that is defined as Atlanta, the state of Georgia or the southeast United States. Key topics such as politics, education, mental health and even food of the south will continue to be focuses, as well as new initiatives like UATL, a digital platform dedicated to covering the culture of the Black communities.

Sydney Hammett talks with Andy Lack after the panel. Hammett said Lack and Morse left her feeling optimistic about the journalism industry. “The demand for watchdogs doesn’t disappear; it just asks us to adapt to new methods of delivery,” Hammett said. “That made me excited for my own future in journalism because it reinforced that there’s real purpose and impact in the work.”

“The power of digital is you can reach everybody everywhere, but you can’t do everything. So, we had to make changes and choices,” Morse said.

Lack spoke about a digital-only, nonprofit newsroom that he co-founded after retirement called Deep South Today. Deep South Today is dedicated to news in Louisiana and Mississippi, Lack’s home state.

“Community is really the key word,” Lack said. “Having impact in your community. And there’s a crisis in these markets of finding journalists to come either back to their own communities or to recruit them to the communities. That’s an exciting challenge for us because I don’t think there’s ever been a better time to work in your community or any community in this region.”

Carolyn Diver, a first-year student who plans to study journalism, said she found the discussion interesting because of how adaptable journalism is as a profession.

“There is not one path and there are multiple ways to find success,” Diver said.

The proliferation of AI is on the minds of many, and a student asked Lack and Morse about predictions of its impact on journalism.

Lack warned that the speed of AI can cause issues in fact checking.

“I think any newsroom needs to be far more buttoned up in terms of their standards and practices, maybe than we’ve been in a long time,” Lack said.

Lack also cautioned about the potential that content will become commoditized and generic, posing an opportunity for journalists to focus on creating differentiated content. Lack also pointed to the ability of AI to sift through a large amount of data as an asset for investigative reporting.

A student shakes Andy Lack's hand. — Carolyn Diver shakes Andy Lack’s hand after the talk. She said she has a peace of mind about the journalism industry after the talk. “It’s about getting information to people, but also telling people’s stories, and there will always need to be people doing that.”

Another student asked what college students today could be focusing on to prepare for the media industry.

Morse said the combination of classes students are taking and working with the college newspaper are some of the best experiences they can have.

“I think what you all are learning here at Grady is exceptional,” Morse said. “It’s the best journalism, and education that you can get. And, The Red & Black is the best experience you can get. Get out and learn how to write, learn how to report, learn how to edit. There’s only so much that can be taught in the classroom.”

Sydney Hammett, another pre-journalism student who was in the audience, said she appreciated hearing about the differences in not-for-profit and for-profit journalism.

“It showed me that journalism has many paths, and there’s space for different personalities, passions and styles,” Hammett concluded. Andrew Morse said, ‘It’s not the paper it’s printed on; it’s what’s inside,’ and I felt that summed up the entire conversation. Platforms change, but substance is what lasts.”

A video of the talk can be viewed here.

Author: Sarah E. Freeman, freemans@uga.edu