Jerry Lanson of Syracuse University, author of Writing and Reporting the News, acted as moderator of the three-man panel made up of San Francisco State University Professor Tom Johnson, Mike Antonucci of the San Jose Mercury News and Ricardo Sandoval from the Center for Investigative Reporting.
The group focused on the importance of the internet to journalism, particularly the wealth of story ideas that can be found on the net.
Johnson took his audience through the basics of the internet, from defining his concept of "the infosphere," which is comprised of all data of interest to humans, to categorically listing the tools that any good journalist will need to successfully integrate the 'net into their reporting.
While the panelists sung the praises of the internet as a journalistic tool, the element of this technology as being new and often confusing was an issue that remained up front.
Lanson himself expressed a common sentiment when he said he "loathes the jargon and hype (surrounding the 'net), but respects its power."