María Emilia Martin (January 28, 1951 – December 2, 2023) was a Mexican-born American journalist who primarily focused on

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

and Latino affairs. After working for

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

(NPR), she founded ''

Latino USA ''Latino USA'' is a nationally syndicated public radio program and podcast produced by The Futuro Media Group and distributed nationwide by the Public Radio Exchange (PRX), after 27 years of being distributed by NPR. The program is anchored by ...

'', a radio program focused on Latino American culture, issues, and history.

Early life and education

Martin was born in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

on January 28, 1951, and was of Mexican and Irish descent. She grew up in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. She attended the

University of Portland The University of Portland (UP) is a private Catholic university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1901 and is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, which also founded UP's sister school, the University of Notre Da ...

in Oregon, and

Sonoma State University Sonoma State University (SSU, Sonoma State, or Sonoma) is a public university in Sonoma County, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. Sonoma State offers 92 bachelor's degree programs, 19 master's de ...

in California but did not graduate from either school. Martin obtained her bachelor's degree at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

, later attending

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, where she earned a master's degree in journalism in 1999.

Career

In 1975, Martin first became involved in radio after KBBF, a bilingual radio station in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city in and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay A ...

, invited a

Chicana Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

group she was a member of, Mujeres por la Raza, to host a weekly show on Friday nights. The weekly show, ''Somos Chicanas'', saw Martin doing her first journalistic work as she produced the show as a volunteer. In doing so, she also became the station's first Latina director. After leaving KBBF, Martin founded ''California En Revista'', a Spanish-language radio news magazine, and worked for the Latin American News Service in

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

as an editor. Martin joined NPR, where she was an editor on their national program, ''Latin File''. Later, she became NPR's first Latin American affairs editor on the national desk. During her time there, she covered the

Nicaraguan Revolution The Nicaraguan Revolution () began with rising opposition to the Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the ouster of the dictatorship in 1978–79, and fighting between the government and the Contras from 1981 to 1990. The revolution r ...

in the 1980s'''' and covered the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

in the 1970s and 1980s. Martin left NPR in 1992, and subsequently co-founded ''

'', an English-language radio program based out of the University of Texas with support from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

. Martin also chose

Maria Hinojosa Maria de Lourdes Hinojosa Ojeda (born July 2, 1961) is a Mexican-American journalist. She is the anchor and executive producer of '' Latino USA'', a syndicated public radio show devoted to Latino issues. She is also the founder, president and CEO ...

as the show's host. Martin remained with the show as a producer until 2003. Martin moved to

Antigua Guatemala Antigua Guatemala (), commonly known as Antigua or La Antigua, is a city in the Guatemalan Highlands, central highlands of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala from 1543 through 1773, with much of its Baroque- ...

, Guatemala in 2003, where she founded the GraciasVida Center for Media. There, she also produced ''Después de las Guerras: Central America After the Wars'', a 26-part bilingual radio program about the aftermath of the wars in Central America in the 1980s and 1990s.'''' Martin trained journalists in the Central American countries of Bolivia, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, as well as in Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Uruguay, and the United States. In

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, she taught a class at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center on community radio production. In 2020, she published a memoir entitled ''Crossing Borders, Building Bridges: A Journalist's Heart in Latin America.'' She reported on Guatemala for ''

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

'', and continued to contribute to NPR reports on Guatemalan issues through 2023.

Recognition

In 1998, Martin received the Best Voice On The Radio award from ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...

''s Best of Austin awards. In 2000, Martin won the Unda-USA Gabriel Award and a

Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award The Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism is a journalism award named after Robert F. Kennedy and awarded by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. The annual awards are issued in several categories and were est ...

for her story, "Who Were the Torturers? The Betrayal of Sister Dianna Ortiz," which aired on Latino USA in November 1999. In September 2015, Martin was inducted into 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 appr ...

Hall of Fame. At the time of her death, Martin was a journalist fellow for the University of South Carolina's Center for Religion and Civic Culture.

Death and legacy

In 2023, Martin struggled with health issues. She died at age 72 in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, on December 2, 2023, following an operation. Her personal papers were donated to the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Maria American radio journalists Hispanic and Latino American women journalists 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American memoirists 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American women writers American expatriates in Guatemala American people of Irish descent American people of Mexican descent American women memoirists Journalists from California Journalists from Mexico City Journalists from Texas NPR personalities Ohio State University School of Communication alumni Mass media people from Austin, Texas University of Texas at Austin alumni 1951 births 2023 deaths