David McKenzie is an award-winning International correspondent for CNN International based in Beijing, China.
McKenzie was one of the first reporters to cover the mysterious disappearance of flight MH370 and he spent weeks with Chinese families trying to get closure on their loved ones.
McKenzie has reported on the dramatic trial and sentencing of former Communist Party kingpin Bo Xilai, the once in a decade transfer of power in the world’s second biggest economy, and the plight of inmates inside China’s labor camp system.
McKenzie was formerly CNN’s correspondent for based in Nairobi, Kenya, and continues to report in Africa periodically. He was part of team coverage of the horrific Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi and the passing of South African icon Nelson Mandela – notably, tracking down the fake interpreter at Mandela’s memorial.
McKenzie was the first international reporter to gain access to Sudan’s controversial oil fields to report on alleged pollution and was one of the first foreign correspondents to uncover the threat of piracy off the coast of Somalia.
Since joining CNN, McKenzie has interviewed many high-profile personalities and leaders including Nobel Prize winners Wangari Maathai and Desmond Tutu, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.
In 2011, McKenzie investigated the plight of the mentally ill in Kenya for CNN’s documentary series ‘World’s Untold Stories’. The program’s broadcast resulted in domestic and international human rights groups calling for government intervention. The matter was brought to the attention of the Kenyan government, who called for change; and the documentary, ‘Locked Up and Forgotten’, won the Amnesty International Media Awards in the "International Television and Radio" category. In the same year, he won a National Headliner award for his contribution to reporting on Somalia’s deadly famine. McKenzie was also part of Peabody award-winning teams during the Haiti earthquake and Libyan uprising.
An avid sports fan, McKenzie was a crucial part of CNN’s World Cup 2010 coverage as he travelled thousands of miles across South Africa to take the pulse of the country.
McKenzie’s career started in New York as a freelance producer and writer for international broadcasters and newsgathering organizations including ABC News, BBC and Reuters. He joined CNN from UNICEF, where he served as a correspondent and producer with their Africa Services Unit. In that role, he reported from more than 30 countries in Africa, covering stories on the instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
McKenzie graduated from Duke University with degrees in Public Policy and Psychology and received a Masters in Journalism from New York University, where he was on a full scholarship (Broadcast and Knight Foundation Scholarship).
Follow David on Twitter
|
 |
|
