Junhao Hong received a PhD in communication from University of Texas at Austin, US in 1995. Currently, he is a professor at the Department of Communication, State University of New York at Buffalo. He is also an associate in research of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University, and a senior fellow of the Center for Communication and Sustainable Social Change at University of Massachusetts‐Amherst. He has served as president of Chinese Communication Association (CCA) and president of United Societies of Chinese Studies (USCS). His research areas include international communication, media and society, and impact of new communication/information technology, with a focus on China and Asia. He has published/edited several books and published more than 130 research articles in various refereed journals and book volumes.

Lawrence Pintak is an award‐winning journalist and scholar who has written about America's complex relationship with Islam since 1980. He has been called the foremost chronicler of the interaction between Arab and Western media. Pintak is the author of America& Islam: Soundbites, Suicide Bombs, and the Road to Donald Trump and five other books on the intersection of media, perception, and U.S. policy toward the Muslim world; Arab journalism; and coverage of Islam. A former CBS News Middle East correspondent, Pintak was the founding dean of The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University (2009–2016) and is a Senior Fellow at the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East at the Atlantic Council. He is a frequent contributor to publications such as Foreign Policy, The Daily Beast, Axios, and other media outlets. He holds a PhD in Islamic Studies.