Walkley Award winning journalist Martin King is one of Australia’s most recognised and popular television personalities.
For over 20 years Martin has called Channel Nine home, where he is known not only for his hard news edge, but his mix of character & wit.
Martin has travelled the world for the Channel Nine, covering some of the most challenging assignments in journalism. He gained special notice for his world exclusive with WACO cult leader David Koresh, where he was given unprecedented access inside the famous compound which later became the scene of one of America’s worst tragedies.
A series of exclusive stories from Texas was followed by a documentary, aired on the Nine Network, and a best-selling book.
Martin was also the Network’s correspondent in the coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York City. His around-the-clock reporting in the days that followed was must watch television.
In 1999, he spent a month in the Amazon jungle in Peru exposing animal traffickers for a network documentary.
Some of the Martin's stories that stand out in his prestigious career with A Current Affair include the Soccerpools scandal which saw celebrated AFL umpire Harry Bietzel sent to jail, a people-smuggling racket in Mozambique, the bloody war in Sri Lanka, apartheid in South Africa, the drug trade in the United States, and exclusive stories in prisons in America, the Philippines and Australia.
One of the highest-ratings stories on A Current Affair was Martin's investigation of life inside jail. Given unprecedented access by the The New South Wales government, Martin lived as a prisoner for three days in Silverwater and Long Bay prisons. He ate, showered and worked with some of the most dangerous and violent inmates in Australia. Martin's introduction to prison life was anything but glamorous ... stripped naked by prison guards on national television!
Over the years, Martin has covered stories in the UK, the United States, Japan, South Africa, France, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, the Philippines, East Timor, Singapore, New Zealand, Greece, South America and Borneo.
But it was the story of a Victorian teenager which touched Martin's heart. Crystal Wallace took over the role as carer for her three siblings when her mother died instantly. The courage of this young family was displayed in Martin's story and touched a nation. Through A Current Affair, they donated more than $750,000 to build a future for the family.
The most versatile reporter in the country, Martin also boasts a formidable list of celebrity interviews, including Pamela Anderson, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson, Eddie Murphy, Olivia Newton-John, Elle Macpherson, Kevin Costner, Whitney Houston, Clint Eastwood, Julian McMahon, Carson Cressley, Sylvester Stallone, Ronnie Corbett and Ted Danson, Luciano Pavarotti, Jerry Lewis and Lenny Henry.
But some of Martin's favourite stories - the colourful characters of the bush - were filmed right here in the Australian outback. They've taken him to every part of this beautiful country, from Tasmania to far north Queensland, the Northern Territory and the deserts of Western Australia.
Since joining the Nine Network from the Melbourne Herald newspaper in 1985, Martin has filmed almost two thousand stories. He's mushed with the huskies in Alaska, exposed conmen in Melbourne and Sydney, swum with the famous dolphin Flipper in Miami, raided crack houses in New York with the Guardian Angels, cuddled Elle MacPherson on a beach in Western Australia, got bashed in South Africa for taking a black man to a swimming pool, interviewed a cannibal in Tokyo, was machine-gunned by Sri Lankan soldiers from a helicopter gunship as he interviewed Tamil Tigers, covered the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006, played with orphan orangutans in Borneo, confronted the Ku Klux Klan in Lousiana and covered the Beaconsfield mine collapse in Tasmania.
During a career spanning over 30 years Martin has earned a position alongside Australia’s most respected journalists and currently resides with A Current Affair as the programs most Senior Reporter.
