Matt Thompson

Matt Thompson is the Manager of Digital Initiatives (and Mischief) for NPR. That means exactly what it sounds like. He's built digital communities for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Knight Foundation, and the Fresno Bee, among others, but if he were forced to choose a favorite at gunpoint, it would be the blog he co-created, Snarkmarket. He serves on the board of directors of the Center for Public Integrity, and was an advisory board member for the Poynter Institute, where he's now an adjunct faculty member. Along with four co-founders, he's created an event series called Spark Camp, which brings journalists together with others from many different industries and backgrounds. He's a gay black Catholic Canadian of Guyanese ancestry. He can recite all the books of the Bible in order. And the senior thesis that earned him an honors English degree from Harvard was about Buffy the Vampire Slayer.