Rebecca MacKinnon

Assistant Professor, Journalism and Media Studies Centre

Eliot Hall, University of Hong Kong

Pokfulam, Hong Kong

Tel: +852-2219-4005; Fax: +852-2858-8736

e-mail: rebecca.mackinnon@mac.com

Blog: http://www.RConversation.com/

 

 

IN BRIEF:

 

RECENT POSITIONS:

January 2007-present: Assistant Professor, Journalism and Media Studies Centre, University of Hong Kong. Responsible for "new media" courses. Developing the Centre’s online capabilities for teaching and media development. Conducting research and writing on the Internet in China.

 

December 2004-present: Co-founder of Global Voices Online (www.GlobalVoicesOnline.org) a non-profit global online citizens' media network, funded by Reuters, MacArthur, Hivos and others. Winner in 2006 of the Knight-Batten "Innovations in Journalism Grand Prize."

 

July 2004- December 2006: Research Fellow: Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard Law School. As Research Fellow: conducted research, wrote articles, and lectured about: the future of journalism in the Internet age, new media and the Internet in China and Northeast Asia, freedom of speech issues.  Organized a conference on "Blogging, Journalism and Credibility" in January 2005, plus three international bloggers' conferences (yearly, 2004-06).

 

Spring 2004 Fellow: Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics & Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Conducted research and wrote a research paper about the impact of new forms of online participatory media on international news. Started an experimental weblog on North Korea, www.NKzone.org  (still active). Also wrote and lectured on events in Northeast Asia.

 

BROADCAST JOURNALISM CAREER:

 

July 2001-December 2003: CNN Tokyo Bureau Chief: Responsible for CNN's news coverage of Japan, in addition to other Asian assignments. Served as CNN's only on-air correspondent in Japan. Managed a news team of five people. Assignments outside of Japan included: Peshawar, Pakistan (2 months post-9/11), Philippines (focus: U.S. war on terror), Korea (North and South).

 

March 1998-June 2001: CNN Beijing Bureau Chief. Managed a news team of seven people. Conducted the bulk of CNN’s on-air China reporting during that period. Set the direction for the network's China coverage as CNN's main China correspondent. Also reported from North Korea on three separate occasions.

 

World Leaders interviewed: Junichiro Koizumi (Japan); Dalai Lama (Tibet); Pervez Musharraf (Pakistan); Mohammad Khatami (Iran)

 

March 1997-98: CNN Beijing Producer/Correspondent. Planned and organized CNN's China coverage. Also reported on-air in the Bureau Chief's absence, and when news demand was heavy.

March 1996-97: CNN Beijing Producer. Planned and organized CNN's China coverage.

November 1993-March 96: CNN Beijing Associate Producer.

November 1992-93:  CNN Beijing Bureau Assistant.

December 1991-August 1992: Newsweek Taiwan stringer. Wrote stories concerning Taiwan for Newsweek, provided information and did reporting for numerous regional roundup stories which included Taiwan.

 

PUBLISHED WORK:

 

RECENT PUBLIC SPEAKING & CONFERENCES:

 

ACADEMIC LECTURES:

 

RECENTLY INTERVIEWED AND QUOTED BY (in the past year):

ABC Nightline, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, BBC, Radio Open Source, Wired, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Online Journalism Review and many others.

 

OTHER HONORS/ACTIVITIES:

 

World Economic Forum: Global Leader of Tomorrow 2003. One of 100 accomplished professionals aged 37 and under selected annually to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland for a term of three years.

 

Fellow, Asian Security Seminar, Center for War, Peace and the News Media. November 2000. Selected as one of 15 journalists from the United States and around Asia to attend a one-week conference in Honolulu.

 

September 1991-May 1992: Fulbright scholar in Taiwan. Focus: press and politics in modern Taiwan. Attended graduate courses on Taiwan politics and Taiwan-mainland relations at National Taiwan University. Worked as an intern at a local Chinese language news magazine.

 

EDUCATION:

 

Languages: Mandarin Chinese (fluent), Japanese (survival), Russian (2.5 years in college), French (high school)

 

Harvard University. 1991 BA Magna Cum Laude in Government. Senior thesis on Russian nationalism.

Editor-in-Chief, Harvard International Review.

 

Other education: Public middle and high schools in Tempe, Arizona. Primary school in Arizona, India (Delhi Public School), Hong Kong (Quarry Bay School), and Beijing, China (Fangcaodi Primary).

(For an online version of this page with live web links, please visit: http://rconversation.blogs.com/about.html)

 

(Revised January 2007)