Tag: 2017

Dayna Smith, President, ImageSmith Media

Dayna worked as a newspaper photographer for 30 years, traveling around the globe covering civil wars in Central America, the anniversary of the fall of Saigon, the cholera epidemic in South America, conflict and famine in Somalia and the Los Angeles riots. Her photographs of the struggle for independence by Kosovar Albanians won the coveted World Press Photo of the Year in 1999. She now owns her own company, ImageSmith Media, where she enjoys shooting “real people – real situations,” in the categories of news, food, architecture, travel and special events.

Former Anchor, WAVY News and Fox 43 TV

Nicole Livas is a veteran broadcast journalist who relocated to the DC area for her husband’s career promotion in March 2016. She’s now an independent journalist, media consultant, and trainer.

Previously, she anchored four weekday evening newscasts on the WAVY and Fox 43 TV in Norfolk. In addition to her on air work, Nicole kept busy behind the scenes by producing web stories, blogs, and social media posts.

Nicole is a community leader who speaks to aspiring journalists and various community groups.

Nicole is a proud graduate of George Mason University, and serves on the Board of Advisors for G.M.U.’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences. She also serves on the board of the Society of Professional Journalists, Virginia Chapter.

Nicole spends her free time with her husband, infant daughter and family, in the gym or yoga studio and loves traveling, reading, cooking and supporting local businesses.

SportsCenter Anchor, sub-Saharan Africa

Phil Murphy is the host of SportsCenter across sub-Saharan Africa. Murphy joined ESPN in January 2010 after five years covering high school sports in and around Washington, D.C. Since joining ESPN, he has worked as a producer, reporter and on-air anchor, contributing to ESPN’s coverage of college football, college basketball, recruiting and mixed martial arts.

Murphy hosts the daily SportsCenter produced by ESPN as part of its long-term collaboration with Econet Media’s Kwesé in sub-Saharan Africa. The daily program will air nightly at 8pm locally (CAT) and with a predominately American sports focus will provide a fast-paced snapshot of the top stories in global sport for fans in 19 African countries.

As a self-described “military brat,” Murphy grew up in the Eastern United States and Western Europe, developing an affinity for travel and global sport, particularly global soccer, American football and basketball.

Murphy has lived in Gonbach, Germany, Alabama, Connecticut, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Virginia and has a degree in marketing from George Mason University. He is an avid recreational athlete and outdoorsman, including interests in weightlifting, soccer, hiking and mountaineering – the latter of which includes summiting two of the world’s “Seven Summits” — Mount Aconcagua in Argentina (22,841 ft. / 6,961 m) and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (19,341 ft. / 5,895 m).

Co-Founder, HPC Leadership Institute

Mark C. Hopson holds a Ph.D. in intercultural communication (Ohio University) and M.A. and B.A. degrees in organizational communication (Western Michigan University). His main areas of expertise include critical intercultural communication; the rhetoric of race, culture, and gender; and the communication of violence prevention education.

Dr. Hopson’s publications include Notes from the Talking Drum: Exploring Black Communication and Critical Memory in Intercultural Communication Contexts (2011, Hampton Press); and Masculinity in the Black Imagination: Politics of Communicating Race and Gender (2011, Peter Lang).

Dr. Hopson’s research extends his value for teaching and service.  He received the Spirit of King Award (2011, Office of Diversity Programs and Services, George Mason University). Also, he served as chair of the African American Communication and Culture Division of the National Communication Association (2007-2008).

In 2008, Dr. Hopson began facilitating Changing Lives Through Literature (Fairfax County, VA), an alternative sentencing program for men on parole, and juvenile groups. The award winning program has been nationally recognized. In 2007, he was appointed to the leadership committee for the George Mason University Campus Climate Taskforce― an interdisciplinary effort to create safer environments for discourse about cultural difference.

As co-founder of the HPC Leadership Institute, Dr. Hopson facilitates violence prevention education seminars targeting relationship abuse, sexual assault, and harassment prevention. Dr. Hopson believes that cultural and racial sensitivity can lead to social responsibility. He actively promotes communication research that contributes to the health and wellbeing of society.

Host & Executive Producer, The Maggie Linton Show

Maggie Linton has been in broadcasting for 42-years. Maggie began her career in 1972 as a Sports Anchor for the KU Sports Network at KANU-FM in Lawrence, KS.  In 1974 she became Community Affairs Director and weekend Sports Anchor for KAKE-TV in Wichita, KS.  As the first woman Sports Anchor on TV in Wichita, KS she repeated this honor in St. Louis, MO at KPLR-TV and again in Washington, DC at WTTG-TV.

Maggie was a Sports Anchor and feature reporter for XM Satellite Radio USA Today News Channel.  She was also a producer for the Major League Baseball Channel, Associate Producer for the 2006 Grammy Awards, and Host of Red Cross Radio which aided the government, Red Cross and victims of Hurricane Katrina.  From 2006 – 2013 Maggie was Program Director of Sirius XM Book Radio.  At present she is Host and Executive Producer of The Maggie Linton Show, a two hour weekday talk show on Sirius XM Urban View Channel 126. Guests include New York Times bestselling authors, plus stars of sports, entertainment and politics.

Managing Editor, The Weekly Standard

Eric Felten is Managing Editor of The Weekly Standard, a journalist with a deep understanding of American politics and culture. He has appeared on NBC, Fox News, CNN, PBS, MSNBC, and C-SPAN, and has written for the Wall Street Journal, People, Washingtonian, Forbes, Reader’s Digest, National Geographic Traveler, and many other publications. His celebrated cocktail column in the Wall Street Journal won a James Beard Foundation award for best newspaper writing about wine, beer and spirits. His book How’s Your Drink? was named by BuzzFeed as one of the 65 books everyone should read in their twenties. His most recent book is Loyalty: The Vexing Virtue.  From 2009 to 2012 he wrote the culture columns, “De Gustibus” and “Postmodern Times,” for the Wall Street Journal. Felten was also host of the long-running Voice of America-TV current affairs talk show “On the Line,” and anchored VOA’s international broadcast coverage of national news events, including elections and State of the Union addresses. Before that, Eric was a consulting producer, and occasional panelist, for “The McLaughlin Group.”

Executive Director, Student Press Law Center

Frank LoMonte joined SPLC in January 2008 after practicing law with Atlanta-based Sutherland LLP and clerking for federal judges on the Northern District of Georgia and the Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Before law school, LoMonte was an award-winning investigative journalist and political columnist for daily newspapers in Florida and Georgia. LoMonte graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law, where he was a senior editor of the Georgia Law Review. His articles about the First Amendment and media-law topics have been widely published in Education Week, The Chronicle of Higher Education, the American University Law Review, the University of North Carolina First Amendment Law Review, and in many other outlets.

Commentary Writer, The Washington Examiner

Emily Jashinsky is Commentary Writer for the Washington Examiner, and served previously as the spokeswoman for Young America’s Foundation (YAF)– the nation’s largest conservative youth outreach group and the organization that maintains the Reagan Ranch in California. At YAF, Emily spearheaded media initiatives to push back against bias on college campuses. Her work has been featured everywhere from the Washington Post to “Good Morning America.” She is a regular guest on Fox News and Fox Business. In 2016, Red Alert Politics named Emily to its “30 Under 30 List” of leading young conservatives.