Margarita Akhvlediani is a director and editor-in-chief of newly founded "Go Group/Eyewitness Reporting Studio," based in Tbilisi, Georgia. The studio's network of professional journalists, together with actively involved "resident reporters" from the general public produces short documentary films and multi-media productions that are available at interactive website www.gogroupmedia.net. Margarita has been a war reporter, as well as editor and producer working through ethnic conflicts and civil wars in the Caucasus region. She was a Caucasus Program Director for London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting in 2002-2008. She also teaches Conflict Reporting, Journalism Ethics and Media Management courses to graduate students at Georgian Institute of Public Affairs.
Marco Avilés is a director of “Etiqueta Negra” magazine, a monthly publication of narrative journalism, essays, photography and art, that is edited in Peru and distributed in Latin America. Marco began his career at the age of twenty one: then he was a reporter in "El Comercio," the largest newspaper in Peru, where he developed his skills and interests on narrative journalism. He became the director of the magazine in 2008 and now works with about twenty journalists, photographers and designers. Marco Avilés also teaches narrative journalism in UPC University in Lima.
Ekeh Kenneth Anayo works as an independent marketing consultant in Nigeria. He also works as an independent freelance journalist in the country and writes feature stories on political, social and economic issues.
Moatlhodi Dilotsotlhe is a director of corporate affairs and marketing at the Tswane University of Technology in South Africa. He has overall 15 years experience in journalism, public relations and business communication. He also teaches media studies at the University of South Africa. His experience in print and broadcast journalism covers a variety of genres including news, current affairs and documentaries.
Lissy De Abreu Gallego started her career as a reporter for local news at "El Nacional," Venezuela’s leading newspaper. She currently reports for the international section covering issues such as the OAS Summit of Americas, the Cuban situation and the use of Twitter in Iran during its political protests over the 2009 election. She has recently interviewed atomic bomb survivors, Colombian refugees, and several Venezuelan scholars for her graduate thesis that portrayed an intellectual group active in Caracas during the 1970’s. In her free time, Ms. De Abreu Gallego writes as a freelance reporter for "Espacio Público," an NGO dedicated to the promotion of Human Rights.
Prithviraj Hegde is an associate managing editor and heads the newsdesk at Rediff.com, India's largest and oldest internet portal and a NASDAQ-listed company. Prithviraj began his career at Midday Multimedia Ltd, a Mumbai (Bombay)-based company that publishes Mumbai’s largest circulated afternoon paper, has a city-specific website (http://mid-day.com/) and also a radio station.With 18 years in the news business and nearly a decade in a web-based company, he has seen the evolution of the Internet in India and has had a ringside view into the various developments in the business.
Siok Hui Leong is a senior writer at "The Star" newspaper, an English national daily in Malaysia. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Leong covers lifestyle features with a focus on sustainable tourism, outdoor adventure and cultural and natural heritage conservation in Asia. She has also written for publications in the US, Japan and Singapore, including magazines like "Singapore Women’s Weekly" (the Singapore edition of "Australian Women’s Weekly"), "Marie Claire Malaysia" and "Tokyo Journal." Leong regularly contributes sustainable tourism-related stories to Southeast Asia-based conservation group Wild Asia (www.wildasia.net).
Sergiy Leshchenko has been working for an online newspaper "Ukrainska Pravda" since 2000. He was awarded with Oleksandr Kryvenko's Prize for series of journalistic investigations in Ukraine. He also took the second place in the competition of journalistic investigations organized by the Institute of Mass Information and the Embassy of France in 2005. Sergiy was nominated as a person of the year in "Journalist of printed media" category in Ukraine in 2006.
Roseleen Nzioka is an online editor of “The Standard” in Nairobi, Kenya. She began her career as a cub reporter in 1993. She has been reporting on anything and everything from Christmas parties to general elections for 7 years. Excited by the challenges and opportunities in online media, Roseleen became an online editor of "The Standard" in 1999.
