Might 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 additional than 4 decades and six New England states, especially 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 at the moment 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 initial lady in its 194-year history to hold the major editor’s position.

Karen Bordeleau, director of profession and experienced improvement at the Walter Cronkite College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
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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, throughout 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 expertise,” stated Cronkite College Dean Battinto L. Batts Jr. “We are proud of Karen for this excellent achievement.”

At the starting of her journalism profession, Bordeleau served as editor at The Kent County Every day Occasions 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 Get in touch with, a each day newspaper in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, exactly where she redesigned the paper, earning it The New England Press Association’s Greater Newspaper Award.

In 1996, she moved to The Journal, exactly where she worked for pretty much 20 years, mainly in a newsroom leadership part. 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 lots of prize-winning series (and) redesigned the newspaper to improved serve girls and other underrepresented groups.” Bordeleau was credited with launching the award-winning Publick Occurrences forums, which brought with each other business 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 beneath 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 additional than 25 years, teaching anything 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 spot amongst the fantastic journalists who have created their mark in Rhode Island,” Bordeleau stated. “But I discovered from the finest. There are actually scores of journalists who mentored and encouraged me and taught me about the amazing duty of this critical profession. I just want to acknowledge them and thank them for letting me stand on their pretty broad shoulders.”

Bordeleau is a previous president of the New England Initial Amendment Coalition, the New England Related 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 offered 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 offered to a lady journalist in New England.