Karen Pensiero, Wall Street Journal veteran, to deliver Missouri School of Journalism commencement address
COLUMBIA, Mo. (Dec. 11, 2023) — Karen Pensiero, BJ ’85, former managing editor and 38-year veteran of the Wall Street Journal, will deliver the alumni address at the Missouri School of Journalism’s winter commencement ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 16, at 11 a.m.
“Karen’s long and storied career of leadership at the Journal stands as a model of good stewardship and ethical decision-making,” said David Kurpius, dean of the School of Journalism. “I’m thrilled to welcome her back to the School, and I’m eager for our students to hear from a woman who has such a profound impact on the industry — both in her time at one of the country’s most prominent newspapers of record and in her work since.”
Pensiero rose from an internship at the Journal in 1984 to one of the top jobs at the organization. On the way up, she served for many years as the editor for newsroom standards, a job that took her all over the world. She was at the helm of the managing editor’s office in 2019 when the journal won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting.
Her career’s steep ascent had roots in her time at the Columbia Missourian, the School’s digital-first community newspaper, where she chose to focus on editing and never looked back.
“My education at the journalism school really set the foundation for my career,” Pensiero said. “When I was hired at the Wall Street Journal out of college, I knew how to copy edit really well because I had the hands-on experience that allowed me to jump in head first.”
Find your moral compass. No matter what platform you’re writing on, find your ethical journalism compass and live by that. That’s what Walter Williams did when he founded the Missouri School of Journalism, and that’s such an important part of a journalist’s education.
Karen Pensiero
Her experience at the School — including a tenure during her senior year as president of the Journalism Student Association, the School’s student council at the time — gave her more than a developed skill set; it imbued her with a level of confidence that helped her land on her feet in an environment that would intimidate most young journalists fresh out of school.
“When I walked into the European edition of the Journal’s newsroom, I kind of had a little moxie,” she said. “I had a little something that came from the idea that if you can rise to the top at Missouri, you’re going to be okay.”
Pensiero left the Journal in February, marking a new phase in her career: she is now working as a senior advisor for New York University’s Ethics and Journalism Initiative. The move has allowed her to refocus on one of her passions: ethical decision-making in journalism.
“You can’t have too many places where journalists can turn to know about ethics,” she said. “A lot of newsrooms now — even big ones — don’t have the funds or don’t commit the funds to those topics anymore, and it becomes increasingly important to raise the conversation on matters of ethics, fairness and standards across the industry.”
She expects those topics will also arise in her work with the Maine Trust for Local News after the National Trust for Local News’s recent purchase of 20 newspapers in the state. And it’s a safe bet that the theme will show up in her remarks to students during commencement, as after nearly 40 years in the industry, she has plenty of advice for those about to enter the workforce.
“Find your moral compass,” she said. “No matter what platform you’re writing on, find your ethical journalism compass and live by that. That’s what Walter Williams did when he founded the Missouri School of Journalism, and that’s such an important part of a journalist’s education.”
Pensiero is a member of the Missourian Publishing Association Board of Directors.
Updated: December 14, 2023