Journalism Consultant and Talent Coach

Barbara Reyelts Bio

Barbara graduated from the University of Saskatchewan, in Canada with a teaching degree.  She was hired as an instructor in the Communication Department at Concordia College in Minnesota.   When Barbara's husband accepted a job with a law firm in Duluth, Minnesota Barbara went back to school for graduate studies in Journalism and Communication.  In 1979 she accepted a job with KBJR TV News where she worked for 38 years as a reporter, anchor, producer, public affairs program host and led the investigative unit. Barbara retired in August, 2017 after spending ten years as News Director.

In 2006 the National Academy of Television granted Barbara its highest honor, “The Silver Circle” for “significant contributions to journalism”.  In 2011 she was inducted into the Minnesota Broadcast Hall of Fame and in 2015 she was given the highest honor the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association gives, the “Mitchell Charnley Award” for “outstanding contributions to journalism and investigative reporting.  During her tenure in journalism, Barbara won several Emmys, and dozens of local, regional, state and national awards for writing, reporting and anchoring.  In 2017 the Governor of Minnesota honored Barbara for her stories that “illuminated important issues and brought forth sweeping change in the state”.  Governor Mark Dayton named August 11, 2017 as Barbara Reyelts Day in Minnesota.  Her hometown of Duluth, Minnesota accorded her the same honor in the city.

Upon retirement from KBJR/CBS3 News in Duluth Barbara started a news consulting and talent coach company.  She was invited by the International Center for Journalists, under the auspices of the U-S Embassy in Kazakhstan, to consult with two network news television stations in Astana, Kazakhstan where she consulted with news leadership, producers, reporters and anchors at Kazakhstan Television News and Astana Television News.  She also was asked to give a presentation on journalism in America, at an international Press Club conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan.  In March, 2018 she consulted with two independent news networks and one government funded news network in Islamabad and Karachi, Pakistan.  Barbara learned a great deal about the challenges these stations face in regards to restraints on free press and the bravery many of these journalists exhibit in the face of grave danger, even death, in the pursuit of truth.  Barbara has also served as a guest lecturer and visiting scholar at several Canadian and American Universities and continues to consult and tutor journalists one-on-one across the country.

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