wrote that column. but i am glad i wrote it. >> sunday night at 8:00 p.m. on cue and day. a.q& >> three days after the san bernardino shootings, this panel focused on coverage of muslims in america and how muslims can be heard on national issues. >> good afternoon everyone.

i am proud to be here today with you. commoncoming here to eight with the session before our annual banquet in a few hours. thank you all for being here with us. i would like to introduce the cofounder and president to kickoff the unconventional convention and banquet for the day. [applause] in the name of god most gracious and merciful. thank you for joining us. i hope you plan on staying with us for the banquet tonight. it is our 15th annual.

we started these events shortly go. but we are growing. will see tonight hopefully how the impact has become a national voice on some of these issues. tonight in today this convention has -- is celebrating our shared humanity. and what a timely topic. because, it is our shared humanity that will help us overcome the ideology of hate. whether that hate is manifest in the form of international terrorism or in the form of xenophobia and hate crimes domestically. we need to have a united front. along both lines. and people have been asking us since the san bernardino tragedy, they have been asking us, what is it in your religion that causes people to do things like what happened in san bernardino? our answer is our religion is telling us to do exactly the opposite. our religion is about mercy and compassion and justice. our religion is about -- if you save a life, it is like you

saved all of humanity, if you kill a life, it is like you killed all of humanity. it is like apparently they are not reading the same text that we are reading. or it is not being processed. we're actually the nemesis to terrorism. the antidote to terrorism. so that to more we can empower mainstream communities to overcome and prevail the ideology. number two, they ask is, why are you not speaking out? our answer is, if you go to the website of all the muslim organizations, you will see documented the condemnation of terrorism over and over again. obvious we cannot make this problem disappear with press releases alone. what is required is civic engagement and partnership so that those who are working with us as partners help us amplify the message.

we demonstrate our work to the american public so they see us as the example and standardbearer of our religion and they see the cult and the fringe exactly as that. they are the fringe aberration like every religious group has fringe aberrations. , they see withy our partnership with law enforcement that we are the answer to the problems of peoples insecurities and fears in america. our partnership with law enforcement means that we will work on the ideological problem. they will work on the criminal aspect of the problem and the criminal investigation of the problem and we work hand-in-hand in partnership. that partnership will help us overcome the challenges today. proud that we have with us the chief from the lapd. wrote an op-ed about it.

i see other people from the department of homeland security with us. they are here to say to american society, this is the home for people. muslim, christian, jew, people of all faiths. usy are here to protect against anyone that is trying to harm us. and the way to overcome the album's of xenophobia is to not be intimidated by them. to show strength in numbers. we will not be intimidated. the data we can stand together, all americans, and tell groups like isis and al qaeda, you cannot terrorizes, will be the turning point in defeating the radical ideology. they want to influence audiences by terrorizing people. when we say we have the stamina and the person -- perseverance to say, you will not terrorize

us, the that is when we will win. finally, they ask us aren't you frustrated all the time? we were just commenting on terrorism of backlash over and over again. the answer to that is yes and no. yes, there is friction. there is anyway on us. the same time this is our light. the terrorism that is coming from the disintegration of the middle east cannot control, but we can control the environment here. america will recognize the vital contributions of american muslims. vision,achieve that then we feel we have succeeded in our goals. is the terrorism that emanating from the disintegration of the middle

east, from the problems overseas, we cannot control. but we can control the environment here. that is why this panel is important. how do we get our message out so we control our own narratives. with that i thank you. edina to lead us in this discussion. to have here, she has been on radio and television doing a wonderful job. with that, give her a round of applause. edina: thank you. we are gathered here is a culmination of a series of events with have held all over southern california for the past couple of months. when we took a step back, we thought about the 15th anniversary of our convention. gather to talk

about the issues of today. to take stock of the year and think about the possibilities i had. camef the things that first and foremost into our minds is the changing nature of our communities and the way we convene as a community. years ago, annual conventions and convention halls were the norms. to meet,ame together exchange ideas, go shopping and bazaars, and meet old friends and new ones. today, conventions are not the way to go. you do not have to go to a convention center to interact with the movers, shakers, and thinkers in society shaping the issues impacting our daily lives. you can go online. you can go a lot of places. to turn our convention on its head said that rather calling -- and then calling all of our community members to come here for a day of programming, we would instead go out to communities to bridge

the gap, listen to communities, and bring to them voices they may not be hearing in their local areas. voices who are leading the changes we would all like to see in public policy, public image-making for media and hollywood and through new, innovative projects both online and in person better changing the nature not only of our community but life beyond. you may be seeing some pictures on the screen of some of the five i'm convention sessions we have had around southern california. thefirst one took place at us long center of san gabriele valley where we featured up and coming voices from inside of our community who are leading change in innovative areas. at theond session was islamic center of california where will looked at the issue of homelessness. los angeles mayor declared a war on homelessness this year. declared it would end

homelessness say here in los angeles. a regional priority that hits close to home for muslims. it is one of our core values to take care of people who need extra help to get back on their feet. the third session was held in the valley. a let's be honest forum. we brought together an attorney and young leader to talk about the taboo issues that do not get discussed very often. oft was in an audience full people who had a great deal in common. we had a conversation from everything from relationships and dating, scriptures, to how we make moral decisions. then we moved to orange county. muslims on's grain

and ask ourselves, is it getting any better? that is part of what we will come to today. us up and coming muslims, some of them very well established. to give a safer stick -- to give us a firsthand account as to where the opportunities for change are. then we wrapped it up at the cultural center in west los angeles where we talked about confronting islamophobia. the lessons we gained there are particularly valuable. his session is called air a coma new media. there could not be a more

appropriate time to consider the meaning for this. when we came up with that, the new era was not the one we're looking at today. but certainly, we are all facing air i in our time. the new media is changing the very landscape of what it means to be an act of citizen and act of participant. social media has changed so much of how we operate and the debates we have. too, is new media challenging the old media whether print newspapers or television networks. today am pleased to be able to a to do should to a fantastic panel that is going to share with us their personal insights from their long careers where they are at the leading edge of some of these very weston's.

have their biographies and the programs i'm not going to read them in detail. the going to introduce panelists and jump into our conversation. right, a senior vice president of entertainment diversity and communications at cbs television. [applause] -- has been a large long-standing partner. providing and encouraging classwork for young people to pursue career in this arena. cbs has been an amazing place that we will have good conversation about. to her right we're really happy to have us megan darby the deputy managing editor of the los angeles times. and certainly it could not he a busier newsday, so we are grateful she peeled herself away to be here with us today.

then we have the only male on the panel. a nice change. no stranger to this community , he grew up in southern california and has been a trailblazer in leading new media before social media existed. internete founder of startups in the.com air of. started to put is lamictal organ put -- organizing he helped is lamictal denies an online. he was with the state department as a senior advisor and helped create a program called generation at change that supported young entrepreneurs around the world to lead change within their society. he has since come back and primarily, hq bader

exclusively for muslim social entrepreneurs. we will hear more about that today. thank you for coming here all the way from washington, d.c., to be with us. panelists toour start with opening comments, i will ask two things. we had hoped we would have with this to executive producers, but they had a scheduling conflict at the last minute and were not able to join us. you will notice their information in the program, but we are pleased to have an intimate number station with the brief time we have. being recorded by c-span and will air later this month on c-span. please keep an eye out for that. we are joined by viewers online through periscope. getting questions from our viewers online and we ask that you share questions throughout this discussion.

i will start out the conversation, but i hope to alternate between your questions and my own. cards will be coming around. inwill also ask you to tweet questions. or on cards.ct 15 whatever you refer. we are old-school and new-school at the same time. please, this conversation is yours, i am just here to help kick it off. we talking about this intersection. megan and tiffany, you both said in old media if you will. working with the television network and one of the largest newspapers in the united states, if not the world. and you have been a pioneer of , looking at new media.

i would like to talk to you about your broad observation about how the landscape has changed during your career. what has changed? how is new media telling into this? is it fundamentally changing? is it more noise than substance, perhaps? tiffany, i will ask you to open. as opposed to old, i like the word seasoned. or traditional. absolutely, i have been with cbs 417 years. has it changed? absolutely. exponentially in the case of social media. crowd and into the see a lot of forehead's because everyone is on a device. it is almost an extension of our hands now. it has changed when everything is so immediate and fast.

before, you would issue press releases, it would take a while, we would use typewriters. so seasoned typewriters, now computers. everything now is much more in media to and regardless if it is factually accurate. sometimes that is something, does not matter if it is true. so many times in media, someone wants to be first. that has changed more than anything. we have to keep up with it all stop it is a beast that needs to be fed. it is no longer, wait until the 6:00 or 11:00 news. it is immediate. when you wake up, it is the first thing you check. you cannot even watch a film without seeing a screen. i want to tweet about it, facebook, tell everyone. that is the other thing that has changed remarkably since i started in the business.

>> certainly, the speed is -- i was talking to my colleagues thinking, you used to have to call the library. right? they would help you locate someone. i thought, what did i do all day? that is definitely a challenge. there is an immediacy that never used to exist. that goes both ways. where i see a change, you use to publish the newspaper and you would have -- the way you would hear or interact with readers would be at one time, really, letters to the editor. even when i was first starting out at the washington post a long time ago, they still had printed it -- you know, they wrote down messages on a piece of paper and you had to go up to the operator to get the message. now, where i think the new landscape can be exciting is talk to people more directly.

you can talk to them. of all, sensitivity to the repercussions of making the day or overstating understating information is a challenge. for example, every story we read about san bernardino we have to make sure was moderated because we knew immediately what kind of comments we get. there's a difference between a constructive conversation questions about an issue and hate speech. think were trying to figure out where that -- where the value lies. i do have an honest conversation. and gearing of the something

that pollutes what you're trying to discuss. >> i remember finding myself in silicon valley in the 90's surrounded by the question. this new media being the one that places an old one. there driven by the same -- the medium is the message. clerks it was not just one revolution, then they went to internet and blogs than social media. revolution after revolution after revolution, when we come all this way, we still try to grapple with what that means. when you look at the system we are in now, you put all this

faith in social media, there are multiple paradoxes at play. it is nothing sensationalist. it is not a level playing field. when people talk about extremists speech first moderate speech, they have a leg up. how do you encapsulate big ideas into small bits of information? we used to call that poetry. attention spans have gotten so longform journalism is harder to do. what you're finding is what our people tweeting? posting articles.

they are posting the traditional stuff. and over the course of 10 years people have devalued this to nothing. they do not want to pay for it. it actually constitute the context of these companies. this is a big paradox. people trash traditional journalism, but it is based on it now. we came and see that as the dust settles and people trigger -- try to figure at the new medium people are trying to do traditional longform journalism again. we still in the middle of that revolution. it has not shaken out yet. we think we have encountered all of the turbulence. were sayingpeople that. i guarantee you that is not the case.

i think we need to go back to basics. people are really starting to ask themselves maybe the medium is not the message. we have just started down this trend. collectively, society, i do not know when it will end up. i'm hoping it ends and a place where we do all understand each other and know each other. there is a lot of hostility. it is a horrible place to be if you're a woman or if you're somebody people in a familiar with. it is your difficult if you're a muslim. i think these things will pass as we mature and figure out how to balance this out.

as the majority of us realize we have the opportunity to project on this. i'm hopeful. one thing i would like to say a lot of times when we talk about negativity, i think people feel that their 10 feet tall behind a device. whether it is a computer or phone. people can say whatever they want. another thing when you talk about negativity, i am an with u.s. one how they're doing and they say they are doing great, known arrests how great. they say that's cool. if you say how are you doing the summary says my toe hurts, we can talk about that.

similar to what happens online where the discussion can feed itself. misery loves company. >> one of the things that is certainly changed in this climate is the meaning of time. the urgency of now. particularly with new situations. it has certainly impacted they hadmaking parent the daily newspaper. maybe the afternoon edition. there is an around-the-clock news cycle. particularly where new information is being contributed online. through social media, through citizen journalist. how that is impacting decision-making at the los angeles times. that way we prevent speculation and make good decisions.

>> i can talk about what happened on wednesday morning. interestingly enough, the first time that was amiss was something the fire department sent out saying they were responding to a shooting that had up to 20 victims. the way it works in most newsrooms now, we have people monitoring for news on social media which can often be the first time you hear something. it might be incorrect, but you follow up on it. other night the stone to the pilot singer was found dead. the first indication was a tweet from dave navarro. we confirmed with the to fire department that the it was the information they have, then we started listening to the police

scanner. it is like social media, it is used for a tip but not what to report directly off of. we sent three reporters immediately going to san bernardino. are going there, we trying to get our law enforcement sources and social media and other news reports to try to figure out what we thought we knew. this is a good example, the l.a. times like many news organizations, that sounds nice. they are trying to figure out how do you operate in this era. hope you guysu, i get a printed newspaper, how

many of you are waiting for your newspaper in the morning to find a what happened? a few. i'm amazed. good for you. good for me actually. that mostld say is people are not waiting, even if they get a newspaper. ,nning huge event like this they broader implications are clear. in this country we go through mass shootings at a stunning regularity. our member this was something that was unusual at one point. now it does not feel unusual. we had a live blog from paris. is sadly routine. that said, and a major new situation, as a respected new bear a responsibility

to separate fact from fiction and speculation. on scott weiland we were the first organization i confirmed it. we spoke to his wife. other people said it without a source. we very careful on san bernardino to try to make sure everything we were reporting was true. connecte got not even the chase and the firefight with police officers immediately. it seemed clear that it was we do notelated, but connect them until it was connected. i was at a conference a couple years ago called the future of storytelling. one of the men at this howerence was talking about when music became available online, people can post to , a lot of people said it

was democratized. people will decide what they like. djs became suddenly more because it's difficult to sort through everything out there. you still looking for someone to help you during and understand the new. just like you're trying to look to the music you might like. >> as somebody who has been promoting journalism through the whole career, this scares me. i think there needs to be a role for professionals. i'm not saying that they should dominate or control. they need to be a part of the conversation. i think that is the ideal. cracks absolutely. tiffany, i want to look to you, a situation like san bernardino, there's a line between new media

hollywood idea but why is it getting more blurred? the different kinds of things that are going on. i'm curious about how the events of energy no impact decision-making at the network. around sensitive storylines or other things that are going on. >> people look to television to does fine social norms. , are they for entertainment? thatimes a lot of dramas will feature storylines that might be pertained as sin -- insensitive. and too many guns being used? we need to be sensitive for the climate and the audience. we have done that. even on a superhero show. we made sure that we switched that episode.

it is always at the top of my mind. >> thank you. with the race for eyeballs. how does that impact decision-making review of the network? we don't to have the blue -- the hulu executives here they are behind the first all-female cap broadly speaking. i'm curious how hulu is impacting the kinds of decisions for place like cbs television's. >> for cbs it is that we feel television rules. being the number one network. the most-watched network, absolutely it feels that television is still very significant. that we are utilizing all

the platforms. whether you watch that traditionally, or on your television. it is the same. it is also that it has broadened. 16 years ago there were only three networks. now you cannot even spend an hour going through all stations. phone right now with a can be a content creator. everybody has that voice. that is also important when talking not image representation, all of that tried -- matters. cracks let me ask you a follow-up. you spoke on diversity. we watch onshows television to reflect the faces we see on the street. >> i try hard. it is an uphill battle. about whether a show like east lowest or as

these on saris new show, are sony others that are out there being and starring roles of people of color, whether that is helping your job. >> you cannot say the word empire without -- every of network wants empire on their schedule. of course, i think that any of those shows, again a lot of times when i said people have to create their own. lessimes they do and a traditional space. that is why it is important for myself and the people that are in these roles making sure that we give them a voice. making sure we ask those questions. does this look like america? does this reflect what someone would say? i know we are not the history channel. you have to make sure are we

actually casting a wider net. there is lot of times unconscious bias as conscious buys. let me tell you. unconscious in the sense that we have seen it this way, this is what looks normal to us. i had a great example of this. there is a world war firefighter. in, i say 29 of them were white men. i said what about if we did an asian american female. the casting director was like what she talking about? we are not thinking that way. i said the captain of the fire department was an asian american female. if we saw more of that, it will become normal. rolessaw more muslims and word it was not stereotypical than it will be normal.

master of none helps me. i think look at this. the l.a. times-ish on about this show. it definitely helps. the more that we can see that this is the new normal. >> thank you. megan i want to turn to you. because this question of how do whent eyeballs came to me we watched cnn and smb see. we have suspects in san bernardino. there are all kinds of ethical questions. photos from the inside of the apartment were splashed across the cover. how do that kind of decision-making happen? do you think there is an immediacy to allowing the investigation to take place?

>> i will clarify a few things. we did have reporters in the department. we did not immediately use that material because you want to assess what had happened. the investigation had actually been cleared. they were not going into an active scene. it was boarded up because the windows had been shattered. the landlord came out and said this has been a cleared up scene. in their purview as the property owner to allow people in. ultimately, we decided to show images from inside the apartment, because i think there was news value to try to understand normalcy in these people's lives. i think the networks that already did it have already apologized. they want to go now with a live feed and hold up the drivers license which had a lot of

information. photos of other people who may have had no connection to anything. other than their photo was in the house. problemthat it is a where live tv has had to grapple for years. you are in that moment. taking times to assess the value of it. you could hear some of the anchors say a hold on, don't go in that close. hold on a minute. thatthink it was a moment probably a lot of journalists are thinking how is is a teaching moment? they think just because you can do it should you? what is a news value of something? it is funny because we are not exactly in the same situation of being live on air. live iscle for being actually written individual.

i think that if you're she went back and watched live news broadcast, all kinds of errors get made. things get said that seem true. there were three shooters, no there were not. there is lots of speculation. writing on the internet, it is still there. it does not go away unless you are disreputable. i think that almost the act of having to write it down makes our position more cautious. you realize it'll stay out there. >> thank you. i want to connect you to this question. when we see media or politicians or others who make decisions that we agree with or disagree , in response to this i can remember what the #was come into something like muslim apartment. or as basically a sendup character tour is eight and --

characterization of what is taking place. platforme social media and all kinds of these things being held accountable. i know that you have been a force behind some #campaigns. can you add it to this? >> this is an example of true empowerment. we are been trying to figure out how we use these tools to empower average people. the #campaign has become one of those ways. everything from black lives matter on. this year, a lot of muslims on social media who had been making points of social media, but had not been moving the needle very much realize there was traction in a #campaign. that is because they elevate the discourse to a cultural level. it was not just about pointing out inconsistencies or fax.

it was about telling a story and a #. when you do #my muslim apartment. you're telling the story of an ordinary life with neighbors. we have cats and dogs like you do. it was a very humanizing thing. it was driven by the need to seem human and a social media sphere where everybody is focusing on the suspects. they will be focusing on the outer circle. the brother that is a navy veteran. the people in the community who grew up in the community. they all these different things. it was a very intelligently to go about it. #muslim id with donald trump. we were putting out saying i served in the armed forces. i put up one with my diplomatic passport.

we are trying to model by example and create ways that are not grievance driven. they're not depressing. their uplifting and inspirational. the more that we can respond in that way, it is not just about the media is about engaging with the public. in social media you cannot segment your audience. every audience looks at you at the same time. you have to do it in a way that everybody gets the message. >> thank you. i want to start with the first audience question. i want to go back and forth so please summit your questions. for our viewers online please do the same. have, if question we you could start with this, it seems the world we live in favors immediacy and shock value. what can we do to change the message of peace and respect.

great dilemma of the time we are in. to be able to do this quickly and get something out there, it is not a skill everybody has. people have to learn how to be nuanced very quickly. people always ask me had he get good on twitter. you practice tweeting, you practice figure out what gains traction. how do you condense a big idea? it takes practice. i courage everyone. that's why i encourage people to get on twitter. followers, but it is a great way to condense your thoughts. when you are on the stage, if you could speak and tweets, people take it and send it out. it is not just hundreds of people it can be thousands of people. people should embrace this as a training mechanism. this is how you spread ideas and tell a story. >> thank you.

the next question from the audience is for all of you. as decision-makers who drive, content,d disseminate what do you recommend to the american muslim community? they balance the inevitable because it exists in today's world. cbs, one of the most things that we think about is with our youth. internships. i cannot tell you how me times, because once we hire someone, nine times out of 10 it is somebody we are familiar with. i would say for anyone that is with in their college career, apply for internships. that accessibility. been able to become more familiar, i have my current internet is sick.

i think that it has been so wonderful not only for himself, he wants to be a director, but for all of the employees in my hallway that see him every day. they are exposed to somebody different. i would really say had we change that narrative? how can we become more a part of the conversation? for me personally, it it would be an internship. getting into the system. getting in the door. making sure that your voice is heard. utilizesomething we can whether it is on twitter or print journalism. it is making sure that you do have a voice and having people get to know you and not assume that they know you just because of what we see out here. >> i would say along the same in fieldsng active and careers that have the influence to shape the storyline

is important. i do not think muslims should go to journalism to cover the community. i think they should cover a range of things. in our newsroom we have a number of people who are muslim and practicing, that influence his or her daily experience. it is also a resource when something happens. one of our photographers actually lives at in the san bernardino area. happened, he was already out there. it was also somebody you could talk to and say how does the community feel? what details about this family. what can you say about being a muslim in this area? that is very important to contextualize and understand what has happened beyond just dropping in from l.a.. >> i want people to take a step back and think about the way

things work with respect to muslims and the day after 9/11. back then, i would hear people talking about us and an anthropological way. we are like animals in the zoo. nobody could interact with us. now, today when i turn on tv i see familiar faces. i see talented people. people in the room i have seen on tv. they are part of the conversation. i see people who are contacted by reporters. i see op-ed's being written by people who started out as bloggers and became pundits. if you add onto that come muslims are increasingly active in hollywood and in the industry. we have come a long way. do with leadership. even when you look up the new media space, look at rising youtube stars. look at people who are out there and part of the conversation. we are there.

we have the mechanism to keep that moving. we have only just started. >> thank you. i want to shift back to television, because we have a huge advance this year. when regina won an emmy for katrina muslim character wearing her headscarf in a positive role. that was a huge shock. for many of us in the community to see that role exist, this fall we also have shows like quantico that feature muslim characters in more and more roles. what do you think, where other possibilities for better for trails in television and film of muslim characters. this is one of the most common grievances or criticisms of welywood is the way in which

are reduced to such a caricature. >> the possibilities, they are endless. there are so more people who are writing. before anything people have to write it. that is when i talk about internships and informational important tot is have that voice where the creators are creative. to be seen as dimensional people , as people who have lives, who have cats and dogs, that eat pizza. i think it is the more we're able to see that, that the possibilities are endless. we had an event with all of our casting directors. we had a real talk about when diversity comes into play. that you can't have someone

diverse supersede their character. you can't say i need someone that will be the doctor, the victim, whatever it might be -- do not let it say, i need someone to fill in just for racial purposes. one thing, and i will say this until the day i die, diversity does not mean black. that is one thing -- we will be in a room a lot and you will see black guy or girl, and we are done for the week. our job is done. diversity means more than one. let's make sure we are looking for, what does this look like? we are doctors, lawyers, teachers, firefighters. we gave this book, "the hidden , it is my bible.

i think i put this gentleman's children through school because i bought so many, we get to every casting director. as a casting director you are taking your environment, where you were raised. they play a role in how you see television characters. one of the things i have then proud of his after they read the book, they say i see that anyone can play this role. the possibilities are absolutely endless. emmy, king winning that we all celebrated. when did we reach parity? n time.been a long dam people think it is what people want.

if anyone doesn't believe that take the top 30 youtube stars. howe them up and look at diverse they are. >> i don't want diversity for diversity's sake, either. look at the numbers. diversity is a smart dismissive imperative. people are leaving so much money on the table, it is ridiculous. meshes through someone in of color, check the box, and we are done. do we want the best actor to get the role? we always get that one. we hear we saw a diverse list of we had to go with the best actor. did you look hard? do better, and be smarter. >> let me ask you a question related to hollywood and television. g campaigns, like the

takedown of "lawrence of arabia. " the hollywood films with stereotypes, dehumanize and diversify the roles. some say that we should try to get these shows off the air before they start. others say that we should engage to make them better. on the television side, when communities raise issues, particularly on social media and other platforms, shows that our information or on the air, what do you hear? how does it work, and how can we be effective consumers? >> being able to properly and effectively communicate. whenever there has been a storyline that i'm not comfortable with, i make sure that i reach out to impact, the

naacp, that particular community where i feel that might be sensitivity and have a conversation. then you go back to your directors and writers. a concern, an issue? nine times out of 10, you can get the message clear. i we doing this for sensationalism? to perpetuate a stereotype we have seen over and over? the audience will smell authenticity very quickly. >> do want to weigh in on how social media campaigns can howct betrayals, or community members can utilize those outlets to make their voices heard effectively? there are effective and ineffective ones. when you are trying to create a conversation when you are trying

to collectively make something better, you can achieve something. often there are campaigns that are confrontational. sometimes they want to shut down something completely. if people are trying to do a ofw with some kind intersection with an identity you relate with, if you shut it down you reduce the chances of something like that and done it again because they will say "it is worth my time." if you work with them, even if it isn't perfect, you increase the appetite. people have to look at the long-term. i favor the social media campaigns that are conversation know, aspirational, touch people's hearts. i think the ones -- i like to save the harsh ones for strong circumstances. when you want to get someone to shut up. question isaudience

how do we ensure accurate and honest reporting and journalism in the new era of news and media. how can the audience rely on what they see and hear? as consumers of news, you have to judge your sources. , and thiswhat happens tomay be more than it used happen, you self identify with the community you agree with. .ou see this on facebook i have some people on facebook where they don't really think like i do, and i have to make the constant decision where whether i still see their feeds or not, because sometimes you get really upset that someone has a different opinion from you and then part of me feels like, this is a window into a part of this country that maybe i don't always get exposed to. it could be good for me to hear that.

so, i think -- i'd say you have to be a smart consumer and decide whether you think that the source is objective. and, i think that that is where there are a lot of citizen journalists, but journalism is a professional career. i have spent a long time learning how to report. how to find sources. how to decide whether someone is being truthful or is someone who should be listened to. whether something seems suspicious to me. how to find documents that support the story that i am hearing. somebody said to me, that something is true, i don't take their word for it. i check it with someone else. that is why i think there is a real value in the legacy news organization. where you have that kind of

training. use your common sense. because you want to believe something, because it fits into your worldview does not make a trip. consider the source. be careful about what you share, because you may be sharing that information because it appeals to you. that happens on all ends of the political spectrum. it is hard. it's hard because they're used to be a few sources and now there are many. i think we have to be educated consumers of information. >> the same people who would look at you and say i don't trust that journalists, but i heard a rumor -- they don't see the inconsistency of that. this is where we have a collective conversation about how to properly manage the responsibility that we all have that we can interact with the world now. that has consequences if you say something that is destabilizing. >> there is a tendency to not like the information and believe it is untrue. not liking information or if it makes her happy one comfortable is not the same as the information being false. i think that sometimes we all make that mistake. >> thank you. to piggyback off of the point you just made, one of the

audience questions says, one of the problems with social media is that people tend to connect mainly with other like-minded individuals or groups. with that in mind, is there hope for building bridges and expanding exposure to different ideas online? how do we do that? >> i think some of these -- black lives matter or other campaigns, i'm even thinking recently about the backlash to snl for having donald trump on. people are pointing out that he said a lot of different things that probably offend a lot of different communities, but in particular the fact that snl who has been around for 40 something years, has managed to have two or three latino cast members ever. nobody else is funny, i guess? that is a consciousness raising of saying, you will have donald trump on, he said all of this stuff, demonstrably not true.

this is an organization and a show that has been on for decades that is barely managed to diversify beyond black and white people. to me, that is a way to sort of cut across. even if you left donald trump, i -- even if you love donald trump, i think that backspace question about why snl has failed to find anyone other than white or african-american people to be on their show, is something that i think you would often think, will that is actually a pretty good question. this a country where latinos make up a significant part of the population and are incredibly influential. so, how is that? >> will never get very far if we segment ourselves so much that we do not understand this problem. here we are, as muslims trying to tell people that they need to let us into their circles, but we will segment ourselves out. we have to make ourselves uncomfortable. i have plenty of conservative friends who are my friends on facebook, and everything i post, my muslim friends see it and my conservative and liberal see it.

i try to manage that conversation. just last week, i posted something that hinted at where i stand on gun control. people on my wall were having this very interesting conversation from all different sides. but i was trying to also elevated to another place. where can we find common ground? this is where the beauty of social media comes out, when you have those diverse conversations. but if you just have an echo chamber that is when conspiracy , theories happen. and destabilizing stuff happens. >> thank you. >> i study communications and journalism and learned a lot , about agenda setting. it used to be that traditional media, legacy media, had the greatest role in agenda setting within society. it was more of the traditional norm. in this day and age, with campaigns and social media, how much of that is changing who is setting the

agenda in terms of what media covers? i think specifically about the htag campaigns this year, like the i stand with ahmed campaign about the texas teenage clockmaker. would that have been on the national media radar? would it have made this kid famous and made the situation in the mess had it not been for social media? to what degree do you each feel that social media -- there is a trickle up that may be happening from your viewers or your readers? >> i think this is no question that -- sometimes their campaigns. sometimes they are just people react in to an event. people who misspelled san bernardino for example. i think that, to me it is interesting, because i used to try to read a lot of the ethnic media. like newspapers, watch bt news

et news at night because it was really like , seeing a different america. in these sort of segmented communities, what was being covered there was very different on a nightly basis than what you would see on the national news. i think, anyway, the value of social media for mainstream journalists, a lot of that conversation, i think, is bubbling up in a way that is in front of you if you are following the right people, active people. twitter is overwhelming. i remember the morning of the fifa arrests, i had one channel that was just fifa. i think that in the sense of exposing more people to different viewpoints, i think it is actually quite interesting and certainly has -- part of our morning conversation, i run a

meeting at 7:00 a.m. -- we talk about some of the major news events overnight. then, at the end, one of the things they always ask to our reader and engagement and social media team is what have we not talk about that you are seeing in the conversation locally? there's always something. it is driven by social media. it is driven by trends in social media. not every day that we cover that. a lot of the times we do look into it. we find stories that were not have been seen otherwise. it can be quite influential. but, i think it is most influential when it is authentic. i think when it feels canned or it feels like a campaign -- i think with the my muslim id and authentic that people were responding to what was said in a way that felt incredibly real. i think that that becomes newsworthy. i think people say that they want to launch campaigns, but unless you're paying for promoted tweets, a campaign is not going to go anywhere unless

people organically attach themselves to it. going back to the original point, i think one of the biggest challenges of our time is managing the information overload. dive into every one of these conversations to see where people are coming from , but we are talking about millions of conversations and points of view. i still do not know how to process that. it is overwhelming. that is why there is a role for professionals. to help navigate that. because, i think that a lot of people are struggling with this. in every community, that is why our society is getting so polarized, because i think we just cannot take the overload.

>> i agree with all that. i want to get to my question. we have seen reporters get suspended or fired for sharing personal opinions on world events or hot button issues. in this day and age, where is that line for reporters? responsibility, that balance, what responsibility do they have and rights do they have at the same time? >> that is a really fascinating question. i run the homepage at the l.a. times. a traditionalas print reporter. i have covered beats and have learned a lot about data reporting. reporters in general have to be much more jack of all trades than they were. i know quite a bit of html and things that used to be written

down on. if you're are good at writing, it's a bonus. after be incredibly careful about what i say. i don't share generally personal opinions. i think that it is important not to, because even if i have a original opinion, a strong i one, feel like i could still go and cover -- i cover the presidential campaign in 2000. this is why traveled with. i tried with george bush, al gore, i spent six months of my life with dick cheney. i also spent quite a bit of time in a van with ralph nader. i covered all of those people. i think fairly because whatever my personal feelings are about politics, i think that i could bring an objectivity to it. if i bring in my personal feelings, then that takes away from my ability to be seen as someone who is fair. you get called out on it. i jumped about something was on

facebook and three people were like, you're an editor at the l.a. times you should not be saying that. i said i'm sorry, also in my sense of humor now, too. to be fair, in my flash of anger, i thought, they have a point. everything is public. the idea that there is a private facebook channel or even if you only allowed authorized people to follow your twitter, that woman got fired for the jokes about ebola or was it ebola? she was an idiot. really. i would say nothing on social media with the expectation that it would not eventually get out. i hope that the sony hack taught a lot of us that even what you say your e-mail is potentially public. i think it is challenging. we start conversations. people have to account what they said. you have to be a lot more careful. i think you should be and

-- you should be more thoughtful about how you process your personal feelings and how you portray what is happening in reality. >> thank you. >> one of the things with that, we are in section over sharing population in the sense that i'm going to share that i love this water and here's a picture of , and here are the shoes i just rot at the mall which are fabulous and i'm going to do this. i always say, when we always say where we are, some of the go around your house. you are telling every step of your life. stop it. the over sharing is unbelievable. in that sense. i think that a lot of times -- i will always tell someone when they say that they are sorry for what they said, i say no you are sorry for what you got caught. if you are in doubt and think you should tweet it or write it, tell a friend. physically, not with a microphone on. >> exactly. there you go. last question for you. considering you are the founder of the labs, tell us about what they are all about and what you hope to do with it and the

audience question is a good dovetail for that. focusedd of muslim startup do you think the market is ready for? >> the whole idea came about it is because i had spent 10-15 years in what is called the digital islamic economy. i saw vast markets, liberal market, 500 million muslims between the ages of 18-25 that are upwardly mobile, culturally more alike with each other than like their parents generation. they care about their identity and want to spend on it. very few people actually cater to that market. what i did was try to bring in promising startups that i thought could fit a couple of models. one is buying muslims for everybody, meaning that you create and tap into islamic heritage and values and create products with universal appeal. that can transmit that to the masses.

i'm a founding board member of -- if anyone has heard of it. 2% of their market is muslims and the vast majority is everyone else. part of that is how to define it in a way that is universally acceptable? where trying to bring in companies that do that. the other thing we're trying to do is create innovation by doing hackathons by bringing people together for a couple of days from different backgrounds to solve a specific challenge. doing it in the muslim communities with specific challenges that have to do with muslim identity and life. we have done these around the world and we will start to do them in america. we did one in abu dhabi. be doing future ones on cultivating muslim storytellers. we want to try to feed the environment. it is not about skill or talent,

it is about confidence. it is about feeling that you can do it. that is the number one barrier for most people. we realize that once again people into the situation and we live stream their result and we fund the winners of making a developed. they could do amazing things. we are hoping in the next couple of years to start spinning out companies and ideas and initiatives. the first couple of apps come out early next year. that shows that there is a lot of talent in this group of people. we have a lot to give the world. i want to show that muslims are not just a source of problems, but of solutions. >> thank you. so, i want to ask a closing question for everyone. it has two prongs, the first is, considering new media now, what do you think we have to look forward to a few years from now? what is your prediction of what will continue to impact your industry or your arena in the years to come that people should keep an eye out for?

secondly, we spend a lot of time talking about the points of darkness. i hope that we can and with the d withope that we can en the points of light. what is one point of light that you see that gives you hope for how this transition from legacy media to new media can be a force for good? >> what is your prediction for the future and what is a bright spot that you want to give a little attention to? >> prediction for the future i think that there are so many innovative idea thinkers out there that we have not scratch ed the surface of what we are going to see socially. there are so many people and institutions now where coding is becoming available. we will see the next chapter the next twitter or facebook. there will be multiple

generations of that. i think that will only enhance television viewing for us , because television is not going anywhere. as much as people say tv is dead, people are watching still. i think that that is definitely going to expand it. i think for the light, because i work in an industry where that is all i see, one of the things that i see tremendously is that i want to continue to provide the access. because before anyone can do anything you need access and exposure. the opportunity. say "yes" to someone. when someone says yes to you, say yes to someone else. i think that that will really be able to get to know each other more and that will be my light. i know that our communities are resilient. >> i think you're going to see -- you already are, rapidly -- these long time whether it is

the l.a. times or the washington post or the new york times, the big names in american journalism make much more substantial pay -- substantial pivot to digital news in a way that is sustainable. a lot of us are grappling with these dual operations. you have what is in real time , what is online -- which for a long time was seen as lesser, even though it is informing more lands in yourat driveway in the morning. i think that we saw this last bernardino, the quality of what we were producing in close to real time with equally better than what we were able to publish in this sort of limited number of pages. i think that that is significant for american journalism because i think that professional

journalism does matter and is very important. i think having these organizations make that change in a way that is sustainable is crucial, really, to continuing forward. and, i would just say that i think new media is so exciting. i feel like, used to be able to just put something on a piece of paper and print photographs or a flat graphic. that was all that you could do. the reason why i moved into digital is because it was so exciting. you could create databases that lived on. that you can explore things on your own and really understand a subject matter. i think different people learn different, so video is incredibly interesting and certainly has existed for a long time outside of print. we were just talking about the video on what something means interestingly, we publish it a , fear minutes before everything started happening in san bernardino. to explain to people that this

is not scary, what this means, how people interpret it, in a way that i think it has something like 3 million views on facebook now. that is like reaching an audience that in the printed l.a. times you never could have. or even, coverage of the syrian refugee crisis, which goes beyond just the moment it would have appeared on the front page of the paper and is still accessible to anyone looking for it. i feel a lot of excitement and opportunity to really reach more communities and tell stories in ways that are so much more -- i love writing and i love to but it is more nuanced and can go beyond just that medium. >> i know this will be hard for a lot of people to believe, probably a lot of people will not believe this even the events of this week, but, given the success that we have had since 9/11, given the immense amount of talent, muslim talent in the

pipeline in every possible field, but most importantly the creative field, and given the resilience that america has shown in the face of what is happening. hype ifgnore the online , you look at the real world, i would like to think that we are at that kind of worst of it. five years from now, we will actually be much more integrated, much more accepted, felt like neighbors and we were today. i truly believe that. it is because of the amounts of impact on the social sphere on lots of different spheres, by talented muslims expressing themselves. we're not even scratch the surface of what we will see in five years to 10 years. >> thank you all. please give our panelists a round of applause. [applause] >> and 45 minutes, the author of

the four faces of the republican party. >> good morning inside today's times, he write about endless calling the final crisis in greece. on thesignificant impact euro. writingciated press about economic slow down in china. hitting global market. last week the federal reserve for the first time in nine years announcing an increase in interest rates. december 23rd. morning we want to get to your calls and comments