Meg Martin
- Fact Checking
- Editing
- Scripting
- Voice
- Writing
- Other
- Teaching
About Meg
I've been working in newsrooms as an editor, producer, fact-checker and project manager for the past 15-plus years -- on long-term projects, podcasts, investigations and daily and breaking news -- on digital, print and audio teams. My most recent staff job was as a managing editor for regional news and special projects and partnerships in the Minnesota Public Radio newsroom, and I spent two years co-teaching an editing course at the university level.
I stepped back from daily news in the summer of 2021, and am focusing my freelance work on editing (story editing, copy editing, fact-checking, developmental editing, etc.), plus project management, training and coaching.
I spent the 2022-23 academic year as a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan, studying how best to prepare and support editors and team leaders in small and mid-size newsrooms. I'm building a pilot program to connect editors in public radio newsrooms to peers across the network, that will help them develop coaching skills and hone their editorial and leadership presence in their newsrooms.
Meg's Portfolio
Officer Jeronimo Yanez shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop in a Twin Cities suburb. The world watched the aftermath. Yanez was charged in Castile's death. Jurors found him not guilty on all charges June 16, 2017. In 22 episodes, 74 Seconds tells the story of the first police shooting to go to trial in the state of Minnesota. The podcast team's work was recognized with several awards, including a Livingston Award, a George Foster Peabody Award and a Third Coast International Audio Festival gold award. | My role on the project: Editing (story, substantive, copy and line); fact-checking; project managing; digital producing; some audio production and reporting; and coordinating, planning and directing podcast and daily/breaking news coverage.
For decades, leaders of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have been reassigning, excusing and overlooking sexually abusive priests among their ranks. Some received additional retirement benefits. In 2013, a top church lawyer, shocked at what she saw, brought the story to MPR News, which launched a nearly three-year investigation, culminating in dozens of stories and a radio and digital documentary. The reporting team's work received several major awards, including a Peabody award, a duPont-Columbia award, Page One Story of the Year, a Regional Edward R. Murrow award, an ONA investigative journalism award and a Sigma Delta Chi award. | My role on the project: Digital project management, planning, coordination, design and production; research; some reporting; some writing; some editing.
From the podcast description: Upwards of 20,000 people live in Alabama’s prisons, a system that siphons more than half a billion tax dollars every year, and yet it can be difficult to know what goes on inside. Recently, the U.S. Justice Department gave us a clearer picture. The project was recognized with a National Edward R. Murrow Award in 2023. | My role on the project: Fact-checking, mix notes and some research
During the academic year of 2022-23, I joined a cohort of journalists for a Knight-Wallace fellowship at the University of Michigan's Wallace House, studying ways the journalism industry can reimagine newsrooms by better supporting the editors and leaders in the middle. Project description: For years, mid-level managers and editors have set the tone for their newsrooms. They are the troubleshooters, problem-solvers, strategic thinkers, mentors, coaches, and project managers, among many other roles. Their work can have a make-or-break impact on who joins and who leaves their organization. While many of these critical newsroom leaders face similar challenges across the country, they are usually left to tackle these problems in isolation, unaware of the creative solutions their counterparts may have implemented in other towns. I'll be studying culture change, management and creativity to explore ways that small and medium-sized news organizations can better support and connect their editors and team leaders to build more sustainable, supportive, agile, creative and equitable newsrooms.
Experience
Skills
- Story Editing
- Scrubbing and Audio Editing
- Research
- Reporting
- Mentoring
- Logistics and Coordination
- Interviewing
- Grant Writing
- Fact Checking
- Voiceover
Previous Work
- Knight-Wallace fellow '22-'23 at The Wallace House, University of Michigan
- managing editor, regional news, projects & partnerships at MPR News
- editor at MPR News
- associate editor at Public Insight Network
- instructor, editing at University of Minnesota (English department)
- online editor at The Roanoke Times
- Naughton fellow '05 + associate digital editor at The Poynter Institute