Colleen McEdwards (born 1964 in Southern Ontario, Canada) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

-American journalist and educator. She reported for

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

for 10 years and CNN International for 16 years. After suffering from debilitating vertigo, she left broadcasting and earned a PhD in Education in 2012, and has taught at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

, and as an adjunct professor for two semesters at the University of North Alabama.

Early life and education

Colleen McEdwards received the inaugural alumni achievement award from the University of Waterloo, where she earned an Honors BA in English literature. Her first experience of journalism came while studying abroad in the former Soviet Union. While in Leningrad, she assisted an MTV crew covering

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

's historic 1987 Soviet Union concert tour. Following a three-decade career in journalism, McEdwards completed an MA and PhD in education. She speaks French and English and reads Russian.

Journalism career

McEdwards has been a journalist in online, print, and broadcasting formats for more than 25 years. She was a senior political reporter with

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. She won awards for her political coverage, including her coverage of the trial of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. Covering legal affairs, she was an outspoken critic of court-imposed publication bans. She joined CNN International (CNNI) during the

1997 Asian financial crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide eco ...

, and covered major global events for over 16 years in the field or at the breaking news anchor desk. She reported from Moscow during Vladimir Putin's first term, covered the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Czechoslovakia and developed expertise in Eastern European affairs. Her international assignments for CNNI included the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial, the global SARS outbreak, and the 2008 US Election campaign. She received international recognition for her anchoring during the downing of SwissAir 111, the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the sci ...

, the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, Taiwan's Red Shirt uprising, and the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke described her as one of the most intelligent interviewers and professional presences on international television, and that he always appreciated being interviewed by her. McEdwards was referenced as a member of a "dream team" for international news coverage in a ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' column. McEdwards continues to consult in the digital media and journalism entrepreneurship industry. She is a Fulbright Specialist having completed digital media training projects in Trinidad and Tobago. She is also a published author of poetry, short stories, academic papers and family biographies.

Educator

McEdwards has been a professor of communications, journalism and digital media at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (CJC Online) and at

(GSU), where she directed study-abroad programs in new media and entrepreneurship in Asia and served as director of the department's writing center. She also taught at Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State University, Saybrook University, and the University of North Alabama. McEdwards won a "Digital Champions" fellowship at GSU, and a Scripps Howard Fellowship to the Cronkite School to promote and develop media entrepreneurship curricula.

Personal life and philanthropy

McEdwards is a trainer and mentor to young journalists and participates in many education and training events and professional affiliations. As a member of GSU's President's Society, McEdwards supports scholarships for minority students studying abroad and women's philanthropy initiatives. She served on a Georgia Communications and Government Relations Advisory Council related to educational opportunities for students from all socioeconomic backgrounds. She has been a donor and a judge for various social impact media awards and access initiatives globally. McEdwards was moderator at the Yale Symposium on Human Trafficking and has moderated for organisations such as the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

for causes related to the persecution of journalists and the promotion of young entrepreneurs. She became a US citizen in 2008, while retaining her Canadian citizenship. In 2011, McEdwards suffered a bout of debilitating vertigo linked to unilateral deafness and vestibular degeneration. Live studio conditions were a factor. She has advocated for the Canadian Hearing Society and has volunteered with the Vestibular Disorders Association (VEDA) to increase public awareness about hearing loss, Ménière's disease, dizziness and balance issues.

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.

at CNN profile
Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McEdwards, Colleen Canadian television news anchors Canadian television reporters and correspondents 1964 births Living people Canadian women television journalists CNN people