Laurie Segall

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Laurie Segall
Segall in 2021
Born (1985-08-18) August 18, 1985 (age 40)
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

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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

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2008-2018: CNN

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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

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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. [citation needed] 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

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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

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  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.