Hugo de Burgh is Professor of Journalism at the University of Westminster, where he set up the China Media Centre in 2005. He is also Professor in the School of Media & Communications at Tsinghua University. Previously he worked for Scottish Television, the BBC and (the UK's) Channel 4. Recent books include China's Media Go Global (2018, with Daya Thussu and Shi Anbin) and China's Media in the Emerging World Order, Second Edition (2020). Previous publications include Investigative Journalism (three editions); Democracy in England: Possible & Necessary; The Chinese Journalist; Making Journalists; China, Friend or Foe?; China's Environment and Chinese Environment Journalists; China and Britain: The Potential Impact of China's Development; Facing Western Media ¿ ¿¿¿¿¿; The West You Really Don't Know ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿ and Can the Prizes Still Glitter? The Future of British Universities in a Changing World.

Paul Lashmar is Head of the Department of Journalism at City University of London as well as Reader in the Department of Journalism. He has written extensively about the world of intelligence agencies for four decades. His research interests include investigative journalism, intelligence-media relations and organised crime. Lashmar has been an investigative journalist in television and print and on the staff of The Observer, Granada Television's World in Action current affairs series and The Independent. Books authored or co-authored by him include Online Journalism: The Essential Guide (2014, with Steve Hill). Spies, Spin and the Fourth Estate was published in September 2020.