Brad Ryder - News Reporter for WKBK Radio

As the afternoon news anchor, Brad goes on the air twice an hour from the WKBK news center. Between newscasts, he monitors the wires, phones, and police radio, writing and updating his stories to keep them fresh. When news breaks, Brad interrupts current programming, whether it's Rush or Howie, and goes live to tell the residents of Keene and all of the Monadnock Region what's happening.

As a field reporter, Brad is on the scene to cover events, interview the principal players, gather audio (or video for the web site), and write and file news reports for the morning anchor. While most stories originate from planned meetings, public hearings, conferences, speeches, etc., they can also include fires, car chases and accidents, hostage situations or standoffs, and other breaking news.

As the web videographer for WKBKradio.com, Brad takes the Canon digital camera to events that lend themselves to visual interesting material. This would include fires, of course, as well as groundbreakings, tree lightings, rallies, grand openings, ribbon-cuttings for schools or jails, community events (such as the huge Keene Pumpkin Festival), demonstrations and protests, movie premieres, and any of the many appearances by political figures.

Brad has been with WKBK on a regular basis since September 2008. However, his first association with the radio station was in 1988, when he volunteered to cover a rally in Central Square featuring presidential candidate Jack Kemp. The station's president, Tal Hood, appreciated Brad's report so much that he was hired to cover all the presidential candidates as they came through the area. During the primaries, Brad met and interviewed Michael Dukakis, Richard Gephardt, Alexander Haig, Paul Simon, and Bob Dole ... unfortunately, he missed George H.W. Bush.

While Brad enjoyed working at the radio station, he was offered, and accepted, a position as Assignment Editor at WNHT-21, a new television station in Concord, NH. At the same time, he was also teaching in the Mass Communication Department at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, which took much of Brad's time. When the Concord TV station went out of business, Brad did not find the opportunity to return to WKBK.

After five years at FPC, Brad left the college and transmutated into the Internet business, helping to start a new web hosting service with the region's first Internet provider, MonadNet. Then he ran his own Internet company, WebRyders, for ten years before selling in 2008. At that time, he contacted Dan Mitchell and Paul Scheuring at WKBK to see how they were getting along without him (they were fine), and if they needed a reporter (they did).