Synnøve Bakke
Investigative journalist, Norwegian Broadcasting Corp.

Synnøve Bakke has a BA from the Polytechnic of Central London in Photography, Film and Video. Since 1992 she has worked for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation in Bergen and Trondheim. She has worked as a production manager and production coordinator for many years before she switched to the journalistic profession.

Synnøve also received the SKUP award in 2008 for the documentary “Dirty Cargo”, which revealed the Trafigura industry, and investigated into why people in Western Norway became ill after a tank-explosion. She also received the SKUP award in 2005 for the two documentaries “The mercury girls” and “The mercury children”. SKUP is the Norwegian Press Award for outstanding journalism.

Amanda Cox
Graphic Editor, New York Times

Amanda Cox joined the Times in 2005, after receiving a masters degree in statistics. She has an undergraduate degree from St. Olaf College (a school founded by Norwegian Lutherans) and also spent two years at the Federal Reserve Board. With a focus on data visualization and a fondness for slightly conceptual pieces, her work with colleagues has won several awards, including top honors at Malofiej, the largest international infographics contest.

Jeffrey Cole
Director, Center for the Digital Future

In July 2004 Dr. Cole joined the USC Annenberg School for Communication as Director of the newly formed Center for the Digital Future and as a Research Professor. Founded on the belief that the best policy arises from the best information, the Center is a research and policy institute committed to work that has a real and beneficial effect on people's lives, while seeking to maximize the positive potential of the mass media and our rapidly evolving communication technologies.

Prior to joining USC, Dr. Cole was a longtime member of the UCLA faculty and served as Director of the UCLA Center for Communication Policy, based in the Anderson Graduate School of Management. At UCLA and now at USC Annenberg, Cole founded and directs the World Internet Project, a long-term longitudinal look at the effects of computer and Internet technology on all aspects of society, which is conducted in over 20 countries. At the announcement of the project in June 1999, Vice President Al Gore praised Cole as a "true visionary providing the public with information on how to understand the impact of media."

Tim Crescenti
President, Small World

Tim Crescenti has a unique blend of creation, development, marketing, production and sales in the international television arena, producing and selling 145 shows in 61 different countries – documentary, game, reality, comedy series, even a film. Very few people can match the breadth of international production and expertise with a business based on passion for international television, humor and communication.

 Since his launch of Small World IFT in 2005, he has cultivated a reputation for developing unique and quality entertainment projects from around the world. Before establishing Small World, Crescenti was Vice President of International Production for Fox World, where he covered the worldwide roll-out of Fox’s expanding roster of international formats. Before this, he was Vice President of International Formats for Sony Pictures Television International and Director of International Program Development at TriStar International Television. He’s been producing specials, segments and series for clients such as ESPN, NBC (Japan), E! Entertainment Television, America’s Dumbest Criminals and the game show Bzzz! He’s been initiating and producing formats in countries from Malaysia to Finland, and has a unique overview of international developments in television.

John Ellis
Professor, Royal Holloway College

John Ellis has a long list of credentials as a TV practitioner and researcher. He was a member of the editorial board of Screen, and produced many documentaries for Channel 4 and the BBC. He headed his own production company Large Door and was vice-chair of PACT, the independent producers' association. Ellis taught TV production Bournemouth University, University of Bergen, and is now Professor of Media Arts at Royal Holloway University of London. His three most well known books are TV FAQ: Uncommon Answers to Common Questions about TV (2007); Seeing Things: Television in the Age of Uncertainty (2000); and Visible Fictions (1982).

Rob Evans
Journalist, The Guardian

Rob Evans has been a journalist with the Guardian newspaper since 1999. One of his tasks is to use freedom of information laws to obtain information and stories for the paper. (Examples of this work can be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/robevans. His book - Gassed, British chemical warfare experiments on humans at Porton Down - was published in 2000. He has also worked for the Financial Times, the Sunday Telegraph and television documentaries.

Juan Antonio Giner
President & Founder, Innovation International Media Consulting Group

Juan Antonio Giner (UK) is the president and founder of INNOVATION International Media Consulting Group (www.innovation-mediaconsulting.com). A former senior research fellow at Harvard University, he is the editor of the Innovations in Newspapers World Report. "An Outspoken Fan of Newspapers" according the Harvard University Nieman Journalism Lab, he writes the blog www.innovationsinnewspapers.com

Jeff Jarvis
Author, consultant, associate professor and blogger, Buzzmachine.com

Jeff Jarvis is considered one of the foremost thinkers on media issues in the United States. He is the author of "What Would Google Do?" recently published in many languages. Jarvis blogs about media and news at Buzzmachine.com. He is associate professor and director of the interactive journalism program and the new business models for news project at the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism. He is consulting editor and a partner at Daylife, a news startup. He writes a new media column for The Guardian and is host of its Media Talk USA podcast. He consults for media companies.

Until 2005, Jarvis was president and creative director of Advance.net, the online arm of Advance Publications. Prior to that, Jarvis was creator and founding editor of Entertainment Weekly; Sunday editor and associate publisher of the New York Daily News; TV critic for TV Guide and People; a columnist on the San Francisco Examiner; assistant city editor and reporter for the Chicago Tribune; reporter for Chicago Today.

Kjersti Knudssøn
Investigative journalist, Norwegian Broadcasting Corp.

Kjersti Knudssøn has studied journalism for television at the University of Volda, Norway. Since 1993 she has worked for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation first as a journalist and later news editor. Since 2002 Kjersti has worked in the documentary department producing investigative documentaries.

In 2008 Kjersti Knudssøn received the SKUP award for the documentary “Dirty Cargo”, which investigated into why people in Western Norway became ill after a tank-explosion. The documentary disclosed that oil-trader Trafigura had used the facility for waste-storage and production of low-quality gasoline, and that the Trafigura-activity in Norway was connected to a waste-scandal in the Ivory Coast. SKUP is the Norwegian Press Award for outstanding journalism. Kjersti Knudssøn also received the SKUP award in 2005 for the two documentaries “The mercury girls” and “The mercury children”.

Jonathan Marks
Director, Critical Distance BV

Jonathan Marks describes himself as a “near futurist” investigating relevant technology and see how this applies to the real world of both traditional and emerging media. “Anyone can predict what will happen in 2070 because they probably won’t be around to admit they were wrong.” says Jonathan “ I focus on changes that affects storytelling 3-5 years from now. I believe it is difficult to bridge theory and practice if you don't keep your hand in being creative to a deadline. That’s why I am actively making video vodcasts and re-releasing vintage podcasts. Bergen is a brilliant place – the media days have been a source of inspiring conversation. I know 2010 will continue that heritage. Looking forward to it!”  

Richard McKerrow
Senior Creative, Love Productions

Richard McKerrow set up Love Productions in October 2004. He has conceived and executive produced many of Love Productions' critically acclaimed factual series and formats including the award-winning series "The Baby Borrowers" and "Britain's Missing Top Model"; "Young Mums Mansion", "Famous Rich and Homeless", "Famous Rich and Jobless", "My Life As Animal", "Tower Block of Commons", "Kidnapped by the Kids" and the upcoming "Great British Bake Off", "Girls Hit South Africa", "Our Big Austistic Variety Show" and "Famous Rich and In the Slums". The shows and  formats have sold around Europe and the world and Richard executive produced an American version of "The Baby Borrowers" for NBC and will be producing a brand new series of "Kidnapped by the Kids" for the OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) in the US this year. Love Productions also produce high end documentaries and entertainment shows.
 
Richard began his career as a print journalist for The Nation magazine in New York. He also worked for Yorkshire Television in their Documentaries and Current Affairs department as a producer/director before joining Channel 4 in 1997 as a Commissioning Editor for Education. Before he started Love Productions, he was Creative Director and Managing Director of Maverick Television (2002-2004).

Elisabeth Murdoch
CEO & Chair, Shine Group

Since founding Shine in 2001, Elisabeth Murdoch has steered its growth from a single multi-genre independent to a global group boasting 24 globally respected, prolific production companies across three continents. In 2008, the group unveiled Shine Pictures, a joint venture with New Regency to develop, produce and distribute films globally.
 
Recent international start-up companies include Shine Germany, Shine France and Shine Australia. Metronome Film & Television the Nordic region’s pre-eminent production group, responsible for a string of hit programmes from both home-grown and international formats, joined the Shine Group in 2009. Murdoch currently sits on the Board of Directors of the UK Film Council and was appointed a Tate Trustee by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in August 2008.

Prior to setting up Shine, Murdoch joined British Sky Broadcasting as General Manager before rising to Managing Director, Sky Networks with overall responsibility for Sky's programming business, group consumer marketing and its news, film and entertainment channels.

Line Norling
Producer / Journalist

Line Norling has produced and directed comedy shows, lifestyle prgrammes and award shows for NRK since 1995. She left NRK in 2007 to study culinary arts at Le Cordon Bleu in London. She now works as a freelance food writer and chef, as well as producing and directing for television.

 Yvonne Ridley
Journalist, Press TV

British-born journalist Yvonne Ridley made international headlines just after 9/11 when she ended up in prison after being captured by the Taleban on an undercover assignment in Afghanistan. She was a senior reporter of the Sunday Express at the time, having spent nearly 10 years in Fleet Street working for several prestige titles including The Sunday Times, The Observer, Daily Mirror and Independent on Sunday.

Ridley is a founder member of the Friends of Islam, an All Party Parliamentary Group. She is also a member of the National Union of Journalists, the International Federation of Journalists and the Society of Authors. She has written two books called In The Hands of the Taleban and Ticket to Paradise and is currently writing and researching for two other titles.

She is also a film and documentary-maker and her film on Guantanamo received accolades at the Roma TV Film festival last year. Her most recent film focusses on the life of holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein. She is also a patron of the human rights group Cageprisoners.

Jürgen Scheible
Doctoral student, musician and media artist, Media Lab, University of Art and Design

Jürgen Scheible, is a researcher, musician and media artist. He is a doctoral student at the Media department of Aalto University, School of Art and Design, Helsinki where he runs the Mobile Hub, a prototype development resource for mobile applications with a strong focus on artistic approaches and creative design.

Scheible has previously worked for 8 years at Nokia and in 2006 he was as a visiting scientist at MIT. He is the author of the book Mobile Python - Rapid prototyping of Applications on the Mobile Platform (Wiley, 2007). He has been giving innovation workshops at Stanford University, MIT, NTU Taiwan, Yahoo Research Berkeley and Nokia. The title of his upcoming doctoral dissertation is: Empowering Mobile Art Practice – Creating and sharing artistic experiences with ubiquitous technology.

Jon Wessel-Aas
Attorney-at-law, Norwegian Broadcasting Corp.

Jon Wessel-Aas is an attorney-at-law, specialized in media law, intellectual property law, human rights law and litigation. He has acted as counsel in numerous media law cases in the Norwegian courts. He lectures on the said topics, and he has published numerous articles in law journals. He is also an active board member of the International Commission of Jurists, Norwegian section.

Anette With
Head of Scheduling, TV 2 Norway

Anette With has a BA in Radio and televison (’88) and an MA in journalism (’91) from University of Montana, US. During these years she worked as a reporter in radio and television both in the US and in Norway.

Ms. With joined TV 2 in May ’92 as a press contact, and moved into acquisitions in ’93 where she spent 7 years acquiring all genres of programming for TV 2. In spring 2000, she moved into the position as head of scheduling for TV 2. This position allows her to be involved with all the content providers to the TV 2 schedule/channel.