Colleen McEdwards
| Colleen McEdwards | |
|---|---|
International Journalist and Professor at: CNNI, CBC, UFL, GSU
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| Born | 1964 Ontario, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian/American |
| Website | http://cmcedwards.wix.com/colleenmcedwards |
Colleen McEdwards (born 1964 in southern Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian journalist and educator who spent 16 years anchoring for CNN International and 10 years reporting for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. CNNI Bio
Photo: Journalist and Educator
She continues to consult in the digital media and journalism entrepreneurship industry. She has been a professor of Communications, journalism and digital media at multiple universities including the University of Florida's highly rated and recognized Masters program in journalism and communications (CJC Online), and Georgia State University where she directed study abroad programs in new media and entrepreneurship in Asia and served as director of the department's writing center.
She has taught at Georgia Tech (International Affairs), Kennesaw State (Journalism), and teaches online in graduate programs at the University of Florida's top-rated Communication and Web Design program, as well as Saybrook University's online Social Impact Media specialization in its Transformative Social Change MA and Ph.D. program. An experienced online teacher and course-developer, McEdwards won a "Digital Champions" fellowship at GSU, and a Scripps Howard Fellowship to the Cronkite School to promote and develop media entrepreneurship curricula.
After some 30 years in journalism, McEdwards completed both an MA and Ph.D. in education (instructional design, Education leadership and technology management). GSU Biography
As a member of GSU's "President's Society" McEdwards supports scholarships for minority students studying abroad and women's philanthropy initiatives more broadly. She serves on a Georgia Communications and Government Relations Advisory Council related to educational opportunities for students from all socioeconomic backgrounds.
As a globally renowned journalist, McEdwards won awards for her political coverage and for her coverage of the sensational Paul Bernardo trial in Canada. Covering legal affairs, she was an outspoken critic of the various court imposed publication bans that prevented accurate trial information from being reported to the public. Right to Know
She reported in Canada, the U.S., Prague and Haiti for the CBC, and for CNN and CNN International from Moscow during Vladimir Putin's first term Moscow Link. She covered the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Czechoslovakia and developed expertise in Eastern European affairs. Her international assignments for CNNI included the Lockerbie Bombing trial, the global SARS outbreak, as well as the 2008 U.S. Election campaign and leadership tours of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
She received international recognition for her anchoring during the downing of SwissAir 111, the Iraq conflict, the Asia tsunami, the global financial crisis, Taiwan's Red Shirt uprising, the September 11th attacks and many other global events. She has interviewed global leaders including Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Bill Gates, Tony Blair, Hamid Karzai, Benjamin Netanyahu, Muhammad Yunus, and celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Lleyton Hewitt, Alexander Ovechkin, Sergei Fedorov, Erin Brokovich, Julia Ormond, Murad Sofizade [1] and Mick Fleetwood.
Before his death in 2010, U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke described her as one of the most intelligent interviewers and professional presences on international television, someone by whom he always appreciated being interviewed. Holbrooke
McEdwards was referenced as a member of a "dream team" for international news coverage in a Financial Times column. FT Column
She became a U.S. citizen in 2008; however, maintains her Canadian citizenship.
Career
She was a real estate and business professional, and has been a journalist in online, print, and broadcasting formats for more than 25 years. Before joining CNN, McEdwards was a senior political reporter with CBC News in Toronto, Ontario. She was a prominent face in CNN's economic crisis coverage and has covered most of the major global news events either in the field or on the breaking news anchor desk over 16 years at CNN International.
Colleen holds an MA in instructional design and in 2011 earned a Ph.D. in education with a specialization in technology management and the application of learning platforms to maximize performance improvements and learning transfer in adult pedagogical contexts. Thesis
She is a trainer and mentor to young journalists throughout the world and participates in many education and training events and professional affiliations. She is a published author of poetry, short stories and academic papers. International Journal of Advanced Corporate Learning She writes family history stories both online and in print, meticulously researching historical context and fleshing-out stories rather than family trees.
She speaks French, English, reads Russian and beginner Spanish.
McEdwards was moderator at the Yale Symposium on Human Trafficking and has moderated for organizations such as the Ford Foundation for causes related to persecution of journalists and women entrepreneurs. She got her first taste of journalism as a student in the former Soviet Union. While studying in Leningrad, she helped an MTV crew covering Billy Joel's historic Soviet concert tour.
In 2011 she suffered a bout of debilitating vertigo linked to unilateral deafness and vestibular degeneration. Live studio conditions were a contributor to flare-ups of her condition. She wrote about it for CNN.com prompting dozens of replies, questions from others seeking treatment, and well-wishes. She has advocated for the Canadian Hearing Society and has volunteered with VEDA (Vestibular Disorders Association) to increase public awareness about hearing loss, Meniere's disease, and dizziness and balance issues. VEDA Link
References
https://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/mcedwards.colleen.html Journalist profile, Cnn.com retrieved Sept. 8, 2010
https://www.jou.ufl.edu/2017/05/22/colleen-mcedwards-online-masters-program-instructor/ Academic profile, UF, Jou.ufl.edu retrieved Jan. 21, 2020
https://cas.gsu.edu/profile/colleen-mcedwards/ Academic profile, GSU, GSU.edu retrieved Sept. 8, 2015
http://fitlot.org/miamis-solution-to-its-obesity-problem-cnns-colleen-mcedwards-reports/ Miami's Solution to its Obesity Problem, report, fitlot.org retrieved April 21, 2011
https://vestibular.org/news/09-15-2014/former-cnn-anchor-shares-her-story Former CNN Anchor Shares Her Story, vestibular.org, retrieved Jan. 22, 2020
https://www.warnermediagroup.com/newsroom/press-releases/2001/09/11/cnn-coverage-of-attack-on-us-airs-worldwide-across-turner CNN Sept. 11 Attack Coverage News Release, warnermediagroup.com retrieved Jan. 21, 2020
https://www.sagentwm.com/news/category/marshall-eichenauer/economy/page/13/ McEdwards Insightful Report, analysis, sagentum.com, retrieved Sept. 21, 2020
https://variety.com/1999/tv/news/cnn-s-millennial-programming-set-1117756841/ CNN Millennial Coverage Programming Press Release, variety.com, retrieved Dec. 14, 1999
https://www.multichannel.com/news/cnn-plans-pope-benedict-s-first-official-us-visit-366098 CNN Pope Benedict First Official U.S. Visit coverage press release, multichannel.com, retrieved Aug. 1, 2010
https://journalists.org/projects/georgia-collaborative-2014-challenge-fund/ Georgia News Collaborative Founders and Funders, journalists.org, retrieved Sept. 22 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZO0oNRTnFs McEdwards News Coverage, youtube.com, sample retrieved Jan. 21, 2020
https://www.hamiltonnews.com/news-story/5413371-from-the-halls-of-parkside-to-cnn-business-anchor/ From the Halls of Parkside to CNN Business Anchor, McEdwards Profile, hamiltonnews.com retrieved Sept. 21, 2020
https://uwaterloo.ca/arts/alumni-friends/alumni-awards/alumni-achievement-award/colleen-mcedwards McEwards Receives Alumni Achievement Award, uwaterloo.ca, retrieved Jan. 10, 2020
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/anchor-away/article4156012/ Anchor Away, McEdwards Moscow Profile, theglobeandmail.com retrieved Sept. 22, 2020
https://www.queenrania.jo/en/media/interviews/sunday-october-28-2007-colleen-mcedwards-cnn McEdwards Interviews Queen Rania of Jordan, CNN queenrania.jo retrieved Oct. 1 2010
https://news.uga.edu/uga-debate-against-oxford-union/ McEdwards Hosts Oxford Panel, Debate uga.edu retrieved Jan. 21, 2020
External links
- Unofficial website. Accessed 14 December 2007.
- Colleen McEdwards at CNN profile
- Personal website
