Reporters
Bridgette Bornstein
Bridgette Bornstein, a reporter for WCCO 4 News, joined the station in 2001. She left in July 2007 to pursue an opportunity as a magazine editor. She also runs a PR/media services company called
Total Run Time Media. Bridgette returned to WCCO-TV in April 2009 in a part-time role while continuing some of her independent ventures.
Bridgette attended Wellesley College, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Philosophy. She received her master's degree from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Communications.
Bridgette began her career as an intern for the CNN news show "Crossfire." Since that time, she has worked in just about every form of media, from TV and radio to magazine and the Web. Bridgette was "discovered" when she did a live report in an ice storm for ABC's "Good Morning America" in 1998. That report launched her to KSTP-TV in St. Paul/Minneapolis. She moved across town to WCCO-TV in 2001.
Bridgette has appeared on CBS News, ABC News, CNN and Court TV. She's won many prestigious broadcasting awards, including top honors for a WCCO-TV series on a kidney transplant for a little girl named Chana. Because of the report, viewers stepped forward, offering to be stranger donors. One was the rare match for Chana and the surgery was a great success. The news coverage is credited with saving Chana's life. The incredible result of the reports reminded Bridgette of the awe-inspiring power of the media, in all its forms. "It can motivate, teach, even save lives. Of course, every report, PR campaign or blog entry won't save a life, but it may help people think in new ways," Bridgette said.
In addition to local stories, Bridgette has traveled to other cities to report on several high-profile, national stories for WCCO-TV including the Catholic Bishops conference in Dallas, the crash of Sen. Paul Wellstone's plane in Ellsworth, Minn., Sen. Norm Coleman's swearing-in events in Washington, D.C., and the short, but historical, interim Senate term of Dean Barkley in Washington, D.C. Bridgette covered the abduction of North Dakota college student Dru Sjodin for WCCO and CBS News, appearing several times on the "CBS Early Show." Bridgette has been honored with awards for spot news, investigative, enterprise and features reporting.
In her spare time, Bridgette is trying to learn to cook but finds that she is not much of a talent in the kitchen. So, she really appreciates her boyfriend Jay's gourmet creations. Bridgette and Jay are passionate about animals, and support causes for homeless animals in the community. Bridgette loves to spoil her own cats: a bossy Himalayan named Buddy and a shy purebred Persian named Ollie.
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