Michelle Shephard has vivid memories of standing at Ground Zero in the days after 9/11, staring up at the remains of the World Trade Center and asking, “How did this happen?”

It’s the question that propelled The Toronto Star’s national security reporter around the world for the next decade, covering conflict zones, trials in Guantanamo Bay and other terrorism-related stories. One of five top Canadian journalists taking part in CIGI’s annual media panel, Shephard related the risks and rewards of her job.

Titled “Muzzled Media — The Global Challenge,” the event was co-sponsored by the Canadian International Council, with The Waterloo Region Record’s Editor-in-Chief Lynn Haddrall moderating the panel.

Joining Haddrall and Shephard on the panel were: Anna Maria Tremonti, host of CBC Radio One’s The Current; Allan Thompson, associate professor at Carleton University’s School of Journalism and Communications, and former Toronto Star reporter; and Sonia Verma, foreign and national affairs correspondent for The Globe and Mail.