Shereen Marisol Meraji

Shereen Marisol Meraji is an American journalist, podcaster and educator. She is an assistant professor of race in journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and is an alum of the Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University.[1][2][3] She was the founding co-host and senior producer of Code Switch, a critically acclaimed podcast covering race, culture and identity,[4] one of NPR's highest charting podcasts in 2020.[5]

Shereen Marisol Meraji
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSan Francisco State University
EmployerUC Berkeley
Known forCode Switch

Early life

Meraji was born and raised in Northern California, the child of a Puerto Rican mother and Iranian father.[6][7][5] As a young girl, Meraji was bullied by classmates about her Iranian heritage.[8] Meraji's multi-ethnic background has informed her approach to stories and journalism, noting in an interview with Latina magazine that "never having really belonged, being on the margins while observing everything, that's made me a natural journalist – not quite a part of something, always observing".[9]

Meraji received a Bachelor of Arts in Raza Studies at San Francisco State University.[10]

Career

Meraji began her career as a radio reporter and producer, working and freelancing for various shows and organizations. She joined NPR in 2003, where she worked as a producer and director of the midday show Day to Day and a producer for NPR's flagship newsmagazine All Things Considered.[11] She joined Southern California Public Radio in 2011 as a business and economy reporter, and reported for Marketplace's Wealth & Poverty desk in 2012.[12][13][14] In 2013, Meraji returned to NPR as a race and culture reporter on the team that would create the Code Switch blog.[15][16][17]

In 2014, Meraji was sent to report from Ferguson, Missouri during protests following the death of Michael Brown as a result of a police shooting. Meraji described an incident when part of her piece capturing an interview with a protester was cut from a radio program, leading to criticism from some listeners that she had failed to report on perspectives from all sides. "That made me want to do podcasts, for there to be more time to be nuanced conversations, to talk about the grey areas, to show that there are more than two sides to a story.”[8]

Code Switch

Starting in 2016, Meraji was one of the founding co-hosts of NPR's Code Switch podcast, alongside co-host Gene Demby.[16] Meraji has stated that she hoped the podcast, which deals with race, culture and identity, would make "[these issues] more accessible to a broader audience."[18] Meraji's work was part of an emerging development in news content and analysis that involved engaging younger, more diverse audiences,[19] often by picking up on themes first advanced from social media platforms, blogs and pop culture.[20] According to an interview with Meraji by WWD in July 2016, the podcast had over 1 million downloads within its first two months on air, with Meraji aiming to create an inclusive space for discussing topical issues such as the shooting of Philando Castile, the Black Lives Matter movement and the viewpoint of supporters of President Donald Trump during the 2016 election.[21]

In the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Code Switch audience numbers increased significantly, and with episodes like "Why Now White People?",[22] the show was briefly the top downloaded podcast in the country.[23]

Academia

In September 2021, Meraji left Code Switch and NPR to accept a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, where she worked on a project that focused on "creating media that is relevant and accessible to communities of color, working with young people, and adding depth and nuance to reporting around Latine communities."[1][3]

After her fellowship, she joined the faculty at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism as an assistant professor in July 2022. In her role, she hoped to "create new publishing opportunities in podcasting for students, working with them to produce episodes on race and identity, as well as investigate other topics." She is the school's first female tenure track faculty member specializing in audio journalism.[2]

Awards and recognition

In 2007, Meraji received an International Reporting Project Fellowship and traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, where she reported on youth culture.[24]

Meraji gained attention for her 2014 feature for Third Coast Festival titled "Audio Code Switching: Tackling Race on the Radio,” focusing on the seeming homogeneity of voices represented in public radio, a phenomenon sometimes known as "public radio voice," and the need for greater representation of diverse voices and stories.[25] She also served as a judge for the festival in 2015.[26]

Meraji received awards from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists in 2015 and 2016,[27] the latter for a piece she reported on about an inspirational scout leader for a troupe of at-risk boys .[28]

In December 2020, Apple Podcasts announced that Code Switch had been selected as "Show of the Year," marking the first time that Apple Podcasts recognized a single podcast of the year.[29]

In 2021, Code Switch won an Ambie award from the Podcast Academy for "Best Society and Culture Podcast."[30]

Personal life

Meraji is married to Nicholas Espíritu, a civil rights attorney.[7]

References
  1. "Some Bittersweet Code Switch News". NPR. 2021-06-17. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  2. "Berkeley Journalism announces faculty hires". UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. 2021-06-17. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  3. "Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard announces the 84th class of fellows". Nieman Foundation. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  4. Hess, Amanda (2016-12-06). "The Best New Podcasts of 2016". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
  5. "How NPR's 'Code Switch' Podcast Became a Hit Telling Stories "The Way They Needed to Be Told"". The Hollywood Reporter. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  6. "How to learn a heritage language : Life Kit". NPR.org. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
  7. "Episode 3 Transcript". This Is My Family. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
  8. Biraben, Amancai (24 May 2018). "Radical Voices, Radical Stories". City on a Hill Press. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  9. "Meet Shereen Marisol Meraji, a Latina Journalist Tackling Race & Identity Through Podcasting". LATINA. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
  10. ""On Strike! Blow It Up!" : Code Switch". NPR.org. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
  11. "Bye-Bye To The Blah-Blah-Blah Girl". NPR.org. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
  12. "Shereen Marisol Meraji". www.marketplace.org. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  13. "AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA'S MARKETPLACE HIRES STAFF FOR WEALTH AND POVERTY DESK". American Public Media. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
  14. "Code Switch | PodSearch". podsearch.com. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
  15. Demby, Gene (2013-04-08). "How Code-Switching Explains The World". NPR. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
  16. "Introducing 'Code Switch,' The Podcast". NPR. 2016-05-10. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
  17. "Tweet Message". Twitter. 2012-12-20. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
  18. "Interview: Kat Chow and Shereen Marisol Meraji of NPR's Code Switch". www.themarysue.com. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  19. "Public Radio and the Sound of America". niemanreports.org. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
  20. "What does the intersection of race and culture sound like? NPR's Code Switch is looking for the right mix". Nieman Lab. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
  21. Steigrad, Alexandra (2016-07-14). "NPR Tackles Race, Gender and Identity in America With Code Switch Podcast". WWD. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  22. "Why Now, White People? : Code Switch". NPR.org. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
  23. McBride, Kelly (2020-12-11). "NPR's Code Switch is an overnight sensation 7 years in the making". Poynter. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
  24. "Meraji, Shereen — International Reporting Project". internationalreportingproject.org. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  25. "Reading List: These Are Not White Men Talking - AIR". AIR. 2015-01-30. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  26. "Shereen Marisol Meraji". www.thirdcoastfestival.org. Retrieved 2017-05-25.
  27. "Honorees/Winners of the 2016 NAHJ Awards - NAHJ". www.nahj.org. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  28. "Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful ... This Great Teacher Abides By The Scout Law". NPR.org. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  29. "Apple Podcasts Names NPR's Code Switch As Its First-Ever 'Show Of The Year'". NPR. 2020-12-01. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
  30. "2021 WINNERS & NOMINEES". The Ambies® — Awards for Excellence in Audio. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
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