Roland Martin is a hugely successful and respected American journalist who made his name as the presenter of news shows on TV One. He has also been a regular contributor to many CNN programmes, appearing as an analyst on the likes of The Situation Room, AC360, and The Tom Joyner Morning Show. His work as the host of NewsOne Now on TV One won him two prestigious NAACP awards for Outstanding Host in a TV or News Series/Special. Since leaving the network in 2017, he has worked mainly in online journalism, building an audience of well over 800,000 on his YouTube channel, and winning awards for his podcast hosting — including the Webby Award for Best Podcast Host for a show called Be Woke. He has also written numerous books, including Speak, Brother! A Black Man’s View of America and Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith. In 2020, he joined the Black Information Network, a new radio station on iHeart Radio, as a commentator.
Martin was born in Houston, Texas, in November 1968. He studied journalism and Christian communications at Texas A&M University and Louisiana Baptist University before working his way up to become the executive editor of the Chicago Defender, one of the most important African-American newspapers of the 20th century. Between 2005 and 2008, he hosted a morning talk show on WVON Radio in Chicago, which led to him beginning to contribute to programmes on major news network CNN, something he did for the next eight years before moving to TV One.