Diane Dimond Biography

Diane Dimond is an American Investigative Journalist/Blogger/Author/Commentator/Columnist/Anchor working with NBC serving as a co-anchor for the nightly news. She is best known for reporting on the news of child harassment charges against singer Michael Jackson and the coverage of the resulting criminal trial. Dimond has served as a reporter for Hard Copy, NBC, Court TV, Investigation Discovery, Entertainment Tonight, and Plus.

Diane Dimond Career

Dimond works with NBC where she serves the station as a co-anchor for the nightly news. The Burbank, California native is the only child of Ruby and Allen Hughes. While she was attending Highland High School, she worked as a receptionist at KGGM, a CBS-affiliated station in Albuquerque. It was while working there that she became interested in broadcast journalism.

She kick-started her career working with KOB Radio working as a reporter where she was covering legal and policy matters. The year 1976 saw her win a Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association for her investigative news reports about the misappropriation of funds by the Albuquerque Sheriff’s Office. The year 1976 saw her move to Washington, D.C. where she was anchoring newscasts for NPR’s All Things Considered. Between the years 1980 and 1986, she was a congressional and political correspondent for the RKO Radio Networks.

The year 1986 landed her first on-air job at the flagship CBS station WCBS-TV in New York City. Over the next four years, she won several awards for high-profile scandals which include an investigative series on chromium poisoning in New Jersey, a Long Island child molestation case, and the Mary Beth Whitehead/Baby M surrogacy case.

The year 1990 saw him become the investigative journalist for the tabloid television news show Hard Copy. In her seven-year tenure, she also covered some of the most scandalous criminal cases in the country. Additionally, he was covering the O.J. Simpson case where she conducted interviews with Heidi Fleiss, Hollywood Madame; Pamela Smart, who was Strangler. She has also conducted interviews with Jeffrey MacDonald, the Green Beret Killer; Richard Allen Davis, murderer of Polly Klass, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassin.

Michael Jackson Case

In the month of September 1993, while she was working at Hard Copy, she reported accusations of an inappropriate relationship between Michael Jackson, and a young boy named Jordan Chandler. She would, later on, settle a lawsuit brought by the Chandler family, in an out-of-court settlement of more than $25 million dollars. However, criminal charges were never filed.

In the course of her investigation, she interviewed freelance writer, Victor Gutierrez, who claimed that he had a videotape of Jackson molesting Jeremy Jackson, Michael Jackson’s nephew. The year 1995 saw her being interviewed on a KABC-AM morning show, hosted by Barley and Ken Minyard where she repeated Guiterrez’s claims to have the video. It was later proven that Gutierrez had fabricated the story and that no video existed.

He subsequently filed a $100 million slander lawsuit against Dimond, Paramount Pictures Corp( producer of Hard Copy), and KABC-AM. This case was ultimately dismissed. He filed a separate case against Gutierrez winning a $2.7 million award for slander.

Dimond NBC

The year 1998 saw him move to NBC News partnering with Geraldo Rivera on UpFront Tonight, a CNBC nightly newscast where she co-anchored the broadcast and covered some of the high-profile stories of the time. This includes President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial. She went on to cover the 2000 Presidential election and Florida recount for MSNBC as a daytime anchor.

Later on, after leaving MSNBC in the summer of 2001, he began freelance working as an anchor for Court TV and after the September 11 2001 terror attacks as an anchor for FOX News “War on Terror” coverage. He has also served as a guest on-air correspondent for a variety of other shows and stations such as CNN.

Michael Jackson Criminal Trial

The year 2003 saw British journalist Martin Bashir release a documentary called Living with Michael Jackson which focused on the story of a young cancer victim, Gavin Arvizo, and his family died with Jackson in 2000. In the documentary, he described having sleepovers with Arvizo and other children. The documentary outraged viewers and launched a new investigation into allegations of child molestation.

In the wake of a new round of accusations against Jackson, she attained a promotion by Court TV to become their full-time Chief Investigative Reporter to cover the investigation and subsequent trial. It was during this time that she began writing about her decade-long involvement in investigating the case. Her book Be Careful Who You Love: Inside the Michael Jackson Case was released by Simon and Schuster/Atria in the year 2005.

In Jackson’s trial, Dimond became the focus of an intense stalking and harassment campaign orchestrated by Jackson fans who claimed that her coverage was biased and anti-Jackson. Despite getting a restraining order, the harassment continued. After Jackson was acquitted in 2005 and her contract with Court TV ended. She took a break from broadcasting, only appearing occasionally on TV as a special guest correspondent. The year 2013 saw her attend Gavin Arvizo’s(Jackson’s accuser in the 2005 trial) wedding. In their presence was also retired prosecutor Ron Zonen, who represented the state in the year 2005 trial.

Syndicated Columnist and Investigation Discovery TV

The year 2007 saw her begin writing a weekly column for the Albuquerque Journal. In the year 2008, her column was syndicated by Creators Syndicate and newspapers nationwide where she began publishing her take on crime and justice issues. Additionally, her work has been published by Newsweek, The Huffington Post, Women in Crime Ink’ covering high-profile criminal cases, and The Daily Beast which includes the Casey Anthony murder trial and the child molestation case against Jerry Sandusky.

Between the years 2008 and 2010 saw she appeared regularly on Disorder in the Court, a reality TV show where she provided narration to footage of shocking behavior inside real courtrooms, and as a regular contributing correspondent for CBS’s Entertainment Tonight. The year 2010 saw her release her second book, Cirque Du Salahi: Be Careful Who You Trust, the story behind Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the so-called White House gate-crashers.

The year 2015 saw him make her directorial debut in Theater Trial which later followed the trial of Aurora Colorado Movie Theater mass killer, James Holmes. Her third book Thinking Outside the Crime and Justice Box, a compilation of some of her most compelling opinion and case commentary and was released in 2016. In the same year, she also joined Investigation Discovery’s An American Murder Mystery TV series as a legal commentator, covering the cases of JonBenet Ramsey, Casey Anthony, Michael Peterson, Pamela Smart, and Chandra Levy.

She is working with Investigation Discovery’s AN ID Murder Mystery in order to cover headline-grabbing cases which include the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and real estate tycoon accused murderer Robert Durst. She is also conducting research for her next book, The Final Racket: How the US Justice System Cheats the Elderly.

Diane Dimond Age

Dimond is 71 years old. She was born on 15 November 1952 in Burbank, California, United States. She celebrates her birthday on 15th November every year.

Diane Dimond Height

Dimond stands at a height of 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m).

Diane Dimond Family

Dimond is the only child of Ruby and Allen Hughes. The family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where her parents owned and operated the Hughes Meat Co.

Diane Dimond Husband

Dimond’s first husband was Chuck Dimond, a news anchor with a daughter, Jenna. They divorced in 1974. Dimond married a television journalist, an anchor for CBS Radio News, and a voice-over Michael Schoen in January 1991.

Diane Dimond Net Worth

Dimond has an estimated net worth ranging between $1 Million – $5 Million which she has earned through being a journalist.

Diane Dimond Salary

Dimond earns an annual salary ranging between $40,000 – $ 110,500.

Diane Dimond Michael Jackson

In 2003, British journalist Martin Bashir published a documentary named Living with Michael Jackson, which focused on the story of a young cancer survivor, Gavin Arvizo, and his family who had been living with Jackson since 2000. Jackson mentioned getting sleepovers with Arvizo and other children in the documentary. The documentary outraged audiences and prompted a new investigation into claims of child harassment. Following a fresh round of charges against Jackson, Dimond was persuaded by Court TV to become their full-time Chief News Correspondent to cover the case and eventual prosecution.

It was around this period that Dimond started writing about her decade of participation in the prosecution of the case. Her book Be Careful Who You Love: Inside the Michael Jackson Case was published in 2005 by Simon and Schuster/Atria. During the Jackson trial, Dimond became the target of an extreme abuse and intimidation campaign organized by Jackson fans who alleged that Dimond’s coverage was unfair and anti-Jackson. Despite obtaining a restraining order, the harassment persisted. After Jackson was acquitted in 2005 and her contract with Court TV ended, Dimond took a break from television, only rarely featuring on TV as a special guest reporter.

The table below answers some of the frequently asked questions about Dimond.