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Martha Catherine Kearney (born 8 October 1957) is a British-Irish journalist and broadcaster. She was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's lunchtime news programme The World at One for 11 years.
In April 2018, Kearney joined the presenting team of the early morning Today programme. In February 2024 she announced her intention to step down from Today after the 2024 United Kingdom general election, and she did so on 18 July 2024. She is to stay with Radio 4, hosting a new series called This Natural Life and continuing to present episodes of Open Country.
Kearney featured in a spoof segment of the BBC comedy series Time Trumpet, titled "Honey, I Shrunk Martha Kearney", in which Jeremy Paxman, in a fantasy version of Newsnight, interviewed her when she was a third of her normal size. She also featured later in the episode in a spoof report from Notting Hill. In 2006, she presented with her father a Radio 4 series on the history of universities in Britain, The Idea of a University.
Kearney presented her final Woman's Hour on 19 March 2007 and her final Newsnight on 23 March 2007. She became the main presenter of Radio 4's lunchtime news programme The World at One on 16 April 2007. She presented Newsnight Review which became The Review Show from 2006 until 2014.
Kearney was nominated for a BAFTA award for her coverage of the Northern Ireland peace process in 1998. She was, with Jenni Murray, 2004 TRIC radio presenter of the year, and won a Sony bronze award for a programme on child poverty. She was awarded Political Commentator of the Year by The House magazine in 2006. In 2014 the Voice of the Listener & Viewer awarded her its Best Individual Contribution to Radio award.
In 2013, Kearney won her episode of the Great Comic Relief Bake Off competing against Claudia Winkleman, Ed Byrne and Helen Glover.
In 2015, she took part in the 50th anniversary celebrations of The World at One.
Kearney joined Today on Radio 4 in April 2018 as a main presenter, swapping posts with Sarah Montague.
Other BBC work includes The Secret World of Lewis Carroll (2015) for BBC Two. Other BBC work includes Being The Brontes (2016) for BBC Two, The Great Butterfly Adventure (2016) for BBC Four, The Books That Made Britain (2016) for BBC One, Great Irish Journeys (2017) for BBC Four, and MAKE! Craft Britain (2017) for BBC Four.
She has also presented Talking Books for the BBC from Hay Festival interviewing Kazuo Ishiguro and Marlon James amongst others.
In February 2024, Kearney announced she would leave the Today programme, after the 2024, General Election. Her replacement is Emma Barnett. Kearney's last day on Today was 18 July 2024; she is to stay with Radio 4, hosting a new series called This Natural Life and continuing to present episodes of Open Country.
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In 2004, Kearney was a judge for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction (formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction). She chaired the Prize's judging panel in 2020. In 2005, she chaired the judges for the women-only Orange Prize for Fiction.
Kearney chaired the judges for the 2012 Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine and in 2013 was a judge for the Man Booker Prize.
Kearney was President of the Classical Association, 2013–14.
Kearney's husband was an executive producer of the Academy Awards nominated short documentary . In the run-up to the ceremony Kearney described her preparations for the "red carpet" with Eddie Mair on the Radio 4 PM programme.
Kearney is a keen bee-keeper and has made the BBC programmes Who Killed The Honey Bee (2009) for BBC Four, The Wonder of Bees (2014) for BBC Four and a two-part nature documentary Hive Alive (2014) alongside Chris Packham for BBC Two.
In 2023, it was announced that Kearney had joined Camphill Milton Keynes Communities as their patron. The charity was home to her brother-in-law for more than 30 years, and she is supporting them to launch their £15m capital campaign.
In March 2025, Kearney was appointed as a trustee of the British Museum.
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