The Ida B. Wells Society For Investigative Reporting
The Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting represents a new take on a familiar mission.
We are a news trade organization with a mission of increasing the ranks, retention and profile of reporters and editors of color in the field of investigative reporting.
Our latest news
Rhema Bland named first Ida B. Wells Society Director
Rhema Bland is the new director of the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media. Co-founded by award-winning journalists Nikole Hannah-Jones (M.A. ’03), Ron Nixon and Topher Sanders, the society seeks to increase the ranks, retention and profile of reporters and editors of color in the field of investigative reporting. They host trainings year-round for journalists of all skill levels, led by media professionals from around the country, and focusing on everything from reporting about racial inequality and schools to COVID-19.
“This is a tremendous opportunity,” says Bland. “2020 struck a lot of chords that needed to be struck. The society is needed more than ever as we bolster and elevate journalists who are marginalized in an industry that is often marginalized itself. I’m excited to be part of this great mission and help propel the ideals of the cofounders, and come up with my own, at this precipice.”
Ongoing trainings
The Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting invites journalists of all skill levels to attend an 8-week virtual investigative reporting workshop and 5-day COVID 19 series. We have invited some of the most accomplished journalists in the field to share their expertise.
These skills-based workshops are free for Society members and will be led by some of the top reporters around the country.
Who we are
The Society seeks to raise the awareness of, and opportunities for, investigative reporting among journalists of color and to foster the desire for social justice journalism and accountability reporting about racial injustice.
Although there are journalism membership organizations that provide training and skills building for investigative reporting and others that serve as advocates for diversity in newsrooms and media organizations, none of these groups adequately serve journalists of color who are interested in opportunities in investigative reporting.
Today, even as ongoing racial inequality roils the national landscape, too few of the journalists doing investigative reporting come from the communities suffering the most. The ranks of investigative reporters in the nation’s newsrooms continue to be overwhelmingly white.
Our mission to is to do something about that
