Martha Kearney is the presenter of BBC Radio 4's The World at One.

 

She began her career in commercial broadcasting at LBC/IRN (Independent Radio News) off Fleet Street in London. Initially a phone operator on the Brian Hayes programme, she became a reporter, presenter and then a lobby correspondent.

 

Martha made her first appearance on BBC Television News during the 1987 General Election when she was hit by an egg. The missile was intended for David Steel whose campaign she was covering for IRN. It made her an expert witness on egg throwing years later on Newsnight after the infamous John Prescott punch.

 

Martha spent a year on A Week In Politics on Channel 4 before joining the BBC political programme On The Record in 1988.

 

During her time there she made political films including the first television profile of John Major and a film with exclusive access to the Bill Clinton campaign headquarters in 1992. She also worked on Panorama.

 

In the late Eighties Martha began to report from Northern Ireland, tracking the secret negotiations which led to the Belfast Agreement.

 

She continued to specialise in Northern Ireland on joining Newsnight in 1994: building contacts amongst Republicans and Loyalists; talking to prisoners in the Maze and reporting live from the riots at Drumcree.

 

In 1994 Martha was nominated for a Bafta for that coverage.

 

In 2000 Martha became Newsnight's Political Editor, continuing until March 2007.

 

After 9/11 Martha covered Tony Blair's whirlwind of diplomacy around the Middle East, interviewing the Prime Minister in the Omani desert and on his plane.

 

In 2002 she went to Afghanistan to cover the loya jirga where she got an exclusive interview with the war lord Sayaf.

 

In 2003 Martha attended the Hutton Inquiry and reported for Newsnight each evening.

 

In 2004 her film about then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw at the United Nations made headlines around the world when his handshake with Robert Mugabe was captured on camera by her Newsnight producer Liz Gibbons.

 

Martha was granted exclusive access to the Chancellor Gordon Brown for a film about British identity.

 

The 2005 General Election was the fifth campaign Martha has covered.

 

Martha is one of the presenters of Newsnight Review on Friday nights.

 

Radio has been an important part of Martha's career.

 

From 1998 to 2007 she was a presenter on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour and in 2004 Martha was named (with Jenni Murray) the TRIC radio presenter of the year.

 

She won a Sony Bronze for a special on child poverty.

 

Martha has also presented the Today programme and PM on Radio 4.

 

Other television programmes include live commentary for the D-Day 60th anniversary, The Book Show on BBC Four and Bloodties and Despatch Box on BBC Two.

 

She hosted the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2006.

 

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