''Code Switch'' is a race and culture outlet and a weekly

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

from American public radio network

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

. It began in 2013 with a

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in Reverse ...

as well as contributing stories to NPR radio programs. The Code Switch podcast launched in 2016. In the wake of the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internat ...

, it became one of NPR's top ranked podcasts.

History

''Code Switch'' was launched in 2013 with a $1.5 million grant from the

Corporation for Public Broadcasting The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to non-commercial, ...

; it developed as a blog and contributed stories to a variety of NPR programs.

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Neiman Lab The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University is the primary journalism institution at Harvard. It was founded in February 1938 as the result of a $1.4 million bequest by Agnes Wahl Nieman, the widow of Lucius W. Nieman, founder of ' ...

describes the project as "designed to increase coverage of race issues and reach out to new audiences" at NPR and affiliated media outlets. The blog began publishing on April 7, 2013, with

Gene Demby Gene Demby is an American journalist. He is lead blogger on NPR’s race, ethnicity and culture team Code Switch and cohost of the podcast by the same title. He's also the founder of the blog PostBourgie and its accompanying podcast. Early li ...

's introductory essay "How Code-Switching Explains The World". The outlet's name refers to the linguistic phenomenon of

code-switching In linguistics, code-switching or language alternation occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single conversation or situation. Code-switching is different from plurilingualis ...

, when speaker moves between multiple languages or dialectics. Demby's introductory essay said the project construed the concept broadly, with the linguistic concept also serving as means of analyzing aspects of race and culture in identity: "Many of us subtly, reflexively change the way we express ourselves all the time. We're hop-scotching between different cultural and linguistic spaces and different parts of our own identities—sometimes within a single interaction."

Content

described the ''Code Switch'' project as a "forward-thinking effort given the rapidly changing demographics in the U.S. Code Switch has grown into a place where reporters tries to consider issues around race with nuance, whether that's the myth of the colorblind

millennial Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western world, Western demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as start ...

, or going deep on the hit

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical ''Hamilton''." The outlet has also drawn notice for reporting and commentary on topics ranging from sports and

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1 ...

, to the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. Code Switch reporter Kat Chow has also described the project as especially interested in the "second beat" of a story: "If there is breaking news, we want to take a step back and see what this actually means. What is there to report on that hasn't already been said?"

Staff

Team members have included Gene Demby, who is lead blogger and cohosts the podcast with reporter Shereen Marisol Meraji;

Tasneem Raja Tasneem Raja is the current editor-in-chief for ''The Oaklandside'', a non-profit newsroom based in Oakland, California that is funded by Google News Initiative and the American Journalism project. She has worked for ''Mother Jones'', ''The Chic ...

, senior digital editor; supervising senior producer Alicia Montgomery; Matt Thompson and Kat Chow.

Podcast

In May 2016, the ''Code Switch'' team launched a podcast by the same name. Episodes are released weekly on Wednesdays. The Guardian characterized the podcast as "courageous conversations." ''Wired'' said ''Code Switchs July 14, 2016, episode "Black and Blue" offered "thoughtful conversation about race and policing." ''

Los Angeles Magazine ''Los Angeles'' magazine is a monthly publication dedicated to covering Los Angeles. Founded in the spring of 1961 by David Brown, the magazine is currently owned and published by Hour Media Group, LLC. Los Angeles magazine's combination of feat ...

'' said, "NPR's 'Code Switch' began as a popular blog, but its evolution into a podcast seems natural...it explores issues of race, culture, and politics in a personal way that flourishes in an audio format."

Awards and reception

''Code Switch'' won the

Online News Association The Online News Association (ONA), founded in 1999, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Washington D.C., United States. It is the world's largest association of digital journalists, with more than 2,000 members. The majority of ON ...

for best online commentary at a large outlet in 2014. In 2015, the

National Association of Hispanic Journalists The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) is a Washington, D.C.-based organization dedicated to the advancement of Hispanic and Latino journalists in the United States and Puerto Rico. It was established in 1984. NAHJ has approxim ...

awarded Shereen Marisol Meraji the "Radio, Feature News – Large Market" award for her ''Code Switch'' segment "Tandas". Despite generally positive reaction to the blog, some users complain about practices and policies on moderating comments. In 2016 ''Los Angeles Magazine'' recommended the ''Code Switch'' podcast as one of "5 Podcasts You Must Listen to This Summer". 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. In 2021 the show won an Ambies award for "Best Society and Culture Podcast".

References

External links

* {{Podcast platform links NPR programs 2016 podcast debuts Works about racism Educational podcasts Interview podcasts Works about American history Works about activism Works about American politics Works about social class Works about race and ethnicity Audio podcasts Political podcasts American podcasts