NEWS1130

John is the writer and desk reporter on our morning show and pulls double duty as the morning news anchor for our sister station FM 104.9. He has worked in radio and television news, both on-air and behind the scenes, but still finds nothing beats the immediacy of the all-news format at News1130. John is one of several BCIT Broadcast Journalism grads in our newsroom and also holds a Bachelor's Degree in History from Simon Fraser University. 

Jason Benner graduated from BCIT in 2003. He started off in the radio business in Kamloops and Merritt before he made his way to News1130. He likes all sports including soccer, but considers hockey to be his favorite. Besides dishing up the latest in sports news, Jason is also a trained chef.

Reporter and anchor Shane Bigham has been with News1130 since 2001. A graduate of the Columbia Academy broadcasting program in Vancouver, Shane began his career in Port Hardy in 1997.

Tom has worked in radio and TV since 1969. He has done pretty much everything in the industry, including sales. Among the highlights of his career are covering Stanley Cup finals, the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics and the final journey of the Rick Hansen world tour.

Russ Byth has held many jobs in broadcasting since 1979, and a few times, changing them was HIS decision! Russ did the first business report when News1130 went on the air in 1996 and has been running with the 'bulls' and 'bears' ever since. Broadcasting from the affectionately named 'business hut,' he takes pleasure in breaking down so-called biz-speak to bring morning listeners the latest from around the world.

 It was in 2001 when Jolene realized radio was her calling. A huge passion for sports and news combined with always having something to say---she couldn't go wrong!  Born in Vancouver but raised in Burnaby, Jolene kicked off her radio mission at Columbia Academy in 2007. Shortly after graduating, she was hired to co-host the Afternoon Drive as well as anchor news and sports in the small town of Bonnyville, Alberta. Jolene then spent time in Edmonton anchoring and becoming an Oilers fan (just kidding!).  In September of 2009, she moved back to the stellar city of Vancouver and joined the team at News1130. When Jolene isn't talking news, she is either rocking out at a concert, lounging on the couch watching sports, dancing, rollerblading, or putting together her book of 'Free Thought.'

Afternoon drive editor, Bruce Claggett, is a BCIT journalism graduate and former faculty instructor who started his career as a summer announcer and feature reporter at Mountain FM in Squamish back in 1986. Since that time, he has been heard as a newscaster and reporter at CKCQ Quesnel, CFVR Abbotsford and CKNW Vancouver. He has also worked in the film industry, taught high school in Vancouver and earned degrees from UBC in Education and Geography. In 2006, he received a Jack Webster Foundation Poynter Institute Fellowship.

Richard has been a part of the Lower Mainland radio and TV news scene since the 1970s. He has been a reporter, anchor, news director, talk show host and editorialist. He joined News1130 when it went on the air in 1996, as an editor before moving to business reporting in 1997. After leaving broadcasting in 2000 he "came home" to News1130 in 2004. He's also frequently seen doing business reports on the Global BC Morning News. Richard is available to speak to your company or organization about business, the economy and personal finance. His fees are donated to charity.

Chad was born and raised in the Lower Mainland. He graduated from Columbia Academy in June of 2008. Shortly after that, his radio career started in Williams Lake before he joined the team at News 1130 in July 2009. He enjoys sports of all kinds and manages a beer league hockey team in Delta.

Born and raised on the Lower Mainland, Jill graduated from BCIT's Radio Broadcasting Program in 2007. Soon after graduation, she finally decide to leave the Vancouver area, working as a news reporter in the Kootenays. She joined the News1130 team as a writer in February 2008 and is glad to be back in Vancouver, despite all the rain. On her time off, Jill loves to take advantage of the amazing snowboarding conditions offered locally. She also enjoys all things music, including the piano, which she used to teach.

Reaon got his start at News1130 in the spring of 2002, as an intern from BCIT. After getting hired on full-time a few months later, he spent a couple years as a beat reporter on evenings and weekends before becoming a member of the station's highly-rated morning show. In the fall of 2008 he made the big switch to the anchor's chair on our midday show. You can now hear Reaon on News1130 Morning Show, from 5:30AM to 9:00AM, Monday to Friday with Dianne Newman. When he's not reading the news, Reaon enjoys watching movies, entertaining friends at "Chateau Ford", playing video games, passionate conversation, wandering the city, reading, and playing the guitar (albeit poorly).

Rob is a 2001 graduate of the Applied Communication program at Camosun College in Victoria. After an internship at TSN in Toronto in 2002, Rob returned to BC for a job at Peace FM, an independent radio and TV station in the small, Peace-region town of Chetwynd where he garned a wealth of experience. He's now very happy to be in the Big City!

Irfaan started at News1130 in the summer of 2007 after working with Corus Radio. He attended BCIT taking classes directed towards broadcasting and journalism then found himself infront of a mic soon after. When not doing Traffic and Weather Together on the Ones Irfaan can be heard filling in on the sports beat. As an avid sports fan Irfaan loves soccer, hockey, football you name it he'll play it.

Jim is our Afternoon Drive reporter and court specialist. He covers big stories like the Robert Pickton serial trial and Air India trial. He started with News1130 when it first went on the air in 1996. Jim has won several provincial and national reporting awards for stories ranging from high speed police chases to homeless people staying in fire-prone abandoned buildings. He has been a media law instructor at BCIT and a news and sports instructor at the Columbia Academy of Broadcasting. Jim's hobbies include singing, playing guitar and driving his Porsche.

Roberta Graham has worked at News1130 for three years as a technical director, writer and anchor. She graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and English Literature. She also earned a diploma in Broadcast Journalism from BCIT. Roberta loves figure skating, riding horses and dancing, especially salsa, and she also enjoys taking acting and painting lessons.

Sabeen was born and raised in Vancouver and  loves this scenic city.  A graduate from Columbia Academy,  she is very excited to a part of the News1130 team.  Her favourite part of the job is talking to the listeners with traffic tips on the phone.  Before she got her start in radio at CHUM, she enjoyed studying political science and cultural anthropology at Douglas College. When Sabeen isn't watching the Vancouver Canucks or Montreal Canadiens games, she can be spotted at local picnic and hiking spots, and concerts. 

Mike's duties include Technical Director, Website editing, Writer and Reporter. Mike couldn't resist the lure of the mountains and moved to Vancouver in 2005 after working in radio and TV sports in Toronto. Mike worked at CFNY and CFRB in Toronto, then moved to TSN, and The Weather Network as a producer and writer, before leaving the "big smoke" behind. Mike is a competitive curler and also enjoys hiking, biking, skiing and slo-pitch.

Evan has been with News1130 for three years, previous to that he travelled the world with his wife and tried really hard to make it in the music biz!! No such luck -- news would become his next passion. He started out as an anchor with News1130 and now enjoys the editing spot. He's a graduate of BCIT's Broadcast Journalism program.

Born in Victoria, Russ is a BC native. Aside from his childhood years in New York, Russ has lived in the Lower Mainland his entire life, graduating from Prince of Wales High School before moving on to study geophysics and meteorolgy at UBC. Russ has worked in the field of meterology for nearly two decades, including stints as a weather observer at the Vancouver international Airport, a lighthouse keeper on the Queen Charlotte Islands, a forecaster for Environment Canada and now as a broadcast meteorologist for News1130. Russ lives in Surrey with his wife and two sons, and spends much of his spare time coaching minor sports.

Kim Larsen has been with News1130 since our all-news radio station began on February 8, 1996. He's the afternoon voice of "ground control" in Vancouver's most listened-to Traffic reports. Kim has been working in radio as an on-air personality since 1983.

This broadcasting veteran of 30+ years comes from BCIT's Broadcast Journalism program, circa 1970-something. The pride of Richmond High School, "Donny" has been a DJ, anchor, news reporter and sports reporter. He covered the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics as well as four CFL cities, three NHL cities including radio broadcasts of the Calgary Flames, and has interviewed the likes of Pierre Berton to Frank Zappa. Also heard on Jack FM and fm1049--but they all send him back to News1130...much to the bosses disgust!

Mike has been with News1130 since 1997. He started in radio co-producing a live talk show about sex, love and relationships.  After dealing with the lovelorn, the weird, and the dysfunctional, he says he naturally drifted into the newsroom. Born in Vancouver and raised on Vancouver Island, he has a love for the beauty of the West Coast and its people. You will catch Mike "On the Offbeat", putting a humourous twist or human face on the stories of the day. Mike is the winner of the 2007 RTNDA Dave Rogers Award for short feature for his work on "On the Offbeat". He also had a stint at Mountain FM in Squamish and Whistler as afternoon newsie and co-host.

Erin Loxam finished her broadcast journalism diploma at BCIT by working at News1130. She was brought into the newsroom as an intern in late 2007 and hasn't left yet. Erin is originally from Edmonton where she has a degree in Economics from the University of Alberta. She travelled as far as Lithuania and Greece before settling in Vancouver. In her spare time, Erin enjoys photography and all sports that aren't baseball.

Alex Lyons joined the News1130 team as an evening traffic anchor in 2007. Alex began his broadcast career in 1997 as a news anchor and reporter at CKRX-FM in Fort Nelson. He returned to Vancouver late in 1998 and was hired by AM 1040 radio. After two years of technical production and on-air duties, Alex moved on to Corus Entertainment in Vancouver, where he was part of the traffic team for almost seven years, providing studio and airborne traffic reports for both CKNW and brother station AM730. Born in New Westminster and raised in Surrey, Alex is a proud graduate of the BCIT broadcast program.

After attending BCIT in Burnaby, Andrea Macpherson began working in radio in 2005 as a Swing DJ, News Reporter, and did a fair amount of production at CKCQ Quesnel. In 2006 she became the afternoon anchor/reporter at CIGV Penticton, and in May 2007 moved back home to the Lower Mainland where she's currently an Anchor/Reporter at News1130 here in Vancouver.

Yes, she's that Dianne Newman.

Born and raised on the Lower Mainland, performance has played a big part her life. Following years of roaming, singing and acting, she danced into a career in radio in at Mountain FM in Squamish in 1986, spinning 'records' and reel to reels. Dianne decided to concentrate on news and the next stop was 1040-KICKS in Vancouver. She joined the Rogers family in 1992, first as a beat reporter and news anchor for CKWX and KISS-FM. When News1130 was launched in 1996, Dianne was part of the team and currently co-anchors the morning show. Off the air, she spends a lot of time working out, volunteering, is a big supporter of the Royal Canadian Legion and especially enjoys karaoke.

Dean is enjoying his second tour of duty with News1130. After a brief career detour into the world of public relations, he has returned to the newsroom where it all happens. He comes prepared with a Communications degree from SFU, a Broadcast Journalism diploma from BCIT and more than a decade of industry experience in the Okanagan, Vancouver Island and here in Vancouver. Dean spends most of his free time with his wife and three kids. He also finds time to volunteer as a minor hockey referee and is a member of the BC Chapter of the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Geoff Rohoman comes to News1130 out of Toronto, where he's spent time at The Fan 590 and AM640 Toronto, after completing the journalism program at Humber College. Geoff started out anchoring news on the overnights and has now moved into the Sports anchor position on the News1130 Morning Show. A huge sports fan, Geoff is the butt of many jokes for his alliances in the sporting world. (Hint: His team has never celebrated a Stanley Cup win in his lifetime.)

Born in Vancouver, and raised in East Van and Gibsons, Scott began his broadcasting career in Williams Lake in 1979.  After stops up and down the radio and TV. dial in Kamloops, Vernon , Kelowna, Saskatoon, Victoria, Sechelt and Nanaimo, Scott couldn't be happier to return home to News1130. Scott was once a stunt double for Robert Clothier's character "Relic" on the old Beachcombers TV show but says his strangest sports experience was broadcasting rodeo live on the radio at his first radio station in the Cariboo.

A graduate from Langara College's Journalism Diploma Program, Katharine first ventured into the world of print journalism with Metro Vancouver Newspaper. However, her interests in radio lead her to Corus Radio Vancouver and eventually to News1130 as a traffic anchor, writer and technical director. When she's not working Katharine spends time with her two loves: music and playing with her West highland Terrier, Asta.

Ann's career kicked off in the Bow Valley in Alberta as the community reporter for Mountain FM in Canmore and Banff. She covered a variety of things from local news, sports, traffic updates, town council meetings, downhill skiing, concerts - you name it. It was the best experience, allowing her to soak up a ton! Next stop, five months later, The Fan 960 and 660 News in Calgary came calling. Providing the sports updates was the gig, but, she wanted the chance to get out and cover games, practices and talk with the athletes and coaches. The sports reporting position opened up at News1130 and without hesitation she was on her way to the left coast! Ann has never looked back and doesn't plan on doing so!

Raised in Victoria, Sheila studied political science and creative writing at Camosun College before making the transition to Vancouver to study Broadcast Journalism at BCIT. Sheila joins the NEWS1130 newsroom after spending 5 months reporting and anchoring at CFAX 1070 in Victoria. When she isnt chasing news stories Sheila enjoys exploring the city, reading, and snowboarding.

Since 2003, airborne traffic reporter Kim Seale has been working double duty doing weekday mornings and afternoons on News1130 and Jack FM. Kim took her first steps in radio between 1990-1992 at Vancouver's CKXY AM 1040. Then, for 11 years, she could be heard on interior radio stations talking about road conditions and closures from the BC Highways emergency radio room. She lives with her son, Troy, and cat, Gin Gin.

Tamara’s favourite stories to tell are those that explore how real people are affected by events, trends, and government decisions. She studied urban geography at UBC where she became fascinated by the social, economic and environmental issues that help determine a city’s liveability. Today she honours her love for storytelling as a reporter with News1130's morning show. She is also a proud Big Sister with Big Sisters of BC.

A proud graduate of BCIT's Broadcast Journalism program, John began his career in 2001 at CJIB in Vernon as news anchor and reporter. He also provided colour commentary for Vernon Vipers hockey broadcasts. Later that year, John moved back to his hometown of Vancouver, accepting a position as evening/overnight anchor at News1130. John is currently the evening editor.

Connie joined News 1130 as mid-day editor in November 2007 following stints as an anchor, reporter and host at CKNW, CFCW Edmonton and the GoldenWest Broadcasting network in Southern Manitoba. This Prairie girl enjoys Vancouver's mild climes, and is a devotee of John Fluevog cowboy boots and vinyl records.

Karen was born in Southern England and moved to Canada with her family at the age of four, where her mom, dad, sister and she moved around quite a bit before finally settling down in Port Moody. Karen is a huge sports fan(GO Canucks!)and she loves to play softball every summer and fall. Karen says, “All of my friends and family are not surprised that I'm in the 'radio business' as I really like to talk- A LOT!”

Andy has been in broadcasting for 56 years, starting out in Cornwall, Ontario, at CKSF in 1951. There were stops in Sault Ste. Marie and Ottawa, before heading to Montreal, his home town, where he spent 15 years at CJAD. In 1969 Andy had an opportunity to go to Vancouver, BC, as news announcer for CHQM-AM-FM. Packing the family treasures, along with six kids and wife Bea, the family settled down to west coast living, in Richmond, and has never looked back. Andy took over News Director duties, shortly after his arrival and spent 25 years at CHQM. He can be heard on the weekend as morning News Anchor at News1130, and has been at it for the past ten years.

Amanda has been at News1130 since February 2007. She previously spent time at CHUM Radio Vancouver, while attending Columbia Academy. She is working at News1130 as a news anchor, and does traffic reporting as well. When she's not at work, you can find her spending time with friends and her two dogs, Madison and Mikey!

Dave grew up on the South Coast, living in both Vancouver and Victoria.
He joined News1130 as a reporter in early 2009, after studying Political Science at the University of Victoria, and Broadcast Journalism at BCIT.
When not chasing stories, Dave enjoys music, live shows, travelling, and good friends... but experiences withdrawls if not connected to at least one newswire at any given time.

Bruce was born and raised in greater Vancouver. He started in radio back in 1979 and after a short time in some small markets, Bruce made the move back to Vancouver in 1981. He worked at CKLG, CFMI and JR-FM. In 1996, Bruce was already working at CKWX when it switched formats from country to all news, and he stayed on as a traffic reporter. Bruce makes attempts at golf(that doesn't mean he enjoys it)and also likes Nascar, NFL, and hockey. He also has a secret desire to be a part-time donkey salesman.

Ben Wilson has been an anchor at News1130 since February 2001 after leaving BCIT's Broadcast Journalism program. Ben reads the news on weeknights with Tom Bricker and is a backup anchor for the midday and afternoon shows. When not at work, Ben is usually golfing or chasing the roulette ball at River Rock.

Treena has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from UBC and her diploma in Broadcast Journalism from BCIT. Treena signed on to News1130 when it was created in 1996 and has since worked as an anchor, editor, reporter, business editor and writer. Treena spends her free time shopping, going to movies and volunteering with Girl Guides of Canada, leading the 1st Como Lake Sparks. She loves reading and hates raisins and olives. She lives in Port Moody with her husband, daughter and two cats.