Peter Burdin, senior editor on the BBC’s Newsgathering team. In 1989, Burdin was on the BBC reporting team which covered the build-up to the violent suppression of democracy protests on China’s Tiananmen Square, and in the mid-90s, he spent three years in Johannesburg covering South Africa’s struggle to come to terms with its apartheid past. He has worked as assignments editor in BBC Newsgathering since 1996 and has played a key role in furthering the journalistic understanding of trauma.

Ron Claiborne, correspondent for ABC Network News, Boston Bureau. A journalist for more than 20 years, Claiborne’s recent assignments included traveling as an “embed” aboard U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln during the war in Iraq and covering the Boston Catholic Church scandal. He has reported spot news, breaking news and feature stories for World News Tonight, World News Saturday and Sunday, and Good Morning America, and is a regular contributor to abcnews.com and ABC Radio Network.

Donna DeCesare, an award-winning freelance photojournalist and writer. DeCesare’s work includes documentation of a broad range of social issues and conflict, including coverage of war, refugees, HIV and drugs in Central America, the spread of US gang culture to Latin America and violence prevention efforts, and child labor. Her numerous awards include 2002 Best of Photojournalism awards from the National Press Photographers Association, the 2000 National Center on Crime and Delinquency PASS Award, and a 1997 Alicia Patterson Fellowship.

Kristen Lombardi, a reporter for the Boston Phoenix who provided ground-breaking coverage of the Boston clergy-abuse scandal. Her investigative reports have explored social issues ranging from sexual abuse to mental health to criminal justice matters. Earlier this year she received the California Protective Parents Association “Friend of the Child Award” for “outstanding journalism and coverage of child sex abuse crimes and cover up.”

Scott North, courts and crime reporter for The Herald in Everett, WA. North has reported on virtually every aspect of the criminal justice system and helped The Herald develop innovative techniques in covering violence in a sensitive, accurate, and insightful way. He has received numerous awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Washington Press Association, and was featured in Covering Violence: A guide to ethical reporting about victims & trauma, published by Columbia University Press.

Joseph L. Rodríguez, a self-employed photojournalist. Exhibitions of his work have been featured throughout the United States as well as in Mexico, Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands and France. He also has been recognized by the National Press Photographers Association and was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. For the book East Side Stories: Gang Life in East LA, Rodríguez spent three years photographing life in Los Angeles neighborhoods.

Jason Vest, a freelance reporter who writes for The Nation and has contributed to numerous other publications including U.S. News & World Report, The Village Voice, and The Atlantic. His work includes reports on Weapons of Mass Destruction intelligence in Iraq and internal Army dissent of the Iraq invasion. In 1999, Vest received a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism to investigate the Eritrea-Ethiopia border war. In 2002, American Journalism Review honored him as an “Unsung Hero of Washington Journalism.”