Rhema Bland is the Deputy Director of News Talent Acquisition and Development, working to increase, elevate and empower journalists from all walks of life in newsrooms across the nation. Prior to her role at McClatchy, Bland served as the inaugural director of the Ida B. Wells Society of Investigative Reporting, founded by award-winning journalists Nikole Hannah-Jones, Ron Nixon, Topher Sander and Corey Johnson. Bland is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. She has worked for CBS News, New York Daily News, Pensacola News Journal, WJCT Radio and The Florida Times-Union before entering higher education. She served as the first full-time student media adviser at Florida Gulf Coast University, and later director of the student media department at East Carolina University. She has taught journalism courses at the University of North Florida, FGCU and UNC-Chapel Hill.
