Dr. Maria Cleidejane Esperidião

I was born in northeastern Brazil, a mixed-race region where glaring social inequalities are multi-layered, and gender-based violence impacts our daily lives. Embracing journalism to expose the dynamics of the nation's historical concentration of power was just a natural path. Before joining ICFJ, I was the executive manager for the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji), in a time marked by unprecedented attacks against journalists, an increasingly dangerous culture of misinformation, and hate campaigns targeting female reporters and columnists.

My background: I began my career as a reporter at a local newspaper in the coastal city of Recife. After I finished my master’s degree at Cardiff University, UK, I worked as a senior producer and editor for Globo TV, Latin America's largest media company, dealing with a broad range of themes, from world news to political turmoil in Brazil. I continued to pursue a place in the higher education sector and finished my PhD with distinction at Universidade Metodista, in São Paulo, which resulted in an e-book about how international news agencies changed. As a fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, I reflected on how shocking images of tiny-headed babies framed the Zika outbreak coverage. I taught at journalism schools in Rio Janeiro, São Paulo and Recife.

My Pronouns: She/Her

Ask me about: International news, movies, traveling and ageism

Contact me: mcleidejaneesperidiao@icfj.org and on LinkedIn