In Israel, reporters for Haaretz fought public opinion to fairly present both sides of the security situation there.
In Sierra Leone, a struggling network of radio stations pooled their resources and improvised with what little equipment they had to cover the country's 2002 elections and ensure fair voting.
In the United States, journalists struggled to cut through political spin.
A new independent film screened at the Rotunda last night tells these stories of journalists around the world, sometimes risking their lives to report the news and preserve democracy.
"The first role of journalism . is to monitor power," Amira Hass, one of the correspondents covered, says in the film.
An older audience of about 40 turned out to see Democracy on Deadline, which was followed by a panel discussion on the current state of journalism in the United States.
"Investigative reporting is setting your own agenda," said former LA Times editor Deborah Nelson in the movie. "It's not chasing somebody else's investigation. It's having the government chase yours. It's doing your own independent research to determine what is true and what is not."
Afterwards, Dave Davies and John Baer of the Philadelphia Daily News, Michael Matza of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Temple Journalism professor Fabian Darling-Wolf spoke with the audience.
Davies talked about the decline of daily newspapers and said the country still needs "full-time journalists to do investigatory work."
Baer echoed this sentiment, saying that newspapers were adapting to a world in which CNN and Internet pundits can beat them in speed by providing context and analysis.
However, members of the audience criticized national newspapers for being prone to sensationalism and following stories such as Janet Jackson's much-publicized "wardrobe malfunction."
The program was sponsored by the Independent Television Service along with Amnesty International's Penn chapter.
College junior Jules Shen said she was disappointed that there were so few Penn students at the event.
"It worries me. A lot of Rotunda events should be able to find a Penn audience," she said. "There's a disconnect between the Philadelphia community and Penn students."
The film will be shown on WHYY on Nov. 28 at 10 p.m.
