FOR nearly three decades, SunStar Davao editor Marianne L. Saberon-Abalayan has built her career around telling stories, helping shape newsroom coverage, and keeping pace with a rapidly changing media landscape. Now, she is stepping into a new frontier.
Abalayan was selected through a competitive process for the September-to-December 2026 cohort of the Ethics and Responsible AI (ERAI) Fellowship, an 11-week executive program that brings together journalists and media professionals to examine artificial intelligence and its growing impact on journalism and society.
The fellowship was created and is run by Knowledge Networks, a U.S.-headquartered organization that trains journalists, editors, and media leaders in responsible AI reporting.
The selection adds another international milestone to a career rooted in Mindanao.
In 2026, Abalayan became the sole Filipino journalist among 19 fellows from 15 countries selected from more than 200 applicants across Asia for the Asia Journalism Fellowship (AJF). During the two-month program, including a monthlong residency in Singapore, she won best photo essay and helped her team place second in the group story pitch.
Now, through ERAI, she will turn her attention to a technology increasingly changing how journalists work — and how the public receives information.
For Abalayan, the opportunity is both professional and personal.
“Being shortlisted for ERAI is both exciting and humbling, and I’m deeply grateful for this rare opportunity. I see it as a great blessing and, truly, a grace from the Lord. I’m looking forward to learning more about AI — not just how we can use it wisely in our work, but also how it is changing journalism, what challenges it brings, and how we can make sure technology continues to serve people and the public good.”
The ERAI Fellowship will give participants a journalism-focused understanding of artificial intelligence, including its ethical and societal implications, governance, and influence on the media industry.
Rather than focusing solely on how journalists can use AI tools, the program will challenge participants to examine the technology itself — how AI systems work, who develops and governs them, what risks they create, and how journalists can examine their effects on the public.
The program combines eight live online seminars, each lasting 90 minutes, with applied laboratory work. Fellows will work through newsroom scenarios and assignments involving verification, accountability, and ethics.
The hands-on component will allow participants to move beyond discussions about AI and apply what they learn to real journalistic situations — from examining claims and asking critical questions to identifying issues that deserve deeper reporting.
For Abalayan, learning alongside journalists from different backgrounds is just as important as the formal coursework.
“I’m especially excited to learn from experts and fellow journalists who are navigating these changes, while sharing my own experiences from Mindanao and learning from perspectives across the region. I believe there is so much we can learn from one another, especially as journalism continues to change alongside technology,” Abalayan said.
As an award-winning journalist, Abalayan has received recognition from the Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards, Globe Media Excellence Awards, Archbishop Thibault Media Awards, Luntiang Pluma Awards, and other industry organizations. She won Best Regional Feature Story at the 18th Bright Leaf Agriculture Journalism Awards 2025.
Her experience as an editor has given her a front-row view of how technology is changing the newsroom — from research and verification to content production and audience engagement.
That makes AI the latest challenge in a longer evolution of journalism: how to embrace new tools without losing the human judgment, verification, and accountability at the heart of the profession.
As AI becomes more accessible, journalists must understand not only what the technology can do, but also where it can fail, how to check its outputs, and what questions arise when AI becomes part of the reporting process.
For Abalayan, the fellowship’s value will ultimately be measured by what she can bring home.
“More than gaining knowledge for myself, I hope to bring what I learn back to our newsroom and share it with fellow journalists and aspiring media practitioners whenever I have the opportunity. I see this fellowship not only as a privilege, but also as a responsibility to use what I learn to help strengthen journalism and better serve the communities we cover,” she said.
The fellowship will culminate in a graded capstone project focused on a real-world, public-interest AI challenge. Participants will be assessed through their applied laboratory work and capstone project, with outstanding work potentially considered for shortlisting for the G20 Summit in Miami.
For Abalayan, the next chapter is not about leaving journalism’s fundamentals behind. It is about learning how to uphold them as technology changes the way news is reported, produced, and consumed. DEF
