Brocton grad inducted into journalism Hall of Fame
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Sheila L. (Borgstrom) Mullowney, a 1987 graduate of Brocton Central School, was inducted into the Rhode Island Journalism Hall of Fame during a ceremony on June 26 in North Kingstown, R.I. She was among four journalists the Rhode Island Press Association, representing news outlets around the state, inducted into the Hall of Fame for lifetime contributions to local journalism. "These four journalists are among the finest Rhode Island has ever seen," the association said in its announcement.
Mullowney, who earned a newspaper journalism scholarship to Syracuse University - which she graduated from in 1991 - found her niche in community journalism, working her way up from beat reporter at a chain of weeklies in Queens, N.Y., to executive editor of The Newport Daily News and its sister publications in Newport, R.I., over a career that spanned 25 years and three states.
The Hall of Fame recognition is primarily for her time at The Daily News, which she joined as a copy editor in 1999, advancing to roles as city editor, managing editor and executive editor before her departure in 2016. Mullowney led the editorial team in producing numerous award-winning series and special sections, including election previews and coverage. Under her leadership, The Daily News was named the New England Newspaper of the Year in 2002 and 2004 and Distinguished Newspaper in 2007.
Mullowney was an active member of the Rhode Island Press Association and New England Associated Press News Executives Association, including planning and organizing annual conferences and serving as president of both organizations. She was a founding member of the New England First Amendment Coalition. In addition to numerous individual editorial-writing awards from state and regional journalism organizations, Mullowney won several Rhode Island Public, Educational and Governmental television awards for best political/community issues programs for local candidates forums she organized, produced and moderated. She also taught journalism classes as an adjunct professor at Salve Regina University in Newport.
During her last year at The Daily News, she added The Newport Navalog, the Navy's oldest base newspaper (printed by The Daily News, which also provided an editor as part of the contract), to her duties, which helped ease her transition to her current position as a communications specialist supporting the U.S. Navy.
Before landing in Newport, Mullowney worked at the Norwich Bulletin in Connecticut and at the Times-Ledger Newspapers in Queens, and had college internships at several daily newspapers, including the Observer. Her passion for journalism began in high school; by her senior year, she was co-editor of The Brocton Review and was named the Empire State Scholastic Press Association's High School Journalist of the Year, earning a scholarship to Syracuse University and pointing her in the direction of her future career.
Mullowney, the daughter of Kathryn Dingledy and stepdaughter of William Phillips of Brocton, was inducted into the Brocton Central School Hall of Fame in 2002. She was inducted as part of the 2026 class of the Rhode Island Journalism Hall of Fame, along with Jim Hummel, Alan Rosenberg and Bruce Butterfield, with her parents and many other family members from New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, friends and colleagues in attendance.