Kathy Ritchie

Kathy Ritchie's picture
Senior Field Correspondent - Tempe

Kathy Ritchie has 20 years of experience reporting and writing stories for national and local media outlets -- nearly a decade of it has been spent in public media.

Most recently, she was the health and caregiving editor at Next Avenue, a national digital publication geared toward people 50-plus. While there, she oversaw a team of contributors, identified opportunities for new feature stories and series, and oversaw the completion of the 2021 John A. Hartford Foundation grant, one of Next Avenue’s largest active grants to date. Ritchie was also responsible for Next Avenue's 2022 series entitled Aging with Disabilities in America. Next Avenue is part of the Twin Cities PBS system.

Ritchie has spent most of her public media career in radio as a senior field correspondent at NPR member station, KJZZ in Phoenix. While there, Ritchie was responsible for the station’s largest newsroom collaboration, a 10-part series The State of Aging in the Valley. She also pitched and produced a four-part podcast, The Recovering Caregiver, based on her own personal experience with her mother who had frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) and what life is like after dementia. The final episode was nominated for a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award.

Her latest podcast aims to set the record straight when it comes to menopause. Period, The End (But Not Really) debuted in September 2023.

Over the years, Ritchie has reported on the challenges facing LGBT elders, the topic of aging and intimacy, senior homelessness, ambiguous loss and grief, grandfamilies, and what it means to age in our society. Many of these stories have aired on NPR’s national magazine show, Here & Now.

And throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, Ritchie reported on the myriad challenges facing families, older adults and caregivers. That work led her to create a miniseries called, Caring in Crisis, in which she documented the experiences of “the helpers.”

Besides her professional experience in the aging space, Ritchie wrote about her mother’s journey living with dementia in a blog

Ritchie got her start in television at ABC News and later at FOX News in New York City.

Title Author(s) Publication Date
Restrictions, Forest Closures Credited For Mild Fire Season Kathy Ritchie Dec. 24, 2018
Funeral For Former Rep. Pastor To Be Held Friday Kathy Ritchie Dec. 6, 2018
Bipartisan Bill Could Improve Oral Health Care Among Seniors Kathy Ritchie Dec. 6, 2018
UA Receives Grant To Study Alzheimer's In Women Kathy Ritchie Dec. 5, 2018
U.S. Fish And Wildlife Proposes Protection Plan For Endangered Turtle Kathy Ritchie Dec. 5, 2018
Grijalva Calls For Secretary Zinke's Resignation; Zinke Issues Strong Tweet Kathy Ritchie Nov. 30, 2018
Ex-Valley Metro Executive Gets Job With NC Light Rail Kathy Ritchie Nov. 29, 2018
Increase In Syphilis Cases Among Women, Babies Kathy Ritchie Nov. 29, 2018
Former AZ Congressman Ed Pastor Dies At 75 Kathy Ritchie, Steve Goldstein, Mark Brodie Nov. 28, 2018
Q&AZ: Why Is Interstate 17 Not A State Route? Kathy Ritchie Nov. 22, 2018
Health Officials Target Teens With Anti-Vaping Campaign Kathy Ritchie Nov. 16, 2018
Growing Old LGBT: Exploring The Hurdles Facing LGBT Elders Kathy Ritchie Nov. 7, 2018
Some Latinos Not Comfortable Talking About Alzheimer's Kathy Ritchie Nov. 5, 2018
Some Alzheimer's Organizations Use Movie 'Coco' To Engage Latinos Kathy Ritchie Nov. 5, 2018
MCCCD Chancellor Responds To Faculty Complaints Kathy Ritchie Nov. 2, 2018
AARP Surveys Different Generations On Attitude Towards Voting, Loans Kathy Ritchie Nov. 1, 2018
Costs For Long-Term Care Growing In Arizona, U.S. Kathy Ritchie Oct. 26, 2018
Revisiting O'Connor's StoryCorps interview with her son Lauren Gilger, Mark Brodie, Kathy Ritchie Oct. 24, 2018
Internet Campaign Aims To Get Young People To Vote Kathy Ritchie, Steve Goldstein Oct. 15, 2018
Prosecutor Arguing Arpaio Verdict Will Remain In Place Kathy Ritchie Oct. 10, 2018
Phoenix VA Medical Center Still A 1-Star Facility Kathy Ritchie Oct. 4, 2018
SRP: Record Rainfall Didn't Change Water Reservoir Storage Kathy Ritchie Oct. 4, 2018
Ducey Doubles Down On Claim Garcia Tried To 'Rig' Election Kathy Ritchie, Lauren Gilger
Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services
Oct. 3, 2018
Survey: LGBT Elders Face More Hurdles As They Age Kathy Ritchie Oct. 1, 2018
New Poll Find More Than Half Think They Might Develop Alzheimer's Disease Kathy Ritchie Sept. 24, 2018

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