Andrew Meyer

Anchor, Reporter, Co-Host & Producer of WBGO Journal

Andrew has served as the afternoon drive news anchor since shortly after joining WBGO full-time in 1998. You can hear Andrew Monday through Friday, opposite afternoon jazz host Michael Bourne, where he provides regular updates on the news, sports, traffic and weather. When not on the air with Michael, Andrew works as a general assignment reporter with the WBGO news department. In particular, he has worked to develop a focus in his reporting which is of critical importance to the region: the battle to balance development with the preservation of open space.

"This is an issue which will shape how New Jersey looks in the future," says Mr. Meyer. "This state is the most densely populated one in the country. The decisions made about how our state grows over the coming years will have an impact on our quality of life, whether we enjoy the benefits smart growth can provide or whether we are strangled by unchecked development."

While at WBGO, Andrew has covered numerous stories on these issues: examining the New Jersey State Plan on development and redevelopment, the ongoing battles to preserve the state's remaining but dwindling open space, and efforts to reinvigorate the older urban core by channeling new development back into our cities and redeveloping abandoned brownfields.

He's also taken every opportunity to expand his knowledge in the field. In April of 2004, he was a fellow at the University of Maryland's Knight Center for Specialized Journalism in a program called "Cities, Suburbs and Beyond." In April of 2001, he received a fellowship from the National Press Foundation in Washington D.C. to take part in a special four-day forum on housing and development issues.

Before joining the news department at WBGO full-time, Andrew free-lanced as a reporter, anchor, news writer and producer in the New York metropolitan area. He worked for a number of stations on either a part-time or free-lance basis (including 1010 WINS, WNYC AM&FM, WOR-AM and New Jersey 101.5). Andrew has also worked as a stringer for various networks including NPR, ABC Radio and AP Radio. He continues to contribute spot news and feature stories to NPR.

Since joining WBGO, Andrew has received a number of awards, nationally from the Public Radio News Directors Inc. (PRNDI), and locally from the New Jersey Associated Press Broadcasters Association, the New York Association of Black Journalists, and the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He is a past president of the New Jersey Associated Press Broadcasters' Association.

Andrew was born in Louisville, Kentucky and holds the commission of Colonel in the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels. He and his wife, Page Sampson, currently live in Glen Ridge, New Jersey.