As a fellow from 1953 to 1955, Peter Martin reported on social, economic and political issues of sub-Saharan Africa during decolonization. He observed the young apartheid regime of Rian Malan in South Africa, and early resistance to it. He wrote about the dehumanization of Blacks in the Belgian Congo and about the struggles of the Ashanti people in the Gold Coast, soon to become Ghana. After Peter interviewed Southern Rhodesia’s prime minister, the politician asked him to lunch with him every six weeks to give him the unvarnished pulse of the country.
Peter went on to become a correspondent, then senior editor for Time magazine and a founding editor of Money magazine. He founded the South-North News Service to cultivate reporters from developing countries. Peter became executive director of ICWA in 1978 and tirelessly championed its mission for the next 27 years, mentoring 77 fellows.