Rebecca MacKinnon
Encyclopedia
Rebecca MacKinnon is a former CNN
journalist
who headed the CNN bureaus in Beijing
and later in Tokyo, before leaving television to become a blogger and co-founder of Global Voices Online
. She is on the Board of Directors of the Global Network Initiative
and the Committee to Protect Journalists
, and is currently with the New America Foundation
as a Bernard L. Schwartz
fellow
in 1969. MacKinnon's family moved when she was three years old to Tempe, Arizona
where her father Stephen R. MacKinnon took a job as Professor of Chinese History at Arizona State University
. Her parents' academic research caused her to spend most of her primary school years in Delhi, India, Hong Kong
, and Beijing, China before moving back to Arizona for middle and high school. She graduated from Tempe High in 1987 and graduated from Harvard University
in 1991 with a B.A. magna cum laude in Government.
After graduation, she was a Fulbright scholar in Taiwan
, where she also worked as a Newsweek
stringer
.
, Dalai Lama, Pervez Musharraf
, and Mohammad Khatami
.
's Berkman Center for Internet & Society
as a Research Fellow, where she remained until December 2006. Among her projects at the Berkman Center, MacKinnon founded Global Voices Online
in collaboration with Ethan Zuckerman
. In January 2007 she joined the Journalism and Media Studies Center
at the University of Hong Kong
, where she remained until January 2009. She spent February 2009-January 2010 conducting research and writing as an Open Society Fellow, funded by George Soros
' Open Society Institute
. Then in February 2010 she joined Princeton University
's Center for Information Technology Policy where she is a visiting fellow, working on a book about the future of freedom in the Internet age. As of September 2010 she is also fellow at the New America Foundation.
In January 2007, she joined the inaugural Wikimedia Foundation
Advisory Board.
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
who headed the CNN bureaus in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
and later in Tokyo, before leaving television to become a blogger and co-founder of Global Voices Online
Global Voices Online
Global Voices Online is an international network of bloggers and citizen journalists that follow, report, and summarizes what is going on in the blogosphere in every corner of the world...
. She is on the Board of Directors of the Global Network Initiative
Global Network Initiative
The Global Network Initiative is a non-governmental organization with the dual goals of preventing Internet censorship by authoritarian governments and protecting the Internet privacy rights of individuals...
and the Committee to Protect Journalists
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
, and is currently with the New America Foundation
New America Foundation
The New America Foundation is a non-profit public policy institute and think tank with offices in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, CA. It was founded in 1999 by Ted Halstead, Sherle Schwenninger, Michael Lind and Walter Russell Mead....
as a Bernard L. Schwartz
Bernard L. Schwartz
Bernard Leon Schwartz was the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Loral Space & Communications, Chairman and CEO of K&F Industries, Inc., Chairman and CEO of Loral Corp., and president and CEO of Globalstar. He retired from Loral and his positions at its various subsidiaries and affiliates as of...
fellow
Early life
Born in Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
in 1969. MacKinnon's family moved when she was three years old to Tempe, Arizona
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale...
where her father Stephen R. MacKinnon took a job as Professor of Chinese History at Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
. Her parents' academic research caused her to spend most of her primary school years in Delhi, India, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, and Beijing, China before moving back to Arizona for middle and high school. She graduated from Tempe High in 1987 and graduated from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1991 with a B.A. magna cum laude in Government.
After graduation, she was a Fulbright scholar in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, where she also worked as a Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
stringer
Stringer (journalism)
In journalism, a stringer is a type of freelance journalist or photographer who contributes reports or photos to a news organization on an ongoing basis but is paid individually for each piece of published or broadcast work....
.
CNN
MacKinnon joined CNN in 1992 as Beijing Bureau Assistant and moved up to Producer/Correspondent by 1997 and Bureau Chief by 1998. In 2001 she became Tokyo Bureau Chief. During her time with CNN, she interviewed notable leaders including Junichiro KoizumiJunichiro Koizumi
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics when his term in parliament ended.Widely seen as a maverick leader of the Liberal Democratic Party , he became known as an economic reformer, focusing on Japan's government debt and the...
, Dalai Lama, Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
, and Mohammad Khatami
Mohammad Khatami
Sayyid Mohammad Khātamī is an Iranian scholar, philosopher, Shiite theologian and Reformist politician. He served as the fifth President of Iran from August 2, 1997 to August 3, 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture in both the 1980s and 1990s...
.
Recent life and work
In the Spring of 2004, MacKinnon was a fellow of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. That Summer, she joined Harvard Law SchoolHarvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
's Berkman Center for Internet & Society
Berkman Center for Internet & Society
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, the Center was elevated to an interfaculty initiative of...
as a Research Fellow, where she remained until December 2006. Among her projects at the Berkman Center, MacKinnon founded Global Voices Online
Global Voices
The phrase Global Voices might refer to:* Global Voices Online, a blog with more than 100 contributors that reports on what is going on in the blogospheres of every corner of world...
in collaboration with Ethan Zuckerman
Ethan Zuckerman
Ethan Zuckerman is the director of the MIT Center for Civic Media, officially starting in September 2011.Zuckerman was one of the first staff members of Tripod.com, one of the first successful "dot com" enterprises, and later founder of Geekcorps and Global Voices Online...
. In January 2007 she joined the Journalism and Media Studies Center
Journalism and Media Studies Center
The Journalism and Media Studies Centre was founded in September 1999 at the University of Hong Kong. The center is part of Faculty of Social Sciences in HKU...
at the University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. Its motto is "Sapientia et Virtus" in Latin, meaning "wisdom and virtue", and "" in Chinese...
, where she remained until January 2009. She spent February 2009-January 2010 conducting research and writing as an Open Society Fellow, funded by George Soros
George Soros
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...
' Open Society Institute
Open Society Institute
The Open Society Institute , renamed in 2011 to Open Society Foundations, is a private operating and grantmaking foundation started by George Soros, aimed to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform...
. Then in February 2010 she joined Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
's Center for Information Technology Policy where she is a visiting fellow, working on a book about the future of freedom in the Internet age. As of September 2010 she is also fellow at the New America Foundation.
In January 2007, she joined the inaugural Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is an American non-profit charitable organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, and organized under the laws of the state of Florida, where it was initially based...
Advisory Board.
External links
- RConversation (Rebecca MacKinnon's blog)
- Rebecca MacKinnon curriculum vitae (As of Jan.2007)
- People - Berkman Center for Internet & Society
- Global Voices Online
- Journalism and Media Studies Center
- New Media Workshop
- Open Society Fellowship
- Center for Information Technology Policy
- Global Network Initiative
- Committee to Protect Journalists