Morris Abernathy is the staff photographer at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. Morris has worked for Southern Baptists for 15 years -- at Union, at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and at LifeWay Christian Resources and Baptist Press in Nashville.

Bob Carey

Bob Carey is chair of the communication studies department at Gardner-Webb University, where he teaches photojournalism and digital media convergence. Carey spent nearly 20 years in the media prior to teaching, having worked with United Press International (UPI), the Brotherhood Commission and at several newspapers. His work has appeared in such publications as The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, theCommission and Christianity Today. While at the Brotherhood Commission, formerly a Southern Baptist missions agency, Carey served as editor of Missions Today, a monthly men’s magazine. He traveled extensively during his time as editor, covering the Rwandan refugee crisis and the Oklahoma City bombing. Carey now serves as president of the National Press Photographers Association. Carey received a journalism degree from the University of Washington, a master’s in journalism from the University of Memphis and a Ph.D. from Regent University specializing in photojournalism. He is married to Sharon and has three children -- Brittany, Hannah and A.J.

Sterling Chen

Sterling has been a page designer/graphic artist/illustrator at the Philadelphia Inquirer since 1996. Before that he studied photojournalism at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. Recognized by local chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Pennsylvania Press Association, and Print magazine, he has been a longtime judge for the Society of Collegiate Journalists annual contest. His favorite people in the world are his wife and two sons. One day he'd like to write, illustrate and publish a children's book.

 Michael D. Chute

Michael D. Chute, professor of communication arts at Union University, has 35 years of teaching and professional experience in journalism, public relations and intercultural communication. He has been a reporter, newspaper editor and foreign correspondent. For 10 years, he lived overseas and worked in more than 30 countries in Asia and South America for U.S. wire services and publications, taught journalism courses at national universities and led writing workshops and conferences. He is a former editor of theCommission magazine, and his writing has been featured in a number of national newspapers and magazines. He earned his Ph.D. in mass communication at the University of Southern Mississippi, and holds membership in the Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors organizations, and serves as vice president of the Southeast Journalism Conference.

 Kelli Cottrell

Kelli Cottrell has served as media relations coordinator and writer/editor in the Marketing and Communications Office of Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Mich., since 2007. She began her journalism career at a weekly newspaper in southern California in 1994 covering everything from school districts to city hall. After having two children, she left her job in full-time reporting to begin freelance writing. Her work includes writing for newspapers large and small and for multiple web sites. She has freelanced for The Press Enterprise, Baptist Press, PurposeDriven.com, Pastors.com, The Christian Examiner, The California Southern Baptist and the Grand Rapids Press. She holds a degree in journalism with an emphasis in news writing from San Diego State University.

Reggie Ecarma

Reggie E. Ecarma is an associate professor of mass communication at North Greenville University in South Carolina, where he teaches journalism, media law and ethics, and political science courses. He also is an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina Upstate, Furman University and Anderson University. Ecarma wrote “Beyond Ideology: A Case of Egalitarian Bias in the News?” and several opinion pieces on race and illegal immigration published in major newspapers. His background includes service with the U.S. Navy Reserves, theological instruction at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the coordination of political campaigns, the home education of his children and work as an associate pastor. Ecarma received a Ph.D. in political communication and master’s degrees in public policy and public affairs journalism at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va. His undergraduate degree is from the University of Louisville.

 Gary Fong

Gary Fong is the principal of Genesis Photo Agency. Genesis is a group of professional photographers with a dream of elevating the effectiveness of photography in evangelical and secular publications around the world. Fong is also the chief photography officer of WeArePhotographers.com, a new website dedicated to educating and advancing photography for professionals and enthusiasts alike. In 2010, Fong became an advisory board member for Baylor University's journalism and communications arts and also an advisory board member of the Museum of Modern Photography.

Manny Garcia

Manny Garcia is the Miami Herald's metro editor. He joined the paper in 1990 as a suburban bureau writer covering cops, has covered criminal courts and Miami City Hall and has reported for the investigative team. Garcia has been a primary writer and reporter on two Pulitzer Prize-winning entries, for Miami's voter fraud scandal and the Elian Gonzalez raid. He is also on the board of directors of Investigative Reporters and Editors and travels the country training younger reporters on interviewing and beat reporting. His reports have changed Florida law, led to the indictments of politicians and forced the state to release a man wrongly convicted of several murders. He is married to Toni and has two children, Andrew and Madison. 

Joni Hannigan

Since 2002, Joni B. Hannigan has been managing editor of the now bi-weekly Florida Baptist Witness newspaper, a news partner of Baptist Press, for which she has been a national correspondent and column writer. She is also an adjunct instructor at the University of North Florida where she teaches an AP style writing lab. At the Witness, Joni covered the Terri Schiavo case from Pinellas Park, Fla., and led coverage of in-depth news writing and photography during Florida’s historic 2004-2005 hurricane seasons. In addition, she also covered humanitarian efforts to Iraqi refugees living in Jordan in 2003 and in 2005 traveled to Brazil to cover mission efforts among the indigenous peoples and those living in remote villages along the Amazon River and its tributaries. A U.S. Navy veteran, Hannigan has written scores of news and feature stories as a freelancer and has taught high school English, journalism and public relations, leading students to produce award-winning newspapers. High school and college interns under her supervision have covered aspects of political elections, the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and Super Bowl XXXIX in Florida. She has covered two additional Super Bowls since then, in Tampa and Miami. She has a master’s degree in education (M.Ed.) from Park University in Parkville, Mo., and a bachelor’s in education (B.S.E.) from Hannibal-LaGrange College in Missouri, where she is in her second term as a trustee. She is a volunteer for Jacksonville’s Christian Women’s Job Corps. Joni is the co-founder of the Baptist Press Excellence in Journalism contest and has been the contest coordinator since 2000.

Mark Kelly 

Mark Kelly is an assistant editor for Baptist Press. Prior to joining the BP staff, he worked at the Southern Baptist International Mission Board from 1994 to 2004, first as a staff writer and then as news editor. In Baptist journalism, Kelly also was managing editor of the Arkansas Baptist News from 1983 to 1991 and editor of the campus newspaper at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., from 1982 to 1983. Kelly's career also has entailed work for Purpose Driven Ministries; Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.; Union University in Jackson, Tenn.; the Home Mission Board (now North American Mission Board); the Chicago Metro Baptist Association; and newspapers in Little Rock and Siloam Springs, Ark., and Skiatook, Okla. The son of a Baptist pastor, Kelly holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a bachelor's degree from Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee. He also has studied at the University of Chicago and Southern Seminary. He has a grown daughter and son.

Terry Mattingly 

Terry Mattingly writes the national “On Religion” column for the Scripps Howard News Service in Washington, D.C., which is sent to about 900 newspapers in North America. He also is director of the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. Mattingly earned journalism, history and M.A. (church-state studies) degrees from Baylor University and an M.S. in communications at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. He has worked as a reporter and religion columnist at the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, the Charlotte Observer and the Charlotte News. Mattingly lectures at universities around the country, and his writing appears in numerous print and online publications. He is the founder and editor of the GetReligion.org weblog project to evaluate the mainstream media's coverage of religion news.

 Kevin Sajdak

 Kevin Sajdak grew up the middle child in a Roman Catholic family of 5 in Chicago. For as long as he can remember, Kevin says he has always felt a connection with his faith. Still, Kevin credits his Jesuit high school for instilling the passion for social justice and service that carries on to this day. He graduated from the S.I Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in 2007. His professional experience includes working for NBC at the 2006 Winter Olympics, SiriusXM and, most recently, Fox News Radio, where he worked for almost two years. Currently, Kevin balances work as a speechwriter for the New York State Comptroller with graduate studies at New York University. In his free time Kevin enjoys dining out, reading, running and catching up with friends. He resides in New York City.

Kristen Nicole Sayres

Kristen Nicole Sayres is an overseas correspondent for non-profits in Sub-Saharan Africa. She graduated with a degree in journalism and photojournalism from Union University.  After graduation, she spent time in England working for a weekly newspaper. She spent two years working as a freelance photographer out of Memphis, as well as a stringer for The Commercial Appeal.

Michael Ray Smith

Michael Ray Smith is leading the new media charge at Campbell University. He earned a Ph.D. from Regent University and has taught at state and private universities, graduate and undergraduate schools and is now a professor of communication studies at Campbell University. An award-winning journalist and photographer, he has been quoted in the New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today, The Arizona Republic, The Christian Science Monitor, The Louisville Courier-Journal, Editor & Publisher, Christianity Today, Writer’s Digest and many other periodicals. He has been a guest on radio and TV including French TV 24, a Paris-based television broadcast, and websites like Ourblook.com. He has written five books, 12 journal articles and hundreds of articles for the popular press. His chapter on “Labels in Media Bias” is part of the 2007 book, Media Bias, Finding It, Fixing It. FeatureWriting.Net explores popular writing and The Jesus Newspaper explores the idea of the Christian journalist. His Free press, Free hand: The handwritten newspapers of John McLean Harrington is scheduled for release in 2011. Michael spent a decade working in the newsroom and more than two decades working in the classroom. In 2008, Shippensburg University, his graduate school, honored him as a Distinguished Alumnus of the Year, the highest award presented by the university. That same year Prince George’s Community College in suburban Washington, D.C., recognized him as one of its top 50 graduates. He and his wife, Barbara, have two children, both involved in media in some form.

Todd Starnes

Todd Starnes is a reporter for FOX News Channel. His work is heard on hundreds of radio stations around the nation and he’s a frequent contributor to "FOX & Friends" and "Hannity." He also writes a daily blog for FOX Nation. Todd’s assignments have taken him from the White House to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill. He’s covered President Obama, the confirmation hearings of two Supreme Court justices, Pope Benedict’s American tour, and right now is gearing up for the mid-term elections. He’s interviewed celebrities from Fifty Cent to The Food Network’s Paula Deen. Todd is the author of two books, “They Popped My Hood and Found Gravy on the Dipstick” and “Dispatches From Bitter America.” He’s the winner of an Edward R. Murrow Award and an Associated Press Mark Twain Award. In his spare time, Todd is a long-distance runner and one day hopes to be a competitive barbecue judge. He also tweets.

Jim Veneman

The director of visual communication at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., Veneman has been involved with photojournalism since joining his high school publications staff. Before arriving at Union he was a photojournalist for LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville. He leads workshops on photojournalism and directs news-photo operations across the country and internationally, and he continues to shoot assignments, most recently covering the U.S. efforts in Iraq. While at Union, Veneman has covered the days immediately following 9/11, meetings with Fidel Castro and other assignments in Asia, Australia and Kenya. Each spring, he assists in the direction of the Southwestern Photojournalism Conference in Fort Worth, Texas.

Karen Willoughby

Karen Willoughby is managing editor of the Louisiana Baptist Message and the Dakota Baptist newspapers.  Her 25-year career in journalism includes stints at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, New York City's Metro Christian News and Beacon Christian News, and the Northwest Baptist Witness. She also is a frequent contributor to Baptist Press and would be glad to advise students about internships.