Rebecca MacKinnon

Current

Open Society Fellow at Open Society Institute
Assistant Professor at Journalism & Media Studies Ctr, University of Hong Kong
Co-Founder & Director at Global Voices Online

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Past

Hong Kong Public Lead at Creative Commons
Member, Board of Directors at Tor
Research Fellow at Berkman Center for Internet & Society

Media Fellow at Shorenstein Ctr. on the Press, Politics & Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Tokyo Bureau Chief & Correspondent at CNN
Beijing Bureau Chief & Correspondent at CNN
Misc. positions (Bureau Asst., Asst.Producer, Producer, Producer/Correspondent) at CNN Beijing Bureau

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4 more...

Education

Harvard University
Tempe High School
McKemy Junior High

Fang Cao Di Primary School

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1 more...

Recommended

3 people have recommended Rebecca

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Online Media

Websites

Rebecca MacKinnon’s Summary

I'm currently an Open Society Fellow, working on a book tentatively titled: "Internet Freedom and Control: Lessons from China for the World." I am on leave from my position as Assistant Professor at Hong Kong University's Journalism and Media Studies Center (http://jmsc.hku.hk), where for two years I taught online journalism and conducted research on Chinese Internet censorship. While there I served as Public Lead for Creative Commons Hong Kong which launched in October 2008. I am also a founding member of the Global Network Initiative, a code of conduct for free expression and privacy for the Internet and telecoms industry, and remain involved with the initiative. (http://www.globalnetworkinitiative.org/)

From mid- 2004 to December 2006 I was a research fellow at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, where among other things I co-founded Global Voices (http://www.globalvoicesonline.org), a global citizen media project.

I continue to be involved with running GVO, and am a member of the Board of Directors. I am on several advisory boards, including the Wikimedia Foundation and the Center for Citizen Media.

Until January 2004 I worked for CNN for about 12 years, based in China and Japan. I served as CNN's Tokyo Bureau Chief & Correspondent and also as their Beijing Bureau Chief & Correspondent. In January 2004 I left CNN to be a media fellow at the Shorenstein Center for Press & Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where I conducted a research project on new forms of internet-based, participatory journalism, and how the redefinition of journalism will change my job.

To find out more about what I'm thinking and working on see my personal weblog at www.Rconversation.com. A more formal bio, with full resume is there on the "About" page.

Rebecca MacKinnon’s Specialties:

Internet censorship and free expression issues; China. Broadcast journalism. Internet journalism. Online citizen media. The future of journalism.
Northeast Asia (China, Japan, Korea).

Rebecca MacKinnon’s Experience

Open Society Fellow

Open Society Institute

(Philanthropy industry)

February 2009 — Present (6 months)

http://www.soros.org/initiatives/fellowship
The OSI is supporting my work on a book about global questions of Internet freedom and control, as viewed from China.
Assistant Professor

Journalism & Media Studies Ctr, University of Hong Kong

(Educational Institution; 1001-5000 employees; Higher Education industry)

January 2007 — Present (2 years 7 months)

Teaching "new media" and everything related to the intersection of journalism and the Internet.
Co-Founder & Director

Global Voices Online

(Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Online Media industry)

December 2004 — Present (4 years 8 months)

GlobalVoicesOnline.org is your guide to the most interesting conversations happening on blogs and other forms of online citizens media outside North America and Western Europe. Check it out!
Hong Kong Public Lead

Creative Commons

(Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Internet industry)

August 2007 — December 2008 (1 year 5 months)

This is a volunteer role. Creative Commons Hong Kong is hosted by the Journalism and Media Studies Center, where I work.
Member, Board of Directors

Tor

(Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Computer & Network Security industry)

December 2006 — January 2008 (1 year 2 months)

Tor is a toolset for a wide range of organizations and people that want to improve their safety and security on the Internet.
Research Fellow

Berkman Center for Internet & Society

(Educational Institution; 1-10 employees; Online Media industry)

July 2004 — December 2006 (2 years 6 months)

The Berkman Center for Internet and Society is a center at Harvard's Law School with a broad mandate to examine the ways in which the internet is shaping our future. (For more see http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/home/) I came on a one-year fellowship, focusing on the ways in which weblogs and other forms of social media may change journalism. In 2005 I co-founded Global Voices Online, a global citizens media project hosted at the Berkman center. I also spent a great deal of time writing, researching and speaking about public discourse on the Chinese Internet - as well as the issue of Chinese Internet censorship and corporate responsibility.
Media Fellow

Shorenstein Ctr. on the Press, Politics & Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School of Government

(Educational Institution; 11-50 employees; Online Media industry)

January 2004 — June 2004 (6 months)

I was one of five Spring semester fellows at the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy. Three of us were working journalists and two were academics who study the press. All of us had research projects and were expected to produce a research paper by the end of the semester. My project examined the future of journalism as it is being redefined by weblogs and other forms of internet-based, participatory journalism. More about the fellowship at http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/presspol/fellowships.shtml
Tokyo Bureau Chief & Correspondent

CNN

(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; TWX; Broadcast Media industry)

June 2001 — January 2004 (2 years 8 months)

Before going on leave in January, I worked as CNN's only correspondent based in Japan, working with a team of 4 other people. In addition to covering everything that happens here, we were also involved in covering Korea (both North and South) and sometimes other stories in Asia as well - after 9/11 I was in Peshawar, Pakistan for nearly 2 months.
Beijing Bureau Chief & Correspondent

CNN

(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; TWX; Broadcast Media industry)

March 1998 — June 2001 (3 years 4 months)

As CNN's Beijing Bureau Chief and Correspondent, I covered China and North Korea. In total I worked for CNN in China under various job titles for nearly 9 years.
Misc. positions (Bureau Asst., Asst.Producer, Producer, Producer/Correspondent)

CNN Beijing Bureau

(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; TWX; Broadcast Media industry)

October 1992 — February 1998 (5 years 5 months)

I worked my way up from an entry-level Bureau Assistant job at CNN's Beijing bureau in 1992, moving through all existing producing/reporting jobs in the bureau until they made me Bureau Chief in 1998.

Rebecca MacKinnon’s Education

Harvard University

AB , magna cum laude, Government , 1987 — 1991

Dunster House

Activities and Societies:

Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra
Harvard International Review (Editor in Chief)
Model U.N.
Tempe High School

High school , 1983 — 1987

Activities and Societies:

Orchestra
McKemy Junior High

Junior high , 1981 — 1983
Fang Cao Di Primary School

Primary school , 1979 — 1981