A Martínez Joins 'Morning Edition' As Host

NPR has hired A Martínez from KPCC in Pasadena, Calif., to join its team of Morning Edition hosts. 

Martínez replaces David Greene, who signed off in 2020 after eight years with the newsmagazine.

Martínez will be based at NPR West in Culver City, Calif., and starts the job July 6. NPR said it will announce the date of his debut with Morning Edition in the coming weeks. Martínez will join Steve Inskeep, Noel King and Rachel Martin in hosting the newsmagazine. The show airs on 835 stations and reaches a weekly audience of 11.5 million.

“He brings a remarkable record of journalism and empathy that allows him to truly connect with audiences and stories,” said Sarah Gilbert, NPR’s VP for news programming, in a press release. “He brings intelligence, a sense of humor and a deep curiosity that will fit right in with the show’s commitment to telling distinctive stories that make a difference to our understanding of the world.”

Martínez has been host of KPCC’s Take Two, an hourlong weekday radio program, since 2012. The show has played a role in growing the station’s Latinx audience.

“Marketers and radio stations all around the country don’t know exactly what to do with this Latin-American market,” Martínez told Current’s The Pub in a 2015 interview. “They have no idea — like, ‘Well what do we do, do we put a lot of soccer on, and then are they going to like that?’ No, you put interesting things on. You put things [on] that are exciting, that people want to be a part of.”

Before joining public radio, Martínez was a sports-talk radio host in Los Angeles.

“Nine years ago, I had never listened to public radio,” Martínez said in NPR’s release. “I was about to start a new path that would change my career, and in a deeper way, my perspective on life. The time I’ve spent at KPCC proves that public radio journalism can be accessible, relatable and understandable to ANYONE, regardless of their background or educational pedigree.”

“I’m excited to bring every experience I’ve had along the way to NPR and to represent Los Angeles and California the best way I can,” he said.