SAN JOSE — NBC Bay Area has announced that Robert Handa will be joining the station on June 23 as a general assignment reporter and host of a new weekly program featuring the Asian American community in the Bay Area.
The show will be the first of its kind and will air on both KNTV and COZI TV, the station’s digital channel, which can be seen locally on Comcast 186 and over the air on 11.2.
“We’re thrilled to have a journalist with Robert’s talents and expertise joining our staff,” said Jonathan Mitchell, vice president of news at NBC Bay Area. “He has been an influential member of the Asian community in the Bay Area for decades and we’re excited to have him on board to help develop and host this new show.”
Handa’s new show focusing on the Asian American community complements several of the station’s shows that highlight the rich fabric of the local communities in the market, including “Comunidad del Valle,” a weekly program featuring influential members of the Latino community hosted by Damian Trujillo, and “Press Here,” a weekly roundtable show featuring world-class technology reporters in conversation with Silicon Valley CEOs.
For Handa, this is a return to KNTV, where he began his career three decades ago as an intern, then later as a senior reporter. Most recently, he was a South Bay reporter for KTVU, the Oakland-based Fox affiliate, for the last 16 years. Prior to that, he worked as a reporter and fill-in anchor at CBS affiliate KPIX in San Francisco and reporter/documentary producer for San Francisco PBS station KQED-TV.
Handa has won several national journalism awards, including two top awards from the Asian American Journalists Association as well as a first-place award from the National Association of Black Journalists. In addition, he has been awarded several Emmys, including the award for outstanding achievement in investigative reporting, and an Associated Press Award for best documentary.
Handa is an active many Bay Area organizations, including AAJA, Kimochi, Self-Help for the Elderly, Yu-Ai Kai Japanese American Community Senior Service, and Asian Americans for Community involvement.
Handa and his wife, Arlene Sison-Handa, have two children, Mason and Olivia.