Westwood One News Names Anchors

Westwood One Monday announced that its new customized news product--Westwood One News, a next-generation, full-service news network powered by CNN—has added four news anchors to its expanding, award-winning news team.  Dirk Van, Molly Paige, Evan Haning, and Barbara Kusak will be behind the mic when the new service launches at the end of the year.  Dirk will cover AM drive, Evan will do mid-days, and Molly and Barbara are anchoring PM drive and evenings.

"We are thrilled to launch Westwood One News with some of the industry's most respected and best sounding anchors,” said Bart Tessler, Westwood One’s EVP, News and Talk. “Following up on our announcement of award-winning beat reporters, these broadcast journalists will enhance our product and add substantial power to our winning team.”

Dirk Van

Westwood One News, which launches at the end of the year, was created to offer stations greater flexibility and local branding opportunities. Stations have the option to select one to five minute newscasts based on needs and preferences, allowing them to integrate network news into their local operation.  Westwood One News will include special reports, correspondent two-ways, newsmaker sound bites, live feeds of breaking news events, and other elements that affiliated stations have come to expect from Westwood One as a respected network news provider.  Westwood One owns, manages, and operates Westwood One News.

• Dirk Van is the host of Westwood One's First Light and The Week in Review and previously anchored newscasts for NBC News Radio.  Dirk traded a career in physical anthropology for broadcast journalism when he became news director of WGCH, Greenwich, CT.  He graduated to the "Big Apple" as a reporter for WCBS and then News Director of WHN.  Dirk is now in his 25th year at the helm of First Light and going strong, having won numerous awards from the International Radio Festival, Ohio State University, and other prestigious organizations. 

Molly Paige

• Molly Paige is celebrating her two-year anniversary with Westwood One's news operation in Washington, DC.  For most of her career, Molly has been a news director and/or anchor at multiple stations in L.A, including KCBS, KRLA and KABC. She has also enjoyed her time in Santa Barbara at alternative rocker KTYD and in Indonesia with the first American Jazz station in Jakarta, Radio Trijaya.. Most recently Molly has been an anchor/writer and producer for NBC News Radio and regular substitute host for Jim Bohannon on America in the Morning. 
• Evan Haning has been on the air in Washington, DC for 30 years.  For nearly a decade, he was a reporter and anchor for WTOP, one of the leading all news stations in the country. Most recently, he anchored afternoon drive for CBS's WNEW-FM since it launched in 2012.  At WRC-AM in the 1980's and '90's, he worked alongside some of the most interesting talk radio personalities in America.  After more than seven years behind the scenes and behind the mic on the internationally-syndicated Dr. Gabe Mirkin Show, Evan began filling in for Westwood One's Jim Bohannon on America in the Morning and for Dirk Van on First Light.
• Motor city born and bred, Barbara Kusak got her start in news in Detroit. She was a reporter and Sunday talk show interviewer and producer at WCSX. She went on to work for the CBS all-news station WWJ as an anchor and reporter.  Barbara ventured into TV as a writer at MSNBC in New York City and then served as an anchor and writer for Metro Networks. Later she worked for Fox News Channel as an Associate Producer and at 1010 WINS as a writer and assignment editor. A family move took her west, where she was a reporter and anchor, helping to launch all news KDWN in Las Vegas. While living in the Southwest, Barbara's love for writing led to a monthly chef's feature for InStyle and 101 North magazines.  

For more information, contact Jim Jones at jimjones@westwoodone.com or (202) 895-2339.