Mary Kay Magistad is an American journalist and correspondent. Magistad covered

Northeast Asia Northeast Asia or Northeastern Asia is a geographical subregion of Asia; its northeastern landmass and islands are bounded by the Pacific Ocean. The term Northeast Asia was popularized during the 1930s by American historian and political scient ...

for the Public Radio International program, '' PRI's The World'', a co-production between the BBC World Service, PRI, and WGBH Radio Boston since 1996. In that capacity she covered "the geopolitical struggle over North Korea's weapons program, to the SARS epidemic, to tensions in Kashmir, Magistad has brought local perspective to stories with international impact." She has also been a correspondent and reporter for

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, The ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'', and the ''

Christian Science Monitor Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...

''. She was responsible for opening the first Beijing bureau for National Public Radio. She has covered stories as varied as the rise of China as an economic power over the last decade, the fabric of Chinese society, Chinese war games preceding

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

's first presidential elections, the crackdown on the

Falun Gong Falun Gong (, ) or Falun Dafa (; literally, "Dharma Wheel Practice" or "Law Wheel Practice") is a new religious movement.Junker, Andrew. 2019. ''Becoming Activists in Global China: Social Movements in the Chinese Diaspora'', pp. 23–24, 33, 119 ...

spiritual sect, and increasing tensions in the Sino-US relationship. She has also been a regular correspondent in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, where she has covered Ethiopian famine, the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda, and the Polisario's forgotten war in the

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the ...

. She was a 1999-2000 Nieman fellow and a 2001-2002 Radcliffe fellow, both at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. Magistad shared a 2006 Scripps-Howard National Journalism Award with three colleagues at the PRI's The World for their series on stem cell research in China (Magistad's contribution),

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The series, which also won a 2006 duPont-Columbia silver baton, offered a primer on stem cell research, as the interests of science, medicine, politics and religion converge and conflict in the ethical debate over their use.Nieman Reports
Magistad was trained in journalism receiving her BS in journalism at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. She also has an MA in international relations at the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

in England, and completed a Rotary Foundation fellowship.

References

Alumni of the University of Sussex American radio journalists Nieman Fellows Radcliffe fellows NPR personalities Medill School of Journalism alumni Public Radio International personalities Living people American women radio journalists Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-radio-bio-stub