Communiqué
Wikimedia Spokesperson Visits the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism & IIJ
By: Tom Hodson
Posted on:
Katherine Maher, Chief Communications Officer for the Wikimedia Foundation, visited the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism recently as a guest of the Institute for International Journalism.
The Wikimedia Foundation is the organization behind Wikipedia – the fifth most popular website on the Internet.
Maher talked with WOUB’s Tom Hodson about Wikipedia’s popularity and how it has evolved since its beginnings. She claims that Wikipedia is now as accurate as major encyclopedias due to it constant editing by contributors. She says it is the “go to source” for many people.
Maher also talked about cyber security issues and dangers facing Internet users today and in the future.
“She is an expert on the intersection of technology, human rights, democracy and international development,” according to the Institute for International Journalism.
Prior to joining Wikimedia, Maher was involved in internet freedom projects. She was the advocacy director for Access, an international digital rights organization and a consultant to the World Bank on issues of accountability and good governance.
Prior to that, Maher was the internet freedom program officer with the National Democratic Institute and was one of the founders of the “Innovation Team” for UNICEF.
She has worked for various agencies in the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Eurasia, the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, Central America and Southeast Asia.
Maher also is an advisory board member at the Open Technology Fund. She serves on the Cyberspace and Security Program steering committee for the Truman National Security Project/Center for National Policy. She also is a board of trustee member for the Project for the Study of the 21st Century.