Diane Dimond has enjoyed an award winning career in radio and television news.
She began her journalism career in her hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. As a radio newscaster and crime reporter for KOB Radio (now KKOB) she exposed corruption within the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department, put a sheriff in jail and won acclaim from the American Bar Association when they presented her with their coveted Silver Gavel Award for Outstanding Public Service reporting. Over her long career she has received numerous awards and is seen as a respected and well-connected journalist.
As a news anchor on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, a Capitol Hill correspondent for the RKO Radio Networks, a correspondent for WCBS-TV in New York and the Senior Investigative correspondent for the syndicated program Hard Copy Dimond built a reputation as a dogged investigative journalist. Her strength is in translating complicated stories and presenting them in conversational and understandable nuggets — be it on television, radio or in print. She is best known for breaking the story of child molestation allegations against singer Michael Jackson in late 1993 and following the story through the entertainer’s criminal trial in 2005.
Dimond has also worked for CNBC as co-anchor of UpFront Tonight a nightly news program with Geraldo Rivera, at MSNBC as a political correspondent and anchor and at Fox News as a week-end anchor. At Court TV Dimond was an anchor of daytime court coverage and Chief Correspondent of the CTV investigative Unit.
In 2008, Dimond began writing a weekly syndicated crime and justice column. Distributed by Creators Syndicate, it is distributed to newspapers nationwide. She prides herself on writing about wide-ranging crime and justice topics designed to raise public awareness and promote outside-the-box thinking.
As a long-time contributor for Newsweek/TheDailyBeast.com Dimond covered multiple stories, including several high profile criminal trials. Among them: The Casey Anthony murder trial, the political corruption trial of former Senator John Edwards and the child molestation case against former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky.
In January 2013, Dimond turned her attention to the technological future of media. As part of the senior management team at The Video Call Center LLC she helped develop a whole new genre of television – one which marries social media with mass media. Utilizing a patented console, the VCC was designed after the call-in talk radio model where the host runs their own control board. VCC technology created live, host-driven, call-in talk television.
Guests and callers join the program by using their Smartphones or tablets to access IP video services (Skype, Facetime, etc.) and the mostly automated system allows the host to control all aspects of the program. With a punch of a button the host can introduce callers, bring in pre-loaded stills, videos and offer immediate access to everything on the internet.
Dimond is one of the few journalists who can claim proficiency as a crossover media personality – proficient in radio, television, print and as the author of three books. She lives in Rockland County, New York with her husband, Michael Schoen, a long time WCBS-radio news anchor and voiceover artist. They have one daughter and three grandchildren.
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Full Bio
Diane Dimond is one of the few journalists to have mastered the art of her craft across all platforms – radio, television, books and internet publishing. As such she defies a single category.
Dimond’s greatest talent may be her ability to communicate complicated stories in an understandable, common-sense way. Her reputation as a fearless investigative reporter has won admiration from her peers but she never lost the humanistic and moral lessons learned growing up as an only child in a middle class home in the Southwest.
“For a kid who grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico I feel fortunate to have found the calling of journalism,” Dimond says. “I’ve gotten to roam the halls of Congress, report from the White House and be an eye-witness to several moments in history. I’ve also been able to concentrate on the issues of crime and justice in America and tell the often-forgotten human stories behind the headlines.”
While working for Albuquerque’s KGGM-TV and Radio as a receptionist during high school Dimond was drawn to the newsroom in an odd and coincidental way. Late one evening the frantic news director came to the front desk holding a long trail of wire copy and urgently asked Diane if she, “knew how to write.” He told her that the news writers had gone out to dinner (in between the early and late newscasts) had a car accident and were hospitalized. Diane had won a few writing awards in school and immediately pitched in. This baptism-by- fire that night was the beginning of Dimond’s passion for the news business and for good old fashioned storytelling.
After working in the KGGM (now KRQE) newsroom Diane was recruited by the TV-radio station across the street. She joined KOB radio (now KKOB) and ultimately became both the crime and courts reporter and the morning newscaster. She was presented with the prestigious Silver Gavel award from the American Bar Association for her intrepid multi-part series about political corruption within the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department which resulted in the Sheriff being removed from office. In addition, Diane was awarded multiple APE awards from the Albuquerque Press Club for various other stories she covered.
In 1976, Dimond moved across the country to Washington, DC to anchor newscasts for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.
In 1980, she became Correspondent for the RKO Radio Network, assigned to cover Capitol Hill, the White House and various Washington agencies. Dimond was named the network’s National Political Correspondent and, in 1984, covered the presidential campaigns of Walter Mondale and his Vice Presidential nominee, Geraldine Ferraro. Dimond was on the floor during both of that year’s presidential nominating conventions – the democratic gathering held in San Francisco and republican convention in Dallas.
Dimond made her move into television in 1986 and her first on-air reporting job was at the CBS flagship station in New York. At WCBS, she earned several awards for covering such groundbreaking stories as the “Baby M” surrogate mother case, an investigative series on chromium poisoning in New Jersey and a sensational child molestation case on Long Island.
Dimond was recruited into syndicated television in 1990 when she became the investigative reporter for the program Hard Copy. Time Magazine cited Diane’s revelation and continuing coverage of the Michael Jackson child molestation story as among, “The Best TV of ’93.”
While at Hard Copy Dimond also made headlines when she acquired and aired the actual interrogation tape of OJ Simpson as he was being questioned by Los Angeles police detectives investigating the death of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman. Diane sparked many national stories during her 7 years at Hard Copy, including the William Kennedy Smith rape allegations in Palm Beach, exclusive interviews with Hollywood Madame, Heidi Fleiss and several sit-down prison interviews with notorious convicted killers. Among them: Kenneth Bianchi, the Hillside Strangler; Jeffrey MacDonald, the Green Beret Killer; James Earl Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr.; teacher Pamela Smart, convicted of convincing her young student-lover to kill her husband and Richard Allen Davis, the man who kidnapped and killed young Polly Klaas.
In 1997, Dimond went to Warner Brothers/Telepictures where she substitute-anchored the nationally syndicated program EXTRA and made headlines with her expose of the deceptive practices of the Jerry Springer show, among other investigative reports.
In 1998, Diane moved back to the east coast and joined NBC News. She partnered with Geraldo Rivera to co-anchor CNBC’s nightly newscast, UpFront Tonight. She anchored extensive live reports from Washington during the impeachment proceedings against former President Bill Clinton. After moving to MSNBC Dimond hosted the series, Missing Persons, anchored major news blocks and, among other stories, covered the 2000 presidential campaign, traveling at various times with three of the candidates, George W. Bush, Al Gore and Ralph Nader. Dimond also became known as the correspondent who spent 35 straight days reporting live from outside the Vice President’s residence in Washington as the nation awaited the final, controversial recount of the disputed vote.
After the September 11th, 2001 terror attack in New York City Diane became a freelance anchor, hosting live programs on the Fox News channel where she specialized in the network’s continuing coverage of the war on terrorism. Her live interviews with military and policy news makers were often quoted by other news organizations. Dimond did double duty during this time as an anchor at Court TV, filling in during various dayparts as well as the network’s evening news program, Catherine Crier Live.
In 2003, Diane joined Court TV full-time and became the Chief Investigative Reporter, once again, breaking the story of another allegation of child sexual misconduct against entertainer, Michael Jackson. It was a story Dimond had followed since she first revealed Jackson’s legal problems in 1993. In advance of preparing to cover Jackson’s criminal trial in 2005, Dimond began to write a book about her decade long involvement with the story. Be Careful Who You Love: Inside the Michael Jackson Case (Simon and Schuster/Atria) is seen by many as the definitive work about one of the most controversial figures in the entertainment industry.
Diane, an only child, took some time off following the illness and death of both her father, Allen Hughes, and her mother, Ruby Hughes in 2006.
In 2008, Dimond began writing a weekly syndicated crime and justice column. Distributed by Creators Syndicate, it is distributed to newspapers nationwide. She prides herself on writing about wide-ranging crime and justice topics designed to raise public awareness and promote outside-the-box thinking.
In 2010, the headline grabbing story about the so-called “White House Gate Crashers,” Michaele and Tareq Salahi grabbed Dimond’s attention. Having been assigned to the White House early in her career she knew it was next to impossible to “crash” an official State Dinner. Her investigation into what really happened – and more importantly, how a simple story exploded into unnecessary hand-wringing and Congressional hearings – culminated in Dimond’s book, Cirque Du Salahi (Library of Congress # 2010911655) The book was called “A riveting slice of contemporary anthropology,” that exposed the gossip mongers masquerading as journalists who first peddled the “gate crashers” idea.
As a long-time contributor for Newsweek/TheDailyBeast.com Dimond covered multiple stories, including several high profile criminal trials. Among them: The Casey Anthony murder trial, the political corruption trial of former Senator John Edwards and the child molestation case against former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky.
In January 2013, Dimond turned her attention to the technological future of media. As part of the senior management team at The Video Call Center LLC she helped develop a whole new genre of television – one which marries social media with mass media. Utilizing a patented console, the VCC was designed after the call-in talk radio model where the host runs their own control board. VCC technology created live, host-driven, call-in talk television.
Guests and callers join the program by using their Smartphones or tablets to access IP video services (Skype, Facetime, etc.) and the mostly automated system allows the host to control all aspects of the program. With a punch of a button the host can introduce callers, bring in pre-loaded stills, videos and offer immediate access to everything on the internet.
In the Spring of 2016, Dimond’s third book, Crime and Justice – Thinking Outside the Box was released by Creators Syndicate. This compilation of Dimond’s most compelling opinion columns includes new text and commentary.
Diane is currently in the planning stages for her next book. The topic of which remains under wraps – for now.
Diane Dimond is one of the few journalists who can claim proficiency as a crossover media personality – proficient in radio, television, print and as the author of three books. She adores her cats, loves to be in the garden and lives in Rockland County, New York with her husband, Michael Schoen, a long time WCBS radio news anchorman and voiceover artist. They have one daughter and three grandchildren.
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Diane utilizes multi-media platforms to tell the crime and justice stories she finds so fascinating. Her nationally syndicated weekly newspaper column is distributed by Creators Syndicate and she maintains a column archive at her official website at www.DianeDimond.com.
Diane is a Special Correspondent for Newsweek/TheDailyBeast.com where she has reported on some of the day’s most headline grabbing crime related stories. Among them the trial of Casey Anthony, Senator John Edwards and former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky.
When there is a breaking crime story you can often see Dimond’s thoughtful commentary on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Court TV (TruTV) and other cable outlets. She’s been a substitute anchor on cable as well. Dimond is also an accomplished narrator and voice over artist and is the voice of the long running “Disorder in the Court” on TruTV.
Diane Dimond may be best known for first exposing then explaining to the world the child molestation charges against Michael Jackson. Dimond’s coverage of Jackson’s criminal trial was seen by millions on Court TV, NBC’s Today Show, MSNBC, Larry King Live and news outlets worldwide. Her book on Jackson, Be Careful Who You Love: Inside the Michael Jackson Case , published by Simon and Schuster/Atria Books and released in November 2005, is an explosive tome detailing Dimond’s exclusive revelations from 1993 when she first broke the story – to the case 10 years later when, once again, Dimond was the first to report on the sensational case against Jackson.
Diane’s second book Cirque Du Salahi – Be Careful Who You Trust (published by CreateSpace and available at Amazon.com,) delves into the shoddy journalism that catapulted the so-called “White House Gate Crashers” into the public square. The book provides an exclusive look at the couple at the center of the scandal, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, and dissects where the truth and the lies intersect in the saga. The book offers a scathing indictment of the Washington D.C. social/political scene as well as Reality Television – both those who appear in it and those who produce it.
Diane has been at the center of countless major news stories during her award winning career. She was the first to report the story of rape at the Kennedy compound in Palm Beach, Florida and to identify William Kennedy Smith as the accused. And Dimond has been praised for her hard-hitting interviews with a number of infamous prison inmates including: Pamela Smart, a school teacher serving a life sentence for enticing her high school lover to kill her husband; James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin of Martin Luther King Jr.; Jeffery McDonald, the convicted “Fatal Vision Killer”; Kenneth Bianchi, the convicted “Hillside Strangler” and Dimond is the only reporter to have ever interviewed Richard Allen Davis, the convicted kidnapper and killer of Polly Klass.
She began her broadcasting career in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At the fifty thousand watt KOB Radio she wrote and anchored the morning newscasts and her investigative series on corruption within the local sheriff’s department earned her the prestigious Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association.
In 1976, Dimond moved across the country to Washington, DC to anchor newscasts for National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” In 1980 she became Correspondent for the RKO Radio Network, assigned to cover Capitol Hill, the White House and various Washington agencies. She became the networks National Political Correspondent and covered the campaigns of both President Ronald Regan and his challenger Walter Mondale.
Finally making a move into television in 1986 Dimond’s first news job in television was at the flagship CBS Station in New York. At WCBS she earned several awards for covering such groundbreaking stories as the “Baby M” surrogate mother case.
Dimond made the move to syndicated television in 1990 when she became the investigative reporter for the program Hard Copy. Time Magazine cited Diane’s continuing coverage of the Michael Jackson story as among “The Best TV of ’93.” Dimond also made headlines when she acquired and aired the actual interrogation tape of OJ Simpson as he was being questioned by Los Angeles police detectives investigating the death of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman.
Dimond then moved to Warner Brothers where she anchored the nationally syndicated program EXTRA and made headlines with her expose of the deceptive practices of the Jerry Springer show, among other investigative reports.
In 1998, Diane moved back to the east coast and partnered with Geraldo Rivera to co-anchor CNBC’s nightly newscast, UpFront Tonight. Among other top-shelf stories she anchored extensive live reports from Washington on the impeachment proceedings against former President Bill Clinton. After moving to MSNBC Dimond hosted the series, “Missing Persons”, anchored major news blocks and, among other stories, covered the 2000 presidential campaign, traveling at various times with three of the candidates, George W. Bush, Al Gore and Ralph Nader. Dimond also became known as the correspondent who spent 35 straight days outside the Vice President’s residence in Washington as the nation awaited the final, controversial recount of the vote.
After the September 11th 2001 terror attack in New York City Diane anchored live programs on the Fox News Channel where she specialized in the network’s continuing coverage of the war on terrorism. Her live interviews with military and policy news makers were often quoted by other news organizations.
Diane Dimond lives in Rockland County, New York with her husband, fellow broadcast journalist and voiceover artist Michael Schoen.
Professional affiliations:
Member in good standing of:
American Federation of Radio and Television Artists
Director’s Guild of America
Screen Actor’s Guild
Friar’s Club of New York
