Biography
Now: I am currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong's Journalism and Media Studies Centre, where I teach "new media" - which means a range of things related to the intersection between the Internet and journalism.
I research, write, and speak on four main subjects: freedom of speech online, the Internet in China, corporate responsibility as relates to privacy and free expression, and the future of media in the Internet age.
I am also Project Lead for Creative Commons Hong Kong, and am an active member of the Board of Directors for Global Voices, a citizen media community which I co-founded in 2004. I blog about my ideas and work at RConversation.com
Prior life as a TV journalist in Asia: I worked my way up from the very bottom of CNN's Beijing bureau, then somehow ended up CNN's Beijing correspondent and Bureau Chief from 1998-2001. After that I moved on to be Tokyo Bureau Chief from 2001-03.
The transition: In January 2004 I went on leave from CNN to do a fellowship at the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. My research focus was on blogs and participatory online media, especially as relates to international news. After about 3 months at Harvard I resigned from CNN and was invited to stay at Harvard as a Research Fellow at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, enabling me to re-direct my career from TV news to online media.
Recent past: At the Berkman Center my colleague Ethan Zuckerman and I co-founded Global Voices Online - an award-winning international citizens media community. I remain involved with running it although an amazing team of people now do most of the day-to-day work.
Selected writings beyond the blog...
- "Teaching Multimedia Journalism" and "Valued Classroom Resources," Nieman Reports Vol. 6, No. 1, Spring 2008.
- "Asia's Fight For Web Rights", Far Eastern Economic Review, April 2008.
- "Shi Tao, Yahoo!, and the lessons for corporate social responsibility" (PDF), a working paper presented December 2007 at the International Conference on Information Technology and Social Responsibility, Chinese University, Hong Kong.
- "Blogging, Journalism and Credibility: The Future of Global Participatory Media" (PDF of English original) in Ono, Yoshikuni, ed., On Global Communication, (Kyoto: Seikai Shisosya 2007) [In Japanese].
- Blogs and China Correspondence: How foreign correspondents covering China use blogs (PDF). Paper presented at the World Journalism Education Conference, Singapore, June 25-28, 2007.
- “Flatter World and Thicker Walls? Blogs, Censorship and Civic Discourse in China ” , In Drezner, D., and H. Farrell, eds., Special Issue: WILL THE REVOLUTION BE BLOGGED? Public Choice. Volume 134, Numbers 1-2 / January, 2008. (Online for subscribers only.) Draft version (free PDF, not for citation): here (PDF).
- Internet Intervention: How Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Sold Their Souls to China, GOOD Magazine.
- Blogs and bridges: Citizen participation in global journalism RTHK Media Digest.
- Gathering Voices to Share With a Worldwide Online Audience (with Ethan Zuckerman), Nieman Reports Winter 2006.
- Race to the Bottom: Corporate Complicity in Chinese Internet Censorship (Human Rights Watch, August 2006) (Primary author)
- The Self-Expression Sector, The Nation, (July 3, 2006 issue).
- Washington Post Editorial: "Shattering the China Dream" (PDF 93.1K)
- The Nation.com: America's Online Censors
- Newsweek International: Censorship, Inc.
- The Great Firewall of China
- China's Internet: Let a Thousand Filters Bloom YaleGlobal 28 June 2005
- The Precarious State of TV News Nieman Reports, Spring 2005
- Blogging, Journalism & Credibility: The Conference Report (PDF)
- Chinese Cell Phone Breaches North Korean Hermit Kingdom YaleGlobal, 17 January 2005
- Global Voices: International Bloggers Start Connecting the Dots | Personal Democracy Forum
- Priorities of American Global TV JAMCO International Symposium, November-December 2004
- Asia Times
- Blogging North Korea Nieman Reports Fall 2004
- "Worldwide Conversation"- Research paper for Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics and Public Policy (PDF)
Video
- Free Culture and Free Speech: Why strong and vibrant free culture communities are important for freedom of expressionLecture delivered January 2008 at Workshop on Asia and Commons Taipei, Taiwan.
- DIGITAL AGE - WNYE/CH 25, IN NY: Are Bloggers as Trustworthy as Mainstream Media?
- DIGITAL AGE - WNYE/CH 25, IN NY: Did Google Sell Out?
- WGBH: Thinking Big: News in the Digital Age
- NewsHour:Google in China Raises Censorship Issues
- CBS Online Video: Rights of Chinese Internet Users
Audio
- Diane Rehm Show: Internet Censorship in China
- KQED Pacific Time Commentary: Microsoft Bows to Chinese Blog Censorship
- Pop!Tech talk: The Internet in China: Change goes both ways
- The Connection: Cyber-dissidents
- Echo Chamber Project: Talking about journalism, blogs, and Global Voices.
- Global Voices Online Radio Report
- WFIU: Profiles
- On the Media: N.Korea
