Marco Werman is an American radio personality. He is a host, reporter and senior producer in

public radio Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

. Werman is the host of

Public Radio Exchange The Public Radio Exchange (PRX) is a non-profit web-based platform for digital distribution, review, and licensing of radio programs. The organization is the largest on-demand catalogue of public radio programs available for broadcast and internet ...

's ''The World''. He took over as full-time host of the program on January 1, 2013 after years as fill-in host and producer of the Global Hit music segment. His journalism experience includes

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

photography, print, radio and television.

Biography

Werman is the son of Marjolijn (née deJager) and David S. Werman. His mother was of

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

descent and his father was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. His mother converted to Judaism and he states he was raised in Jewish culture but not religious. Werman has been working in journalism since he was 16 when he worked as a copy boy at the ''

News and Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the '' Charlotte Observer''). The paper has be ...

'' in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

. He graduated from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

in 1983. After graduation, he joined the Peace Corps where he served in

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

and

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

for three years. While in Burkina Faso, he started freelancing for the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

and later moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

where he produced the BBC program, ''Network Africa.'' "Radio impressed me in Africa," says Werman. "Everyone had one, broadcasts happened in many languages, and in the two coups I witnessed, the radio station was important booty: it and the electrical generator were always the first targets." In 1990, he moved back to the United States and started a new public radio station, WCFE-FM, in

Plattsburgh Plattsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surrounding (and separately in ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, where he hosted a daily two-hour news and public affairs show for four years. In 1994, he moved to

Rome, Italy Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

where he was the correspondent for Monitor Radio. In 1995, he was invited to assist in creating the format for ''The World'', where he has worked since. In 1997, he began producing the Global Hit segment, in which musicians and global musical trends are linked and used as a lens to understand the news. This segment has also become a popular

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

as part of the PRI News podcasts. Werman has been the recipient of awards from the

National Federation of Community Broadcasters The National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB) is a national membership organization of community-oriented, non-commercial radio stations, media organizations and producers committed to community radio in the United States. History N ...

for an original radio drama that he wrote; the

Sony Award The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

s for an exposé on child labor in West African gold mines; from the

New York Festival New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

s for a BBC documentary on the 1987 assassination of Burkina Faso's president; and the first annual Unity award from the

Radio-Television News Directors Association The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA, pronounced the same as "rotunda (disambiguation), rotunda"), formerly the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), is a United States-based membership organization of radio, televi ...

for coverage of diversity issues. In 2006, Werman travelled to

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

, soon after

Muammar al-Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until his assassination by Libyan rebel forces in 2011. He came to power ...

renounced weapons of mass destruction, to film a documentary about the total solar eclipse that brought thousands of tourists to Libya. In 2007, he won an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

for his story "Libya: Out of the Shadow" on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

program '' Frontline/World''. Werman is also the host and a reporter for a music series for PBS called "Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders," which he co-created with PBS producer Stephen Talbot. The pilot aired in 2010. A new episode was broadcast on PBS in October 2012. He is also a presenter and interviewer for the PBS Arts online series, "Sound Tracks presents Quick Hits" where he has interviewed Jovanotti, Seu Jorge, Charles Bradley, Milos Karadaglic and Levon Helm. Werman also was a host of BBC World Service "Boston Calling", which explored how the world looks through American eyes, and the myriad and unexpected ways that the world influences the United States. The last episode aired on 27 June 2020.

Personal life

Werman is married to Schuyler Engel. He is a lifelong surfer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Werman, Marco American radio journalists American radio producers American television journalists Public Radio International personalities Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male journalists Jewish American journalists 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists American people of Dutch descent Duke University alumni 21st-century American Jews