Journalist / Speaker / Author / Academic

Farai Chideya
My BioBook Farai

I listen critically to stories about our human journey, and track the data on people, governments, and our global society.

My own human journey has taken me to 30 countries, 49 states, and to cover every Presidential election since 1996.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, I grew up with family from all walks of life and opinions — military, art school, educators, and civil servants. Every Thanksgiving after dinner, we would hotly debate the issues of the day – from abortion, to transgender rights, to the Vietnam War – and then move on to dessert.

That’s my American side. My paternal Zimbabwean side, which I first visited at age four and then in adulthood over the past two decades, gave me an increasingly rich perspective on race, culture, politics and economics from an African diasporic and trans-Atlantic perspective.

Today, I work both behind the scenes and in public forums on questions of media equity — meaning, the ways in which media can serve rural and urban Americans; people of all races and national backgrounds, and gender — for the health of civil society. My most recent book, The Episodic Career, is about how we must be psychologically self-employed (including being aware of dynamic shifts in our workplaces, industries and economy) in order to pivot, grow, earn and thrive. On camera and on the air, I talk on a variety of broadcast outlets about politics, demographics and cultural analysis. I also write my own data- and reporting-rich stories.

During the 2016 election, for example, my roles included:

Before that, I was the host of NPR’s News and Notes, a reporter for ABC News, a political analyst for CNN, a host for the Oxygen Network, a consumer data and privacy reporter for The Intercept, and a reporter for Newsweek magazine. I was awarded a National Education Reporting Award, a North Star News Prize, and a special award from the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association for coverage of AIDS.

I previously served as a Program Officer focusing on journalism with the Ford Foundation’s Creativity and Free Expression team before launching an independent radio show and podcast, Our Body Politic in 2020. The show centers how Black women and other women of color shape news and politics.

I also travel the world to talk about my research and experiences to public media audiences, civic institutions, universities, and more. You can watch some of my talks here.

Farai spoke at the 2017 Australian Market & Social Research Society Conference in Sydney and she was a pleasure to work with from the outset. As for her presentation… interesting, insightful and entertaining. Farai was definitely one of our conference highlights and feedback from delegates was excellent. Our national broadcaster the ABC also picked her up for an interview.

Tiina Raikko

2017 Conference Co-Chair & Current Vice President of AMSRS

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I speak about building workplace race and gender equity; how American media affects democracy and civil society; how to understand the American voter; and more.

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I share weekly insights about American demographics, equity and equality, voter behavior and other perspectives you won’t hear about anywhere else.