John Alderman
Publisher, Slate
John Alderman is general manager of the Slate Group and publisher of Slate. Previously, Alderman has served as vice president of business development for WashingtonpostNewsweek Interactive and vice president of business and product development at the Away Network. Prior to these roles, he served in various editorial and business development roles at Outside magazine. Alderman serves on the board of Grist, a Seattle-based nonprofit Web site that focuses on environmental news and commentary. He received his MBA at Columbia Business School and undergraduate degree from Harvard College.

Derrick Ashong
Television Host, The Stream, Al Jazeera English
Derrick Ashong is the television host of "The Stream" on Al Jazeera English. "The Stream" is a program that integrates new and traditional media, tapping into the extraordinary potential of social media to disseminate news. This show aggregates on-line sources and discussion, while seeking out unheard voices, for new perspectives from people on the ground. Derrick is also the radio host of "The Derrick Ashong Experience" on SIRIUS XM's Oprah Radio.

Ashong has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Mo'Nique Show, and lectured on five continents on the use of media as a tool for human development. He is a member of the internationally recognized Americas Business Council (*abc) Fellowship and has been a TED Global Fellow, a participant in the Arts & Entertainment task force of the U.S.-Islamic World Forum and is the CITI Performing Arts Center's first Spectrum Boston Fellow. He is the founder of Take Back the Mic, a youth-centered cultural movement that leverages the power of artistry & technology to empower young people. Ashong is also on the Board of Advisors for Children Mending Hearts, an organization dedicated to the global arts exchange between at-risk children in the United States and children living in conflict zones around the world.

Simon Dumenco
Editor-at-large and "Media Guy" media columnist, Advertising Age and Executive Director, Media Vanguard Awards
Simon Dumenco has worked at and/or consulted for a wide range of media companies, including Condé Nast, Hearst, IAC, New York Media, Time Warner, Viacom, and Wenner Media. In the new-media realm, he was founding editorial director of both seventeen.com and nymag.com (New York magazine's website), and was the founding editor-in-chief of VeryShortList.com (since acquired by the New York Observer). At New York magazine, he was business/technology editor, editor of the National Magazine Award-winning media column, and advertising critic and pop-culture columnist. Dumenco was also editor of Colors, the international culture magazine; consulting executive editor on the launch of O: The Oprah Magazine; executive editor (then acting editor-in-chief) of Seventeen magazine; and managing editor (and media/culture columnist) at Baltimore's City Paper, among various other jobs.

Bryan Monroe
Editor, CNNPolitics.com
Bryan Monroe is the Editor of CNNPolitics.com, based in Washington D.C. He had been a Visiting Professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and the CEO of The Monroe Media Group, is the former vice president and editorial director of Ebony and Jet Magazines at Johnson Publishing Co and is a regular contributor to ongoing coverage for CNN. Formerly the assistant vice president/news of Knight Ridder and the president of the National Association of Black Journalists, Bryan, who shared part of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service for coverage of Hurricane Katrina, led the transformation of the legendary Ebony and Jet magazines from 2006 to 2009. He revitalized the publications as well as developed new platforms online and in digital media for JPC. Bryan also writes regularly about technology, health and other issues and serves on the Board of Advisors for www.rrripple.com, a Silicon Valley tech startup company, and Urban Access Media Group, a Chicago-based private digital television network.

Mark Stencel
Managing Editor, Digital News, NPR
Mark Stencel is managing editor for digital news at NPR, where he is responsible for overseeing all content on NPR.org and other online platforms and gizmos. Stencel began his career at the Washington Post as an assistant to syndicated columnist David S. Broder. Later, as a senior editor on the breaking news desk, he served as a liaison between the Post's print and online newsrooms, coordinating coverage of the 2003 Iraq invasion, the 2004 election and other major stories. Before leaving the Post, Stencel was a vice president at the Post Company’s online division, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive.

In addition to his work at the Post, Stencel was the managing editor at CQ, and the executive editor and deputy publisher at GOVERNING, a monthly magazine and website written for leaders in state and local government and published by Congressional Quarterly. Stencel is also the co-author of two books on media and politics — Peep Show: Media and Politics and in an Age of Scandal, written with political scientists Larry J. Sabato and S. Robert Lichter; and On the Line: The New Road to the White House, written with CNN's Larry King.