March 14, 2007
For quite some time, since July 2002, Roland S. Martin has appeared as a guest on several shows on CNN but this week he officially joined the payroll.
The former Dallas Weekly managing editor will now commute back and forth between New York and Chicago, where he currently lives, to work as a contributor to several programs, including the Paula Zahn Show.
“This announcement makes official what I’ve been doing for almost five years,” said Mr. Martin, adding that he will continue to bring his perspective as a Black, Christian, heterosexual male to the viewers.
Marc Watts of Signature Media Group talked about the significance of his client’s new position. In a statement he said, “It’s a well-deserved and a fantastic opportunity for one of the country’s most unique journalists.
Roland’s multi-media story-telling presence has now expanded to cable television to an audience that should find his message most refreshing.”
During a phone interview following the announcement, Mr. Watts, who negotiated the deal, said it had been in the works for years. “This is big. I told people years ago that ‘this man is going to be valuable,’” he said, recalling that he met a young Roland Martin when Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., which both of them are now members of, honored Mr. Martin.
“Roland and I have been friends for 20 years,” Mr. Watts said. “We first met when he was a high school student in Houston. At the time I was a reporter for the local CBS station KHOU-TV.”
In 1987 the fraternity honored Mr. Martin as a “future leader of America” and now the stage broadens as his message will be heard more frequently and prominently, courtesy of, ironically, one of Mr. Watts’ former employers, CNN.
According to Jon Klein, president of CNN/U.S, the award-winning author, columnist, radio talk show host and former editor-in-chief of the Chicago Defender “will serve as a contributor across several programs effective immediately, and, in the coming months, the network will develop various other programming concepts around him.”
In a statement released by CNN yesterday, Mr. Klein said, “As a multifaceted journalist steeped in the traditions of storytelling and truth-seeking, Roland offers a powerful voice on subjects ranging from politics to religion to race to numerous other social issues. We’re very pleased to have him contribute to a wide range of CNN stories.”
The Texas A&M alum says he’s not going to be just a commentator for CNN, he’ll be using his reporting skills and contacts that he began nurturing even as a high schooler back at Houston’s Jack Yates High School-Magnet School of Communications. “While this is a continuation of what I have been doing, I will also bring relationships and contacts. I’ll bring analytical skills and present viewpoints that some might find surprising and refreshing,” explained Mr. Martin.
Mr. Watts had nothing but praise for his friend’s skills.
“From President Bush to Oprah Winfrey to Charles Gibson, Roland has shown a knack for asking probing insightful and news making questions.”
Saying that his perspective is a “post civil rights movement one,” Mr. Martin, who is an active member of the National Association of Black Journalists and former vice president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Communicators, said while he was not a part of that movement and did not know Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he realizes he benefited from, and is knowledgeable about, the “struggle.”
“It will be important for me to be able to articulate the issues,” he explained. And articulating the issues is exactly what he is known for as a nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate, a commentator for TV One Cable Network and host of The Roland S. Martin Show on WVON/1690AM in Chicago.
This author of Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith and Speak, Brother! A Black Man’s View of America, in his spare time, is also taking courses toward a master’s degree in Christian communications at Louisiana Baptist University.
The former founding news editor for Savoy magazine and the former founding editor of BlackAmericaWeb.com, Mr. Martin was the owner/publisher of Dallas-Fort Worth Heritage and managing editor of the Houston Defender. He also has worked for KRLD/1080AM, KKDA-AM in Dallas, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Austin American-Statesman.
Over the span of his career he has won numerous awards including a regional Edward R. Murrow award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association; several Griot Awards from the Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Communicators; two citations from the National Associated Press Managing Editors Conference; the top sports reporting award in 1997 from the National Association of Black Journalists; and honors from the Houston Press Club.
He said he and his wife, Jacquie Hood-Martin, will keep their permanent residence in Chicago where she just received a promotion to Dean of Instruction at Kennedy-King College.
“This means a lot of frequent flyer miles,” he joked.
Cheryl can be reached at csmith@dallasweekly.com
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