Andrew Heslop has a very persuasive argument why trust is vital - it's why we're all here: "If the public no longer trust the media, how will they value what we do, or care when a journalist is murdered?"

The WAN-Ifra director of media freedom urged Publish Asia delegates not to underestimate what public pressure can do: "Our lives and our work depend on it."

It was a message underlined by Wahyu Dhyatmika, an investigative reporter and editor for the Indonesian publication Tempo, who said safety of journalists was "a major issue", with specific challenges in the reporting of actions by Islamic hardliners in the country.

"Islamic conservatism has grown since 1998 - most of the population is Muslim - and there has been a growing assertiveness and political power in the past two or three years, with street protests and online harassment," he said.

Journalists covering groups and street protests were "torn between the need to play it safe - especially after an editor was seriously bullied in a massive street protest - and the need to tell the story, keep the powerful accountable and stay true to our ethics". He urged "standing your ground, and sticking to fair and simple reporting; be transparent about your values and most of all, beware of crowds without security for protection".

Dhyatmika and International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reporter Scilla Alecci had earlier led a masterclass on collaborative and investigative journalism (see 'Massive collaboration beneath the Panama hat). Holding the powers to account in any part of the world was the mission of the ICIJ, she said: "We work on cross-border issues and all our projects are international. We see the public as the global public, and collaboration as vital to bring bigger impact, empowerment and protection. "

"We build stronger democracy via investigative reporting," she said, citing the Panama Papers, and later the Paradise Papers, as the most visible results of their work. Both were high profile investigations into the murky world of offshore finance and tax havens and the rich who had been using shelf-companies to avoid taxes.

In both exposés, several hundred journalists had contributed and the repercussions continue to be felt. By April this year, two years after the publication of the Panama Papers, more than 4700 stories had been published.

Actually continuing to publish is an issue in the Philippines for Rappler, multimedia reporter Pia Ranada said. Staffed by journalists who are female and millennial, the online newsite has experienced many challenges, including having president Rodrigo Duterte revoke its licence, claims of unpaid tax, and a ban on presidential coverage.

Ranada says the presidential ban is "due to him being annoyed with us" and has never been backed by a written ban, only verbal directions. "Seven government offices are after us, and online attacks and cyber bullying are increasing."

She said that while the president waged a high profile war on drug dealers and cartels, "the label fake news is given to any news that is unflattering or (the government) does not like - a carpet to sweep everything under", she said. "We are facing trolls - death by a thousand cuts to manipulate readers with disinformation campaigns - and 'sockpuppets' (online identities used for deception) used to amplify a message and drown a story."

Ranada reported that Rappler carries out fact checks and labels fake news as fake to foil misinformation with a major campaign on the drug war. "However, most advertisers have stuck with us and we have started crowd-funding," she says.

Maggie Coleman