ABC News's Michel Martin To Host New Show on NPR

ABC News's Michel Martin is leaving the network as a full-time correspondent to work for National Public Radio.

Later this year, Martin will host a new afternoon-drive-time show that, according to NPR, will focus "on stories of importance to African Americans." She officially starts Monday at NPR, where she will be a contributor and substitute host for various programs.

Martin, a 14-year veteran of ABC, will continue to contribute to the revamped "Nightline" and the network's digital service, "ABC News Now."

Her yet-to-be-titled NPR program, which she describes as "multicultural and international," is being produced in partnership with the African American Public Radio Consortium, a nationwide group of about 30 radio stations.

"Even though we are in a 24-hour media environment, there's a sense that there are more people who aren't getting access to those airwaves," Martin said yesterday by phone. "You're hearing the same people over and over again."

Martin said the show will focus on stories the mainstream media tend to ignore, citing last year's death of John Johnson, the influential founder of Ebony and Jet magazines. "Many of us had a very hard time getting anybody to pay attention," Martin said. "You won't have to fight to get those kind of stories on my air because those are the kind of stories our listeners are going to care about."

-- John Maynard