Nicole Frugé is a freelance photojournalist based in Norfolk, Virginia. A wayward Cajun, born in New Orleans, she fell in love with all things Texan while at The San Antonio Express-News between 2003 and 2009. In recent years, she has covered the war in Iraq, returning frequently to the region to document the lives of ordinary Iraqis and American soldiers coping with the evolving conflict and its consequences. She has photographed other major news events including the 2008 presidential election and Hurricane Katrina, as well as more intimate projects on homeless families and the decline of the independent Texas shrimper. Frugé received a Photographer of the Year Award of Excellence from POYi and was named the NPPA Region 8 Photographer of the Year in 2008. Her work has also been honored by the NPPA's Best of Photojournalism, The Society for Newspaper Design, Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar and the Southern Short Course in News Photography. In her free time, she's happiest wearing an old pair of Wranglers and eating crawfish.

Seth Gitner has been interested in multimedia journalism since 1998 when he discovered the power of pairing recorded audio with still photographs. This fall he joined the faculty of the Newspaper and Online Journalism department at The Newhouse School at Syracuse University as an assistant professor teaching multimedia storytelling. Formerly, Gitner worked first as a photojournalist and then as the Multimedia Editor for The Roanoke Times and www.Roanoke.com. His multimedia work has been recognized for excellence by the APME, the NNA, the Online News Association and the NPPA's Best of Photojournalism Contest. Most recently his work with a team of multimedia producers won the POYi Documentary Project of the Year award. He writes a monthly column on multimedia storytelling for the NPPA’s monthy magazine, News Photographer.

Lara Solt joined The Dallas Morning News as a staff photographer in 2003. Her intimate work exploring everyday life has been recognized by Pictures of the Year International, World Press Photo and The National Press Photographers Association among others. In 2008, her multimedia project on abuse and scandal plaguing the Texas Youth Commission received a Lone Star Emmy and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Online Journalism. The same year, her project “Among the Wounded,†following a Marine who was injured in Iraq from critical care through rehabilitation, received the Online Award from Military Reporters & Editors and the Photo Story Award from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. In 2007, her project “Yolanda’s Crossing,†chronicling the flight of a victim of child sexual abuse from rural Mexico to the U.S., was recognized with the Dart Award for Excellence in Reporting on Victims of Violence, and the Online Award from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. The project was also runner-up for the Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism for distinguished coverage of disadvantaged children and families. Lara is a graduate of Ohio University’s School of Visual Communications.

Zach Wise is currently a multimedia producer for The New York Times. Before coming to the Times, Wise was the senior multimedia producer for the Las Vegas Sun, where he oversaw the implementation of multimedia in terms of workflow, presentation and technology. He was also a multimedia storyteller for the Sun shooting and producing stories in multiple formats ranging from video to panoramas. Before coming to the Sun, Wise was a visiting professor in the School of Visual Communication at Ohio University teaching multimedia development and production. While teaching at Ohio University, he was the executive producer on the award winning Soul of Athens multimedia project and taught the classes that produced it. Wise holds a master’s degree in photojournalism from the School of Visual Communication at Ohio University.

Barry Locher enjoyed a 30 year career at The State Journal-Register in Springfield, Illinois, before leaving the newspaper at the end of 2007 following its sale to GateHouse Media. He joined the public relations staff of Memorial Health System in September, 2008. Locher began his career in 1974 as an intern in the photography department, and served in a variety of capacities including staff photographer, photography editor, assistant managing editor/graphics, deputy managing editor and managing editor prior to being appointed the senior news executive in 1999. He played a key role in the development of one of the country's most respected photojournalistic newspapers, chosen in 2005 by Photo District News as one of the 13 best newspapers in America for photojournalists to work. He was the supervising picture editor for "The Youngest Victims," a series on violence to children in Chicago which was awarded a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Coverage of the Disadvantaged in 1994. In 2004, he directed the newspaper's four-day series, "Beardstown: Reflection of a changing America," on immigration in a small, central Illinois community. The project was awarded the Freedom Forum/ASNE Award for Outstanding Writing on Diversity and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting. Locher is a former Illinois Press Photographers Association Photographer of the Year, as well as NPPA Region 5 Photographer of the Year. He was inducted into the Lincoln League of Journalists by the Illinois Associated Press Editors Association in 2008. He is a 1977 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.