In his 40 years producing and reporting, Martin Smith has covered the world: from revolution in Central America and the fall of communism in Russia, to the rise of Al Qaeda and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to the inside story of the global financial meltdown. Smith has often been ahead of the news curve. He was among the first journalists to investigate Col. Oliver North’s clandestine Contra arms network and one of the first western reporters to investigate the emergence of Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network.
His most recent production is FRONTLINE’s landmark three part docuseries, America and the Taliban (2023), which chronicles America’s longest war.
Smith has won every major award in television including four DuPont Columbia Gold Batons, five Peabody Awards, and eight Emmys. He’s also a four-time recipient of the George Polk Award for Investigative journalism, a rare achievement. In 2014 he received the John Chancellor Award, presented by Columbia University to a reporter with courage and integrity for cumulative professional accomplishments.
As Producer and Senior Foreign Correspondent for FRONTLINE, Smith has produced over 50 hours of award winning programming, including The Terrorist and the Superpower, which was produced three years before 9/11. A copy of the film was requested by Vice President Dick Cheney’s office immediately after the attacks.
In the three months following 9/11, Smith produced two seminal films on the genesis of the attacks— Looking for Answers (2001) and Saudi Time Bomb? (2001). Since the invasion of Iraq, Smith has covered the conflict for FRONTLINE with a series of films, including Truth, War and Consequences (2003), which established Smith’s presence as an on-camera correspondent, Beyond Baghdad (2004), Private Warriors (2005), and Gangs of Iraq (2007). His film, The Rise of ISIS (2014), investigated the circumstances and context leading to ISIS’s emergence. He followed that in 2016 with Confronting ISIS a film that received the prestigious Peabody Award. In 2018, he published Bitter Rivals, a two hour documentary that examined the regional struggle for power between Iran and Saudi Arabia. That film was among six FRONTLINE films that won the series a DuPont Columbia Gold Baton, among the highest honors in broadcast journalism.
Other recent films from the region include The Crown Prince (2019), which investigates the rise and rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia (MBS) and The Jihadist (2021), an exclusive portrait of the former Al Qaeda leader, Abu Mohammad al Jolani.
Smith was born Jan. 28, 1949. He studied Comparative Literature at Brown University and has a BFA from the Institute of Film and Television at New York University. He lives in the Western Catskills with his producing partner and wife Marcela Gaviria.
Awards
Emmy Awards
2015 News and Documentary Emmy Award: Outstanding Documentary
United States of Secrets (PBS FRONTLINE)
2015 News and Documentary Emmy Award: Outstanding Coverage of a Current News Story – Long Form
United States of Secrets (PBS FRONTLINE)
2013 News and Documentary Emmy Award: Outstanding Business and Economic Reporting – Long Form
Money, Power and Wall Street (PBS FRONTLINE)
2008-2009 Emmy Award for Business and Financial Reporting: Outstanding Documentary on a Business Topic
The Madoff Affair (PBS FRONTLINE)
2005 News and Documentary Emmy Award: Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Storm
The Storm (PBS FRONTLINE)
2000 News and Documentary Emmy Award: Outstanding Background/Analysis of a Single Current Story (Program)
Drug Wars (PBS FRONTLINE)
1981-1982 News and Documentary Emmy Award: Outstanding Background/Analysis of a Single Current Story (Program)
Guatemala (CBS Reports)
Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards
2019 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (Gold Baton)
Bitter Rivals (PBS FRONTLINE)
2015 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (Silver Baton)
United States of Secrets (PBS FRONTLINE)
2003-2004 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (Silver Baton)
Truth, War and Consequences (PBS FRONTLINE)
2001-2002 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (Gold Baton)
Hunting Bin Laden, Looking for Answers, and Saudi Time Bomb (PBS FRONTLINE)
1989-1990 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award (Gold Baton)
Inside Gorbachev’s USSR (WGBH)
George Foster Peabody Awards
2018 George Foster Peabody Award
Separated: Children at the Border (PBS FRONTLINE)
2014 George Foster Peabody Award
United States of Secrets (PBS FRONTLINE)
2009 George Foster Peabody Award
The Madoff Affair (PBS FRONTLINE)
2000 George Foster Peabody Award
Drug Wars (PBS FRONTLINE)
1995 George Foster Peabody Award
Hiroshima – Why the Bomb Was Dropped (ABC News)
1985 George Foster Peabody Award
Crisis in Central America (PBS FRONTLINE)
George Polk Awards
2012 George Polk Award for Documentary Television Reporting
Money, Power and Wall Street (PBS FRONTLINE)
1990 George Polk Award for Documentary Television Reporting
Inside Gorbachev’s USSR (WGBH)
1986 George Polk Award for International Television Reporting
Who’s Running This War (PBS FRONTLINE)
1982 George Polk Award for Network Television Reporting
Guatemala (CBS Reports)
John Chancellor Award
2014 John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism
Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Awards
2001 Nancy Dickerson White Award
Drug Wars (PBS FRONTLINE)
Overseas Press Club Awards
2021 Peter Jennings Award Citation for Excellence
The Jihadist (PBS FRONTLINE)
2010 Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Television Interpretation or Documentary on International Affairs
Obama’s War (PBS FRONTLINE)
2008 Whitman Bassow Award for Best Reporting in Any Medium on International Environmental Issues
Heat (PBS FRONTLINE)
2000 Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Television Interpretation or Documentary on International Affairs
Return of the Czar (PBS FRONTLINE)
1995 Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Television Interpretation or Documentary on International Affairs
Hiroshima – Why the Bomb Was Dropped (ABC News)
Society of Environmental Journalists Awards for Reporting on the Environment
2011 Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding In-depth Reporting, Large Market
The Spill (PBS FRONTLINE)
Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting
2007 Special Citation in recognition of a career of distinguished reporting on foreign policy and diplomacy
Writers Guild of America Awards
2014 Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Script: Television Documentary – Current Events
Egypt in Crisis (PBS FRONTLINE)
2013 Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Script: Television Documentary – Current Events
Money, Power and Wall Street: Episode 1 (PBS FRONTLINE)
2012 Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Script: Television Documentary – Other Than Current Events
WikiSecrets (PBS FRONTLINE)
2012 Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Script: Television News – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin or Breaking News
Educating Sergeant Pantzke (PBS FRONTLINE)
2010 Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Script: Television Documentary – Current Events
The Madoff Affair (PBS FRONTLINE)
2008 Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Script: Television Documentary – Current Events
Return of the Taliban (PBS FRONTLINE)
2003 Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Script: Television Documentary – Current Events
Truth, War and Consequences (PBS FRONTLINE)