Laurie Segall

Laurie Segall
Segall in 2021
Born (1985-08-18) August 18, 1985
Atlanta, Georgia
Alma materUniversity of Michigan (BA)
Occupation(s)Journalist, media executive
Years active2009-present
Notable workSpecial Characters: Adventures with Tech Titans and Misfits
SpouseJon Jones (m. 2022)
Children1
AwardsGracie Award (Revenge Porn: The War on Women)
Webby Award ("My Deepfake Relationship with Mark Zuckerberg")
Websitemostlyhuman.com

Laurie Segall is an American journalist and media executive. She is the CEO of Mostly Human, a New York-based entertainment media company she co-founded in 2019. Previously the senior technology correspondent and an editor-at-large for CNN, her work focuses on technology and its societal, cultural, and human impact.

Early life and education

Segall was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated from the University of MIchigan with a BA in political science in 2008.[1] During her senior year, she interned at CNN.[2]

Career

2008-2018: CNN

Following her graduation, Segall worked at CNN as a news desk assistant. She began covering technology in 2009, reporting on startups including Twitter, Instagram and Uber. She did several interviews with Tim Cook, [3] among others, and interviewed Mark Zuckerberg at the height of the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal.[4] She also conducted early interviews with founders including Sam Altman, Jack Dorsey (who founded Twitter), and Travis Kalanick, who founded Uber.[5]

In 2015, she wrote, hosted, and executive produced Revenge Porn: The War on Women, which won a Gracie Award in 2016 for best original online programming.[6] In 2017, she created, hosted and executive produced Mostly Human with Laurie Segall, a six-part documentary series that explored sex, love and death through the lens of  technology, covering the “seemingly non-physically confrontational medium that is the internet as fiction begins to mimic reality.”  [7]

2019-present: Mostly Human, 60 Minutes, Special Characters

Segall left CNN in 2019 and co-founded Dot Dot Dot, a content studio that initially focused on the human impact of technology. Rebranded as Mostly Human Media in 2023, the studio's initial series was First Contact, an IHeart-distributed podcast. "A blueprint of sorts to the types of stories the new company might tell", early episodes covered the rise of dating bots, artificial empathy, and online privacy.[8] She was the first reporter to cover the suicide of a teenage boy obsessed with a chatbot on Character.ai; her segment brought international attention to chatbot addiction.[9][10][11] Mostly Human's "My Deepfake Relationship with Mark Zuckerberg", which examined the future of disinformation, won a Webby Award in 2025; in the five-word tradition of the Webbys, in accepting the award Segall said "Deepfake World. Humanity Is Premium." [12]

In 2020, she became a correspondent for the streaming extension of 60 Minutes, Sixty in 60.[13] In addition to stories on the rise of online extremism, conspiracies,[14] and the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations, she covered the experience of domestic violence survivors during the pandemic, a segment that won a Gracie Award in 2021. She regularly appeared on CBS This Morning during her tenure on Sixty in 60.[15][2]

Segall's memoir, Special Characters: My Adventures with Tech's Titans and Misfits, was published by HarperCollins in March 2022.[16] In an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Kevin Canfield wrote that the book was "a candid account of tech’s evolution in the 2010s, a period of absurd revenue streams, noteworthy innovation and alarming scandals...a relatable self-portrait of an ambitious, introspective person’s arrival at a professional crossroads." [5]

Personal life

Segall and her husband, Jon Jones, were married in 2022. The founder of Relation Agency, a social impact media and creative shop, he was Barack Obama’s first digital strategist.[17]

References

  1. ^ Heller, Sasha (June 20, 2022). "Media-Tech Star 'Special Characters' Goes to Press". Atlanta Jewish Times. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
  2. ^ a b Evans, Olivia (August 23, 2021). "How 60 Minutes+ Correspondent Laurie Segall Gets It Done". The Cut. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  3. ^ Steinberg, Brian (February 5, 2019). "Tech Journalist Laurie Segall Readies Deep Dive on Facebook for CNN". Variety. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
  4. ^ Jarvey, Natalie (March 21, 2018). "Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg Calls Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal "A Major Breach of Trust"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
  5. ^ a b "CNN's Laurie Segall recalls her 'Adventures With Tech's Titans and Misfits' in new memoir". Datebook | San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  6. ^ "AWMF Announces 2016 Gracie Award Winners - M&E - Media and Entertainment". mande.net. March 23, 2016. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
  7. ^ Reddy, Maya (March 8, 2017). "CNN's 'Mostly Human' is a Real-Life 'Black Mirror' – Exclusive Clip". IndieWire. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  8. ^ Steinberg, Brian (December 2, 2019). "Tech Journalist Laurie Segall Launches Dot Dot Dot Content Studio". Variety. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  9. ^ "Can A.I. Be Blamed for a Teen's Suicide?". October 23, 2024. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  10. ^ "Teen, 14, Dies by Suicide After Falling in 'Love' with AI Chatbot. Now His Mom Is Suing". People.com. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  11. ^ "Teenage boys commits suicide for AI girlfriend, mother sues company". The Jerusalem Post. October 24, 2024. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
  12. ^ "My Deepfake Relationship With Mark Zuckerberg". The Webby Awards. 2025. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  13. ^ Steinberg, Brian (January 30, 2020). "Technology Journalist Laurie Segall Will Join '60 Minutes' Quibi Project". Variety. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  14. ^ Fuisz, Juliet (July 23, 2022). "How new technologies could accelerate the spread of conspiracy theories". PBS News. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
  15. ^ "46th Annual Gracie Awards announced by Women in Media". allwomeninmedia.org. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  16. ^ "Laurie Segall's Memoir Confronts Tech Titans, Media Moguls and All Sorts of "Special Characters"". The Information. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  17. ^ Heller, Sasha (November 28, 2022). "Media Star Segall Marries in Telluride". Atlanta Jewish Times. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
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