Victoria Smith Ekstrand is an associate professor at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media and is currently serving the UNC Graduate School as the Royster Distinguished Professor for Graduate Education, where she leads UNC's premier doctoral fellows from across campus. She has been a media law and free expression scholar for more than two decades. Before that, she worked as a senior executive for The Associated Press at its headquarters in New York City. Caitlin Ring Carlson is an associate professor in communication and media at Seattle University and the former head of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Law and Policy Division. She teaches courses in media law, gender equality and freedom of expression, and media systems. Her research focuses on media law and policy as they pertain to new media, freedom of expression, and social justice. Her first book, "Hate Speech," was published by MIT Press in 2021. Before earning her PhD at the University of Colorado, she worked as a public relations practitioner.

Erin Coyle is an associate professor in journalism at the Temple University Klein College of Media and Communication. She teaches courses in media law and ethics, reporting, writing and media history. Her research focuses on freedom of expression, access to government information and officials and free press-fair trial and privacy rights. While earning her PhD at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she served on the First Amendment Law Review. Before entering graduate school, she worked as a journalist covering government affairs. Susan Dente Ross is professor at Washington State University where she serves as the associate dean for research in the College of Liberal Arts. She conducts research on the freedoms of speech and press and the ways in which these rights can help advance greater global equity and justice. She also is a leader in international initiatives to increase the ability of media to contribute to conflict transformation and resolution.

Amy Reynolds is dean of the College of Communication and Information at Kent State University. Her research focuses on dissent, First Amendment history, and media sociology. She has written or edited seven books. Prior to becoming a dean, she was a journalism professor at Louisiana State University and Indiana University. Before earning her PhD at the University of Texas, she worked as a reporter, producer, and editor at newspapers and television stations.