Kati Marton

Kati Marton "has successfully combined a career as a reporter and writer with human rights advocacy. Contributing to major news organizations such as ABC News, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Public Broadcasting Service, National Public Radio, Atlantic Monthly, The Times of London and The New Republic, she has covered everything from terrorist attacks in Northern Ireland to the peace efforts in the Middle East and the Balkans. Drawing compassion from her journalistic experiences in many of the political hotbeds of the globe, Marton is actively involved in humanitarian causes and was Chief of Outreach at the United Nations, where she was the primary advocate for children in war zones for the Secretary General of the U.N. ...

"Marton brings over 20 years of journalistic experience to the podium for a unique discussion of the state of global politics and human rights. Examining several hot spots around the world, she speaks candidly about the role that the U.S. government is playing in international affairs. From the Middle East to the Far East, Marton explores the position Washington must take to ensure international peace. Stressing the necessity of a free press, Marton discusses both the role of governments in ensuring a democratic state, and of the press itself in maintaining its own integrity. ...

"Marton is currently a director and formerly chair of the Committee to Protect Journalists, an organization founded to monitor abuses against the press and promote press freedom around the world. She also serves on the board of directors of the International Rescue Committee, Human Rights Watch's Europe-Central Asia Advisory Committee, the New America Foundation and the Central European University. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, P.E.N. International and the Author's Guild.

"An accomplished writer, Marton's other books include "Wallenburg, An American Woman" and "The Polk Conspiracy: Murder and Cover-up in the Case of CBS News Correspondent George Polk" (scheduled to be developed into a Mel Gibson feature film) and "A Death in Jerusalem: The Assassination by Extremists of the First Middle East Peacemaker."

"Marton has received several honors for her reporting, including: a fellowship at Columbia University's School of Journalism; a Peabody award for her one-hour documentary on China; the Marc H. Tanenbaum Foundation for the Advancement of Interreligious Understanding Media Bridge-Builder Award; the Kayriazis Foundation prize for the promotion of press freedom (Greece); and the Matrix Award from New York Women in Communications, Inc." 

She is a director of the International Center for Transitional Justice and chair of the International Women's Health Coalition.

"Since 1980, Ms. Marton has published five books and contributed as a reporter to ABC News, PBS, NPR, The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, The Times of London, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, and The New Republic. Her first book, Wallenberg: Missing Hero, a biography of Raoul Wallenberg, was published by Random House in 1982. From 1983 until 1984, she was a columnist for the Sunday Times of London. Her second book, a novel entitled American Women, was published in 1987. Her investigative history, The Polk Conspiracy: Murder and Cover-up in the Case of CBS News Correspondent George Polk, has been acquired by Mel Gibson for a feature film. Her fourth book, A Death in Jerusalem, was published by Pantheon Books/Random House in the fall of 1994. Ms. Marton's most recent book, Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages that Shaped History, was published in September 2001 and was a New York Times bestseller.

"From 1995 until 1997, Ms. Marton hosted NPR's America and the World, a weekly half-hour broadcast on international affairs. From December 1977 until December 1979, she was Bonn Bureau Chief and Foreign Correspondent for ABC News. While based in West Germany, Ms. Marton reported from Poland, Hungary, Italy, Holland, Northern Ireland, East Germany, and the Middle East. She was a news writer/reporter at WCAU-TV, the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia, from January 1973 until November 1977. From 1971 until 1973, Ms. Marton was a reporter for NPR in Washington. In addition to diplomatic and political assignments, she was involved in the development of the NPR program All Things Considered." 

Married to Richard C. Holbrooke. 


 * Advisory Council, Global Kids
 * Board of Overseers, International Rescue Committee
 * National Advisory Board, Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States