Rhonda McBride
KNBA News ProducerRhonda McBride has a long history of working in both television and radio in Alaska, going back to 1988, when she was news director at KYUK, the public radio and TV stations in Bethel, which broadcast in both the English and Yup’ik languages.
From the Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race — to the revival of the Yup’ik language — to the fight to protect the subsistence way of life, McBride was immersed in Alaska Native culture and history on a daily basis. It was one of the best jobs she ever had, she recalls, because she got to work alongside pioneering Yup’ik broadcasters, who incorporated modern technology with traditional story telling skills to preserve their language and culture.
After almost ten years in Bethel, McBride moved on to the Alaska Public Radio Network in Anchorage. She was also a public television producer at KAKM-Channel 7, where she hosted public affairs programs and moderated political debates. Later she worked at KTUU-Channel 2 and KTVA-Channel 11, where she covered politics, economics, rural, and Alaska Native issues.
At KTVA, McBride hosted and produced Frontiers, a weekly TV magazine show which won national awards for its in-depth coverage of rural Alaska and series of documentaries on the Hiland Mountain Lullaby Project, which brought local artists and inmate moms together to compose songs for their children.
In recent years, she returned to her roots in radio to produce KTOO’s Juneau Afternoon talk show. Currently, she is news director at KNBA Radio.
In 2022, McBride was inducted into the Alaska Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame and awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
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KNBA's Top Stories: Kipnuk votes to relocate. Governor proposes new tax structure for Alaska LNG project. The Shaktoolik Wolverines take time out at a state basketball tournament to shine a light on a former teammate who has gone missing. -
KNBA Top Stories: U.S. Interior Secretary makes a stop in Anchorage en route to Asia. Team Alaska continues to dominate the Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse. And leaders in the Iditarod have now reached the halfway point in the race, while Jody Potts-Joseph finds plenty of action at the back of the pack. -
Indigenous mushers have strong historical and cultural ties to the Iditarod and were key figures in the early days of the race. When John Baker, an Iñupiaq from Kotzebue, won the 2011 Iditarod, that marked an Alaska Native resurgence in the competition. This year, two of the top contenders are Alaska Native and past Iditarod champions — Ryan Redington and Pete Kaiser. Three rookies in this year's race are Indigenous but bring a lot experience to the running of their first Iditarod. -
KNBA's Top Stories: Iditarod mushers are in the first leg of the race. Among a field of 37 mushers, five are Indigenous mushers. And two of those are former champions. Also, the Trump administration attempts to restore state authority over hunting and trapping on federal park preserves in Alaska. -
KNBA's Top Stories: One bunny is a lot of work, but how about 103? How the Anchorage Animal Care and Control Center is trying to take care of these victims of neglect. Also in our newscast today: A man who took photographs of his village never dreamed he’d see them in a museum. But they bring back feelings of home, and a sense of what life was like in Kwigillingok before flood waters from Typhoon Halong changed everything forever. -
KNBA's Top Stories: State lawmakers consider another boost to education funding. Alaska’s. Alaska population loss looms with fewer births and more deaths in an aging population. Passenger door detaches from plane enroute from Eek to Bethel. -
The Alaska Outdoor Council, which boasts 3,000 members statewide, is flexing its political muscle with a candidate's forum this Saturday, featuring six out of 17 candidates for governor. -
On Feb. 16, Native groups will commemorate Elizabeth Peratrovich's impassioned speech before the Alaska Territorial Legislature, considered a turning point that led to the passage of an antii-discrimination bill in 1945. -
With the deadline for public comment looming, hundreds of Alaskans are weighing in on a U.S. Department of Interior review of federal subsistence management. A Safari Club International petition is at the center of the debate. It calls for changes that rural subsistence users fear will threaten their legal right to hunt and fish and provide for their families. -
KNBA's top story: An overflow crowd and hours of testimony on the Federal Subsistence Board's future at a hearing in Anchorage this week.
