NPR Selects Michel Martin as the Fourth Host of Morning Edition

NPR announced today Michel Martin has been selected as the fourth host of Morning Edition, NPR’s morning drivetime news magazine carried by 840 public radio stations nationwide. Her last day hosting weekend All Things Considered will be March 12, and her first day hosting Morning Edition will be March 27.

Michel Martin has spent more than 25 years as a journalist — first in print with major newspapers and then in television before coming to NPR in 2006 to launch Tell Me More. Since 2015, Michel has been the weekend host of All Things Considered and host of the Consider This Saturday podcast, where she draws on her deep reporting and interviewing experience to dig-in to the week’s news. Outside the studio, she also hosted “Michel Martin: Going There,” an ambitious live event series in collaboration with NPR Member stations.

“We are delighted to have Michel join the Morning Edition team, she brings a remarkable record of journalism and a unique connection with the audience,” said Eric Marrapodi, NPR’s Vice President for News Programming. “Michel elevates every on-air conversation she has. She brings a unique combination of empathy, understanding, toughness and journalistic rigor.”

“When I came to NPR back in 2006 to launch Tell Me More, I came because I wanted to try something new,” said Martin. “I wanted to see if I could take the skills I had developed in newspapers and television, covering everything from politics and policy to music and fashion, and use those skills to lift up voices and stories that didn’t always get center stage. NPR has both intimacy and reach. We all appreciate the trust the audience places in us. I’ve always wanted to work on a morning show, and I am so excited to work with Steve, Leila, and A to be a part of the great legacy of this program.”

Martin has been honored by numerous organizations, including the Candace Award for Communications from The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the Joan Barone Award for Excellence in Washington-based National Affairs/Public Policy Broadcasting from the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association, a 2010 Edward R. Murrow Award, numerous awards from the National Association of Black Journalists, and a 2002 Silver Gavel Award, given by the American Bar Association. Along with her Emmy award, she received three additional Emmy nominations, including one with WNYC’s Robert Krulwich, at the time an ABC contributor as well, for an ABC News program examining children’s racial attitudes. In 2019, Martin was elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievement in journalism. She is the 2021 recipient of PMJA’s 2021 Leo C. Lee Award.

Michel Martin will be joining Steve Inskeep, Leila Fadel and A Martínez on this bi-coastal, 24-hour news operation. Morning Edition hosts often get out from behind the anchor desk and travel around the world to report on the news firsthand. Produced and distributed by NPR in Washington, D.C., Morning Edition draws on reporting from correspondents based around the world, and producers and reporters in locations in the United States. This reporting is supplemented by NPR Member station reporters across the country as well as independent producers and reporters throughout the public radio system. Since its debut on November 5, 1979, Morning Edition has garnered broadcasting’s highest honors, including the George Foster Peabody Award and the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award. The show reaches 11.4 million weekly listeners on more than 840 stations. The team also produces the popular Up First daily news podcast, which highlights the top three stories listeners need to start their day.