Thunderbird Executive Education applications earn No. 20 in globe ranking by Economic Instances

Could 26, 2023

Walter Cronkite College of Journalism and Mass Communication employees member Karen Bordeleau has been inducted into the Rhode Island Journalism Hall of Fame in recognition of a profession that has spanned far more than 4 decades and six New England states, specifically benefiting the journalism profession in her native “Ocean State.”

The Rhode Island Journalism Hall of Fame was established in 1985 by the Rhode Island Press Association to honor journalists who have been influential in their profession. Bordeleau, who is presently director of profession and experienced improvement and a former director of communications at Cronkite, is the retired executive editor and senior vice president of The Providence Journal and the very first lady in its 194-year history to hold the leading editor’s position.

Karen Bordeleau, director of profession and experienced improvement at the Walter Cronkite College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Download Complete Image

She joined Cronkite in 2018 as the Edith Kinney Gaylord Going to Professor in Journalism Ethics. She was also the Reynolds Going to Professor of Journalism from 2019 to 2020, for the duration of which time she helped design and style and teach the master’s in investigative journalism bootcamp.

“Karen has been an integral aspect of the Cronkite College because her arrival. Numerous students, employees and faculty have benefited from her leadership and wealth of encounter,” stated Cronkite College Dean Battinto L. Batts Jr. “We are proud of Karen for this great achievement.”

At the starting of her journalism profession, Bordeleau served as editor at The Kent County Each day Instances in West Warwick, Rhode Island. Right after, she joined the public relations division at the University of Rhode Island and earned a master’s degree in political science. 

Bordeleau then became the editor at The Contact, a day-to-day newspaper in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, exactly where she redesigned the paper, earning it The New England Press Association’s Improved Newspaper Award.

In 1996, she moved to The Journal, exactly where she worked for nearly 20 years, mainly in a newsroom leadership function. According to the Rhode Island Journalism Hall of Fame, Bordeleau’s “enthusiasm energized Rhode Island’s biggest news employees, and with each other they created quite a few prize-winning series (and) redesigned the newspaper to greater serve ladies and other underrepresented groups.” Bordeleau was credited with launching the award-winning Publick Occurrences forums, which brought with each other market specialists and government leaders to civilly go over extremely controversial subjects in front of packed auditoriums. 

The news organization also created a quantity of prize-winning investigative and explanatory series below Bordeleau’s leadership. She was an editor for “The Station Fire” series, which was a Pulitzer finalist in the Public Service category in 2004.

Bordeleau has also been involved in journalism larger education for far more than 25 years, teaching all the things from sophisticated reporting and function writing to journalism ethics and newsroom management. In addition to teaching at the University of Rhode Island, Emerson College and Northeastern University (Boston), Bordeleau has taught journalism workshops in Pakistan and Kenya. She was also instrumental in organizing and implementing exchange applications with Russian and Iranian journalists.

“It’s an honor to have a location amongst the excellent journalists who have created their mark in Rhode Island,” Bordeleau stated. “But I discovered from the very best. There are actually scores of journalists who mentored and encouraged me and taught me about the great duty of this essential profession. I just want to acknowledge them and thank them for letting me stand on their incredibly broad shoulders.”

Bordeleau is a previous president of the New England 1st Amendment Coalition, the New England Connected Press News Executives Association and the New England Society of News Editors. She served twice as a Pulitzer Prize juror. In 2014, she was inducted into the New England Academy of Journalists, the highest honor provided to any journalist in the six-state area to recognize life-time achievement in the journalism profession. In 2016, she was awarded the Judith Vance Weld Brown Spirit of Journalism Award, the highest honor provided to a lady journalist in New England.