Chris Ison was the assistant managing editor for investigative projects at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis from 2001-2004. He was a reporter on the Star Tribune’s investigative team, and also covered federal

agencies, casinos, and local government. He also covered state politics, local government, police, and courts for the Duluth News Tribune from 1983-1986. Ison and fellow reporter Lou Kilzer won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting in 1990 for a series of stories on arson and links between the St. Paul (MN) Fire Department and profits from arsons and suspicious fires. His stories have won national and state awards, including recognition from Investigative Reporters and Editors, the National Press Club, the Associated Press and other organizations.He supervised projects that won national awards from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and the Society of Professional Journalists. Ison teaches courses in news reporting and writing, investigative reporting and media ethics. He is a graduate of the SJMC.

Scott Libin is the Hubbard senior fellow in the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication.  He has three decades of experience as a journalist, including jobs on camera and behind the scenes as a news director and as an educator. Libin joined the SJMC from Internet Broadcasting in St. Paul, Minn., where he had been vice president of news and content since 2011. He has also led newsrooms at WCCO-TV and KSTP-TV in the Twin Cities, and WGHP-TV in the Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem, N.C., market. Libin spent seven years as a full-time member of the resident faculty at The Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., and has trained journalists from Newfoundland to South Africa to China. He began his career as a congressional press secretary and as a bureau reporter in Washington, D.C. He was a reporter and weekend anchor in North Carolina before entering management. Libin is a member of the Radio Television Digital News Association Board of Directors and is chair of the RTDNA Ethics Committee. He also serves on the ThreeSixty Journalism Board of Advisers. ThreeSixty is a teen outreach program of the University of St. Thomas. Libin’s undergraduate degree in journalism and English is from the University of Richmond. He earned his Master of Arts degree in journalism and public affairs at American University.

Sarah McKenzie has served as editor of the Journals in Minneapolis (Southwest Journal and Journal for northeast and downtown) since 2006. Before working for the Journals, she was a reporter for The Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal and the Journal Inquirer in Manchester, Conn. McKenzie has also interned for the Duluth News Tribune, Star Tribune and Pioneer Press. She’s a 2001 graduate of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where she is an adjunct instructor. While an undergraduate, she worked for The Minnesota Daily, serving as managing editor her senior year.