Longtime journalist Sheila Rayam has been named executive editor of The Buffalo (New York) News, the first Black journalist and the second woman to hold the position in The News’ 142-year history.
Rayam has been the executive editor of Gannett’s Mohawk Valley news operations, including the Utica Observer-Dispatch, since April 2021. Prior to that, she spent three decades rising through the ranks at the Democrat & Chronicle after graduating from SUNY Buffalo State. Rayam, a Rochester native, is scheduled to start her new role in Buffalo on Aug. 22.
