Rhema Bland is the deputy director of talent acquisition and development at McClatchy, where she oversees outreach and recruitment efforts for news as well as in-house programming related to newsroom culture and best hiring practices. Prior to assuming her role at McClatchy, Bland served two years as the first permanent director of the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, founded by award-winning investigative journalists Nikole Hannah-Jones, Ron Nixon and Topher Sanders. The society was founded to increase the ranks, retention and profile of reporters and editors of color in the field of investigative reporting. Bland is graduate of Columbia University’s School of Journalism where she studied broadcast and also a proud alumnus of the journalism program at the University of Connecticut, where she now serves as a member of the school’s professional advisory committee. Bland has worked for CBS News, New York Daily News, Pensacola News Journal, NPR affiliate station - WJCT Radio and The Florida Times-Union. She has taught and advised journalism students at Florida Gulf Coast University, the University of North Florida, East Carolina University and UNC-Chapel Hill.
