Karen Bartko

Online Journalist

Karen has worked at Global Edmonton since 2006, and has been an online journalist covering stories across Alberta for more than 10 years.

She is grateful for the privilege of covering stories in the community she was raised in, at the TV station she grew up watching each day.

Karen got her start as a studio assistant running the teleprompter, before becoming an ENG video editor for four years. She then spent three years on the overnight team as a writer for Global News Morning Edmonton.

Karen joined the online team in 2014. She lives for breaking news and also enjoys the fast pace of the digital world, creating videos and crafting original content for social media.

She grew up just west of Edmonton in Parkland County, attended high school in Devon and graduated from the Radio and Television Arts program at NAIT in 2008.

Outside of work, Karen enjoys cooking, reading, killing plants gardening, travelling the world and taking in Edmonton’s numerous summer festivals. She’s also learning to love/hate golf.

Karen is a pop culture geek who indulges in a long list of TV shows and can frequently be found scouring Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Reddit. She would also never say no to a good glass of wine.