Katie King

BA, 1983

Inducted 2012

Katie King is a writer, editor, literary translator and digital media executive. Her 20 plus-year career includes working as a foreign correspondent, documentary producer, digital story-teller, business leader and journalism professor. Most recently Katie worked for four years as Senior Product Manager Portal & Partnerships for MSN UK in London where she moved in 2008. After graduating from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1985, Katie spent 16 years of her career at Reuters, working as Chief Correspondent in Mexico, Central America and Panama and Chief Correspondent Brazil. She covered the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama and the 1992 Carandiru prison massacre in Sao Paulo. She was a digital publishing pioneer at Reuters, launching the company’s first daily multimedia news publication in the fall of 1994 through Denver-based Ingenius, a joint venture of TCI and Reuters. As Senior Vice President for Reuters Global General News, she later developed multimedia Internet and mobile products, working with Reuters’ clients around the world. In 1993-94, Katie spent an academic year at Harvard University as a Nieman Fellow studying the impact of digital technology on journalism. She now serves on the Nieman Foundation’s Advisory Board. After leaving Reuters at the end of 2001, Katie worked as a consultant for a number of Washington, D.C.-based companies and non-profit organizations. She worked as communications lead for the Center for Public Integrity and was a digital media strategist for two years with the U.S.-based Marsteller Interactive division of the global communications firm Burson-Marsteller. During this time she also taught online journalism as an adjunct professor at The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs. Katie has been a member of the Online News Association almost since it began in 1999 and was founding co-chair of the ONA International Committee. Over the last six years with the International Committee and four years on the ONA Board of Directors she has worked to forge global connections among digital journalists. The year 2012 marks the fifth since Katie led the launch of the ONA’s non-English language awards honoring outstanding online journalism worldwide. In London, Katie serves as a Trustee for the free speech non-profit group Index on Censorship. In addition to her UW Communications degree Katie holds a UW degree in Spanish language and literature. She lived in Spain during and after her UW studies and in 1985/86 worked as an associate producer on a PBS documentary on Spain’s transition to democracy called “Spain: 10 Years After, A Reporter’s Notebook.” Katie is passionate about Spanish culture and history and translates Spanish poetry and short stories into English for the literary non-profit Words Without Borders.