As CTV's Los Angeles Bureau Chief, Tom Walters has reported from the Oscar red carpet, from the front lines of California's worst wild fires, and from ground zero of the H1N1 outbreak in Mexico. He has covered the recent devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Japan, several hurricanes, and the Gulf Coast oil spill. 

And his career at CTV has been just as varied. Since the mid-1990s, he has served in a number of senior positions, on and off camera.

For five years, as News Director at CTV British Columbia, he led the development of what is now one of the most respected news departments in Canada. During this period, CTV's Vancouver news team saw dramatic growth in audience and won some 30 major awards for journalism.

Prior to that, Walters spent four years as a national correspondent for CTV News; first in Toronto and then as bureau chief in Halifax. His coverage of the 1998 Swissair crash in Nova Scotia won a World Gold Medal at the New York Festival.

He is also the winner of a World Silver Medal at the same festival, a Canadian Association of Journalists award for Investigative Reporting, three national Radio and Television Digital News Association (RTNDA) awards, and seven Southern California Journalism Awards. 

He spent two years as a producer for CTV's current affairs program W5. And as a correspondent, he has reported for W5 on issues including the blood supply, aircraft wiring, toxic mould, and the aftermath of the Swissair crash.

Before joining CTV, he spent more than a decade in television news on the west coast, including two years in the B.C. Legislature Press Gallery and three years as an anchor in Vancouver. His work in local news earned a number of regional and national honours, including two Canadian Association of Broadcasters' Gold Ribbons and B.C.'s prestigious Jack Webster Award.

He is a past member of the Advisory Board of the UBC Graduate School of Journalism, the B.C. Region Executive of R.T.N.D.A., and the National Editorial Committee of Broadcast News.

On Twitter: @TomWaltersCTV