Kathleen Bartzen Culver is the James E. Burgess Chair in Journalism Ethics, an associate professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication and director of the Center for Journalism Ethics. Culver is interested in the implications of digital media on journalism and public communication and focuses on the ethical dimensions of social tools, technological advances and networked information. She combines these interests with a background in law and free expression. She also serves as visiting faculty for the Poynter Institute for Media Studies and was the founding editor of PBS MediaShift’s education section.

Colin Benedict has been VP of News for Morgan Murphy Media since 2018. In this role, he helps local market teams develop strategies for audience growth in all eight company markets. Benedict is focused on market-leading coverage and unique storytelling across all platforms. His group is committed to continuous improvement and leading through journalism’s changing times. Before this role, Benedict was news director at WISC for 11 years where the station was honored with six national RTDNA Edward R. Murrow awards, including the top prize for overall excellence in 2016. He’s also held various reporting, anchor and newsroom leadership roles over two decades in local news. He is a proud 2011 graduate of the 10-month, MBA-style Broadcast Leadership Training program from the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation. He lives outside of Madison, Wisconsin with his wife, two kids and a (often barking on video calls) dog.

Garance Burke is a global investigative journalist with The Associated Press, where she leads a cross-format team investigating the impacts of artificial intelligence technologies in our communities. Her work has prompted federal investigations, cabinet-level resignations and congressional hearings, has been honored as a Pulitzer Prize finalist for National Reporting and received awards including the Robert F. Kennedy John Seigenthaler Prize for Courage in Journalism. In 2019, her reporting on the treatment of migrant children was the subject of a national-Emmy award documentary film collaboration between FRONTLINE PBS and AP, and a finalist for a Shadid Award. Burke was a ‘20 fellow at the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships-Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University. San Francisco-based, Burke’s career began in Mexico City at the Mexican financial daily El Financiero and The Washington Post.

Paul Cheung is a mission-driven executive with over two decades of experience leading digital transformation in the media sector, focusing on technology adoption, combating misinformation, business sustainability, and organizational culture shifts. As a strategic advisor for Hacks/Hackers, he works to enhance product development and the adoption of AI in journalism. Over the past two decades, Cheung has significantly contributed to diversifying newsrooms and pioneering impactful journalism and partnership models. Cheung writes a column on AI in journalism for the Reynolds Journalism Institute. He has held leadership positions at outlets such as Center for Public Integrity, the Knight Foundation, NBC News Digital, The Associated Press, The Miami Herald, and The Wall Street Journal. He also served on boards of Center for Disaster Philanthropy and co-lead the Asian American Journalism Association’s Executive Leadership Program. He is a Punch Sulzberger Executive Leadership program graduate from Columbia University and an NYU alumnus.

Nicholas Diakopoulos is a Professor in Communication Studies and Computer Science (by courtesy) at Northwestern University where he directs the Computational Journalism Lab and is Director of Graduate Studies for the Technology and Social Behavior Ph.D. program. His research is broadly oriented around topics related to computational journalism with active research projects on (generative) AI, automation, and algorithms in news production and distribution. He also pursues research in the area of AI, Ethics, & Society with projects related to algorithmic accountability, transparency, and impact. He is the author of the award-winning book “Automating the News: How Algorithms are Rewriting the Media” from Harvard University Press.

Nikita Roy is a Knight Fellow at the International Center for Journalists and hosts the Newsroom Robots podcast, which is regarded as a space for the “news industry to actively discuss AI.” Harvard University has featured her as a ‘Futurist’ for her work on the podcast.

She leads the AI Journalism Lab at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.

A two-time semifinalist in the Harvard President’s Innovation Challenge, she incubated her digital news startup, The NRI Nation, at Harvard Innovation Labs.

Recognized as a thought leader in AI and journalism, she actively engages as speaker and moderator at related events and leads AI workshops for newsrooms.

Her expertise has been highlighted in Nieman Lab, Yahoo Finance and CBC. Additionally, she has contributed as a Generative AI Specialist to developing an AI tool at the University of Toronto.

An alumna of the University of Toronto and Harvard University, Nikita is also the President of the Canadian Association of Journalists – National Capital Region chapter.

Audrey Thibert is a senior at UW–Madison pursuing degrees in journalism and anthropology with a certificate in Middle East Studies. Audrey previously worked at Isthmus as a reporting intern and served as the 2022-23 managing editor at The Badger Herald, where she is now a voting member on the Board of Directors. She is the 2023 University of Wisconsin – Pulitzer Center Campus Consortium Reporting Fellow and the recipient of the inaugural Anthony Shadid Memorial Scholarship for International Reporting. She hopes to pursue a career in foreign correspondence, with a focus on people who are impacted by conflict, but often forgotten in mainstream media coverage.

Al Tompkins brings 51 years of journalism and teaching experience to this session that explores how artificial intelligence and disinformation will confuse 2024 voters and compound the complexities that journalists face covering contentious races. He is an author, a national award-winning reporter and newsroom leader and spent 25 years as Senior Faculty at The Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. His book, “Aim for the Heart,” was adopted by more than 150 university journalism departments around the world.

Tompkins has been awarded the National Emmy and the Sprague Award, which is the highest award presented by the National Press Photographers Association. He won the Robert F. Kennedy Award for international reporting, seven National Headliner Awards, the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel, three Gabriel Awards, two Iris Awards and was awarded the Governor’s Prize from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. 

He has taught thousands of journalists worldwide in seminars and workshops and has taught in newsrooms in Canada, Egypt, Japan, Iceland, Caymans, South Africa, Ecuador and 49 states.His client list includes NBC News, CNN, The Weather Channel, National Geographic, WNBC, KCBS, WCAU, WSMV, WTVF, WRC, WMAQ, WBBM, CBC, CTV, Global News, Univision, Telemundo and many more.

Al and his wife, The Reverend Sidney Tompkins, a licensed therapist, work with journalists who are in conflict-zones worldwide teaching them skills to manage stress and trauma.