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
A legal professor says we're 'woefully ill-prepared' to grow old Kathy Ritchie July 18, 2022
Q&AZ: Can people get a monkeypox vaccine? Kathy Ritchie July 13, 2022
FAQ: Where abortion stands in Arizona after the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade Kathy Ritchie, Nick Sanchez, Alisa Reznick June 24, 2022
Kelly co-sponsors bill to help grandparents raising kids Kathy Ritchie June 23, 2022
There's help for older adults struggling with AC bills Kathy Ritchie July 5, 2022
The tampon shortage is going to hurt a lot of women Kathy Ritchie June 20, 2022
People with disabilities are often left out of the conversation on sex education and abortion Kathy Ritchie June 21, 2022
As possible end of Roe looms, some providers taking it one day at a time Kathy Ritchie June 17, 2022
Nearly 50% of all Americans living with HIV are over the age of 50 Kathy Ritchie June 15, 2022
What happens when Valley fever and COVID-19 collide? Kathy Ritchie June 15, 2022
In Yavapai County, older adults rely on mail-in voting and drop boxes Kathy Ritchie June 14, 2022
Mesa's Adaptive Program puts on off-Broadway performance of 'Lion King Jr.' Kathy Ritchie June 10, 2022
AZ now has 2 rape crisis centers thanks to new funding Kathy Ritchie June 8, 2022
AZ's 1st probable monkeypox case in Maricopa County Kathy Ritchie
Associated Press
June 7, 2022
Tempe is getting a new ZIP code Kathy Ritchie June 6, 2022
Latinos struggle to get a diagnosis for a lesser known type of dementia Kathy Ritchie June 4, 2022
Tempe votes to negotiate with Coyotes on arena project Phil Latzman, Kathy Ritchie
Associated Press
June 3, 2022
Q&AZ: Could more babies be given up under the Safe Haven Law? Kathy Ritchie June 6, 2022
AZ ranks 44th in U.S. when it comes to suicide among older adults Kathy Ritchie May 31, 2022
How 'period poverty' has huge impact on lives of menstruating people Kathy Ritchie May 31, 2022
Report: AZ hasn't fixed nursing home complaints system Kathy Ritchie May 25, 2022
Caregiving has always been challenging — then came COVID-19 Kathy Ritchie May 24, 2022
If abortion becomes illegal, could period apps be used against women? Kathy Ritchie May 23, 2022
New registry launched to ensure LGBTQ people are represented in Alzheimer’s studies Kathy Ritchie May 23, 2022
90% of people with Down syndrome are at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease Kathy Ritchie May 20, 2022

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