Journalist, Broadcaster, Traveler
About Bill Buckmaster
Considered Tucson’s most trusted voice for news and information, Bill has interviewed thousands of newsmakers during his nearly 40 year tenure in Southern Arizona, which began in 1988 at Arizona Public Media where he hosted the nightly newsmagazine “Arizona Illustrated” for 22 years.
Bill Buckmaster’s award-winning media journey began as an intern at WIND Radio Chicago in 1967.
In 2010, Bill formed Bill Buckmatser Communications LLC, which produces “The Buckmaster Show.” The program is a broadcast “Town Hall” for the issues that matter most to Southern Arizona. In 2015, Bill was inducted into the Arizona Broadcasters Hall of Fame. The following year, he was inducted into the Nevada Broadcast Hall of Fame for his radio reporting in Las Vegas in the 1970s.
Bill transitioned into television at KICU-TV, San Jose-San Francisco, where he anchored the news for eight years and earned five individual Emmy Award nominations along with the coveted Silver Circle Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
In addition to being a Hall of Fame broadcaster in two states, Bill’s dedication to the Tucson community has earned him many other honors. In 2010, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department presented Bill with its highest civilian honor, the Citizen Medal. The Tucson Chapter of the American Advertising Federation named Bill its 2011 Golden Mic Award recipient.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors honored legendary Tucson broadcaster Bill Buckmaster by proclaiming December 30, 2025, as “Bill Buckmaster Day” for his decades of service to the community, recognizing his fair and thoughtful journalism as setting a gold standard for local news.
Perhaps Bill’s most unusual honor is his name on an asteroid. Only one other broadcaster, Walter Cronkite, has such a distinction.
Bill is a graduate of the University of Arizona and earned his Master of Education degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Bill has an Honorable Discharge from the United States Army. An avid traveler, Bill has visited more then 100 countries, all 50 states, and most of the Canadian provinces.
Veteran Journalist & Freelance Storyteller
Connecting communities through informed conversation.
After decades as Tucson’s most trusted voice for news and information, Bill Buckmaster now brings his experience, credibility, and calm authority to podcasts, organizations, and events that need stories told clearly, professionally, and with purpose.