Scheherazade Safla
About the researcher
Scheherazade Safla is a South African living in the Gulf. She earned her BA degree in Media & Communication from what was then the University of Natal in Durban and her MA in Digital Communications from Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. After landing her first job in television for Channel Five in London, she returned to her home country to work for the first terrestrial channel there first as an intern, then a reporter and finally a news anchor for a daily new show on South Africa’s first 24-hour channel. Since then she has worked for three other television stations as a reporter/senior producer and/or anchor.
Scheherazade’s podcast, 1001, provides a platform for women in the Global South, exploring topics like the challenges of: podcasting in a male-dominated arena, and living and reporting in the Cape Flats ganglands. She teaches first-year journalism, broadcasting and audio journalism.
Research interests
- Audio Storytelling
- Podcasting in the Majority World
- Broadcast Journalism
PhD abstract
Thesis title
Breaking the Sonic Ceiling: A Critical Analysis of the Challenges facing Black Women in South Africa’s Podcasting Arena
Abstract
Subject area
Media studies, podcasting, audio journalism.
Research questions:
- What are the challenges impacting Black female podcaster narratives that prevent these women making “top lists”.
- How is podcasting success measured, by financial means or recognition and by whom?
Aims and objectives:
- Explore the positioning of Black podcasters in South Africa.
- Analyse the factors contributing to the non-representative nature of South Africa’s leading podcaster lists.
Podcasts are experiencing rapid growth worldwide (Berry, 2006; 2015) as the medium constructs diverse stories (Thurlow and Mroczeck, 2012), impacts narratives, and shapes perceptions (Spinelli and Dann, 2021), promoting a broader comprehension of locations. The impact of podcasting technology on the creation and sharing of historical knowledge about Africa and South Africa within a wider international framework was explored by Alegi (2011), while radio remains the dominant medium in South Africa, with at least 80% tuning in (Bosch, 2022), an improvement in internet accessibility has seen an increase in podcast listeners in recent years (Nkoala, 2024). Edison Research (2022) studied this trend in on-demand audio consumption in South Africa, showing that between 2019 and 2021, podcast listening more than doubled, from ten to twenty-six percent in the country. Podcasts could offer a valuable platform for interaction with audiences, content expansion, and brand identity reinforcement and provide an ideal avenue for Black women to address broader community issues since cultural policies affect social and economic development, identity, and community well-being (Durrer et al., 2018). The accessibility and inclusivity of podcasts as a digital technology that can bridge the digital divide and reach diverse audiences, including those facing barriers to traditional media consumption, is relevant in the South African context (Gachago et. al., 2016). One reason for the under-representation of Black podcasters in terms of industry success may be the country’s inequalities of socioeconomic status, education, age, and geography (Von Fintel & Orthofer, 2020) as Markman and Sawyer (2014) noted, many of those dominating the podcasting scene are older men who maintain financial stability through other full-time jobs.
Qualifications
| Year | Qualification | Awarding body |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | MA (Digital Communications) | John Hopkins University, USA |
| 2019 | Executive Program: Strategic Communication, Reputation, & Resilience in Times of Change | Northwestern University in Qatar |
| 2018 | Executive Program: The Changing Business of Sport and Sport Communication | Northwestern University in Qatar |
| 2002 | Honors Degree (Culture, Communication & Media Studies) | University of Natal, South Africa |
| 2000 | B.A. (Media & Communication) | University of Natal, South Africa |
Committee memberships
- African Women in Media
- African Studies Association
- African Narrative Collective
- International Association for Media and Communication Research
- Podcasters’ Guild of South Africa
- Golden Key Honor Society
Professional engagements
- Invited Moderator: Middle East Council Conference: 70 Years After Bandung: Lessons for a New Global Order (Doha, Qatar, April 20, 2025)
- Presenter & Moderator: Web Summit (Doha, Qatar, February 26, 2025)
- Invited Participant: African Women in Media: Breaking the Sonic Ceiling? (Dakar, Senegal, November 30 - December 1, 2024)
- Invited Moderator: African Women in Media: Lights, Camera, AI: Current Trends and the Future of Artificial Intelligence in Media Business (Dakar, Senegal, November 30 - December 1, 2024)
- Moderator: Rawabet: Questioning Anti-Blackness and Racial Privilege in the Global South (Doha, Qatar, November 11-12, 2024)
- Presenter: Rawabet: Journalism in the Global South: Expanding Epistemological Frameworks (Doha, Qatar, February 9-10, 2025)
- Adviser Attendee: Pulitzer Center: Washington Weekend (Washington DC, USA, October 18-20, 2024)
- PANELIST: Positionality in Journalism, NU-Q (Doha, Qatar, 2024)
- AGENDA HOST: UNESCO Chair on Governance & Social Responsibility (Doha, Qatar, June 3, 2024)
- FRAMEWORK CONTRIBUTOR: African Women in Media: Kigali Declaration, a framework on the Elimination of Gender Violence in and through Media in Africa (Kigali, Rwanda, 30 November- 1 December 2023)