May possibly 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 qualified improvement and a former director of communications at Cronkite, is the retired executive editor and senior vice president of The Providence Journal and the initially lady in its 194-year history to hold the best editor’s position.

Karen Bordeleau, director of profession and qualified 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, in the course of which time she helped style and teach the master’s in investigative journalism bootcamp.

“Karen has been an integral portion of the Cronkite College because her arrival. Numerous students, employees and faculty have benefited from her leadership and wealth of expertise,” mentioned 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 Everyday Occasions in West Warwick, Rhode Island. Just 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 each day newspaper in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, exactly where she redesigned the paper, earning it The New England Press Association’s Much better Newspaper Award.

In 1996, she moved to The Journal, exactly where she worked for virtually 20 years, largely 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 developed several prize-winning series (and) redesigned the newspaper to improved serve ladies and other underrepresented groups.” Bordeleau was credited with launching the award-winning Publick Occurrences forums, which brought with each other market authorities and government leaders to civilly talk about extremely controversial subjects in front of packed auditoriums. 

The news organization also developed 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 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 spot amongst the wonderful journalists who have produced their mark in Rhode Island,” Bordeleau mentioned. “But I discovered from the ideal. There are actually scores of journalists who mentored and encouraged me and taught me about the amazing duty of this significant profession. I just want to acknowledge them and thank them for letting me stand on their really broad shoulders.”

Bordeleau is a previous president of the New England Initial Amendment Coalition, the New England Linked 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.