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The Selma Times-Journal has hired Faith Callens as a staff writer.

Callens is a native of Selma who has been a multimedia journalist within the Selma community since 2019, starting as an independent journalist for her own blog, called Blessed By Faith that she grew from nothing to 11,000 viewers and 8,779 visitors currently in 2024.

Her blog started off getting viewership only by citizens of Selma and grew over time nationwide to countries outside of the U.S. such as Germany, Finland and Canada. In addition, to those countries in 2024, Callens’ blog has reached six other countries.

Callens is no stranger to Selma. She attended Edgewood Elementary, School of Discovery and Martin Middle School before graduating from Dallas County High School in 2015. Then she graduated from George Corley Wallace Community College in Selma in 2017 with her Associate of Science degree in computer technology systems. She then went on to obtain her bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism from the University of Montevallo in 2020.

Since her time as a journalist, Callens has worked in Central Alabama around Shelby County and in the Jefferson County communities of Trussville, Center Point and Clay being a city council and community reporter. She also has spread her journalistic skills to the state of Florida where she was a community reporter at The Villages Daily Sun and a business reporter for Mainstreet Daily News in Gainesville, which has led her to her latest job within the business working as a general assignment reporter and staff writer for the Selma Times-Journal.

Selma Times-Journal publisher Brent Maze said he is excited to have such a gifted and talented writer like Callens.

“She has a wealth of experience in the journalism field,” Maze said. “And it’s a bonus that she’s from Dallas County as well. I am impressed with her body of work, and I believe she will be an asset to our community.”

Callens said she is very excited to be back home and work for the local paper that she grew up hearing about and reading from time to time as a young adult and said it was always a dream of hers to one day have an opportunity like this to tell the stories of those locally around her and those who have personally influenced her life right here in Selma, Alabama.

Callens said she plans to do her best to tell the stories of those within the community, provide a light to those who need it and be a voice to those who feel like they aren’t heard at all or heard enough.