Brock N. Meeks
Encyclopedia
Brock N. Meeks is an award-winning investigative journalist. He pioneered the field of online journalism
and founded one of the preeminent online publications, CyberWire Dispatch, in 1994. At its peak, CyberWire Dispatch was distributed to more than 800,000 readers via mailing lists and newsgroups. At the height of his online career, Meeks was "the most widely read reporter in cyberspace." http://www.jdlasica.com/1996/11/01/net-gain/
Meeks's articles focused on the intersection of government and technology, and were among the first to explore issues such as online rights – including free speech
and the right to privacy
– encryption
, censorship, and the regulation of content
.
Meeks is the self-proclaimed "Journalist Zero": the first journalist to report and write articles solely for an online community. While traditional newspaper organizations such as Knight-Ridder were experimenting with online distribution of existing content, Meeks's efforts were entirely based online, and intended for an online audience.
CyberWire Dispatch officially ceased publication in early 2004.
In the mid-1990s, Meeks was the Washington correspondent for Wired magazine and its online counterpart, [HotWired]. He wrote features for the magazine and produced two columns for HotWired, Muckraker and Campaign Dispatch. The latter was dedicated to his coverage of the 1996 U.S. presidential campaign.
From 1997 to 2006, Meeks served as chief Washington correspondent http://www.msnbc.msn.com/?id=11881780&q=brock%20n.%20meeks%20and%20msnbc&p=1&st=4&sm=user for MSNBC.com
, covering a variety of policy-related technology topics, including civil liberties
and legislative attempts to control the Internet.
After the September 11th attacks in 2001, Meeks created and developed the homeland security
beat for MSNBC.com. His work on national security won him the Carnegie Mellon Cybersecurity Journalism award in 2005 http://www.carnegiemellontoday.com/article.asp?Aid=146.
During his ten year stint http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10913648/ with MSNBC.com, Meeks appeared regularly on TV for MSNBC cable and did occasional on-air spots for NBC Nightly News
. He also served on an award-winning http://journalists.org/?page=oja2006&hhSearchTerms=rising+and+from+and+the+and+ruin special projects team that produced "Rising from Ruin," a multimedia project http://risingfromruin.msnbc.com/about.html chronicling the recovery of two small Gulf Coast communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Meeks has won several awards from the Computer Press Association for his writing on various topics. In 1990 he won the Thomas Moore Storke Award from the World Affairs Council for "Best International Coverage" for his coverage of the Afghanistan war as a foreign correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle
.
He was a founding staff member of the Inter@citve Week magazine (in 2001 the magazine merged with ZD publication eWeek) http://www.mondotimes.com/2/topics/5/business/23/4256 where he served as chief Washington correspondent. http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=1185 Before that he spent two years as senior editor for Communications Daily, where two of his stories -- one on the possible medical risk of cellular telephones and another on how cell phones were causing deadly interference with critical medical devices -- moved Congress to hold hearings. In the latter case, hospitals also established no-cell phone zones. http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/blogs/paging.dr.gupta/2007/09/truth-about-no-cell-zones.html
In 2007, Meeks joined the Center for Democracy and Technology
, a Washington-based, non-profit public interest group, as Director of Communications.
Online journalism
Online journalism is defined as the reporting of facts when produced and distributed via the Internet.As of 2009, audiences for online journalism continue to grow...
and founded one of the preeminent online publications, CyberWire Dispatch, in 1994. At its peak, CyberWire Dispatch was distributed to more than 800,000 readers via mailing lists and newsgroups. At the height of his online career, Meeks was "the most widely read reporter in cyberspace." http://www.jdlasica.com/1996/11/01/net-gain/
Meeks's articles focused on the intersection of government and technology, and were among the first to explore issues such as online rights – including free speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
and the right to privacy
Privacy
Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
– encryption
Encryption
In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...
, censorship, and the regulation of content
Content (media and publishing)
In media production and publishing, content is information and experiences that may provide value for an end-user/audience in specific contexts. Content may be delivered via any medium such as the internet, television, and audio CDs, as well as live events such as conferences and stage performances...
.
Meeks is the self-proclaimed "Journalist Zero": the first journalist to report and write articles solely for an online community. While traditional newspaper organizations such as Knight-Ridder were experimenting with online distribution of existing content, Meeks's efforts were entirely based online, and intended for an online audience.
CyberWire Dispatch officially ceased publication in early 2004.
In the mid-1990s, Meeks was the Washington correspondent for Wired magazine and its online counterpart, [HotWired]. He wrote features for the magazine and produced two columns for HotWired, Muckraker and Campaign Dispatch. The latter was dedicated to his coverage of the 1996 U.S. presidential campaign.
From 1997 to 2006, Meeks served as chief Washington correspondent http://www.msnbc.msn.com/?id=11881780&q=brock%20n.%20meeks%20and%20msnbc&p=1&st=4&sm=user for MSNBC.com
Msnbc.com
msnbc.com is a news website owned and operated as a joint venture by NBCUniversal and Microsoft.In addition to original content from its news staff, msnbc.com is the news website for the NBC News family, with content from the cable television news channel MSNBC, NBC shows such as Today, NBC Nightly...
, covering a variety of policy-related technology topics, including civil liberties
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
and legislative attempts to control the Internet.
After the September 11th attacks in 2001, Meeks created and developed the homeland security
Homeland security
Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...
beat for MSNBC.com. His work on national security won him the Carnegie Mellon Cybersecurity Journalism award in 2005 http://www.carnegiemellontoday.com/article.asp?Aid=146.
During his ten year stint http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10913648/ with MSNBC.com, Meeks appeared regularly on TV for MSNBC cable and did occasional on-air spots for NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
. He also served on an award-winning http://journalists.org/?page=oja2006&hhSearchTerms=rising+and+from+and+the+and+ruin special projects team that produced "Rising from Ruin," a multimedia project http://risingfromruin.msnbc.com/about.html chronicling the recovery of two small Gulf Coast communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Meeks has won several awards from the Computer Press Association for his writing on various topics. In 1990 he won the Thomas Moore Storke Award from the World Affairs Council for "Best International Coverage" for his coverage of the Afghanistan war as a foreign correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
.
He was a founding staff member of the Inter@citve Week magazine (in 2001 the magazine merged with ZD publication eWeek) http://www.mondotimes.com/2/topics/5/business/23/4256 where he served as chief Washington correspondent. http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=1185 Before that he spent two years as senior editor for Communications Daily, where two of his stories -- one on the possible medical risk of cellular telephones and another on how cell phones were causing deadly interference with critical medical devices -- moved Congress to hold hearings. In the latter case, hospitals also established no-cell phone zones. http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/blogs/paging.dr.gupta/2007/09/truth-about-no-cell-zones.html
In 2007, Meeks joined the Center for Democracy and Technology
Center for Democracy and Technology
The Center for Democracy & Technology is a Washington, D.C. based 501 non-profit public-interest group that works to promote an open, innovative and free Internet....
, a Washington-based, non-profit public interest group, as Director of Communications.