Rik graduated from Durham College with an Honours Degree in Journalism and worked as a police and courts reporter at The Durham Post, Thompson Newspapers at The Lindsay Post as well as an on-air reporter for CHEX television before coming to The Port Perry Star in 1997 as a staff reporter/photographer covering police, municipal government and education.
_Rik was a founding staff member of The Uxbridge Star and has written for The Toronto Star, Blue Line (the national police magazine) and Education Today.
_While at Durham College he won the Ontario Community Newspaper Award for student writing for his coverage of the Gagnon Sports Store murder trial.
He also won the OCNA National Newspaper Award for news photography in 2006 for coverage of the fatal fire on Crandle St. in Port Perry.
_Rik led the core group of people who formed The Scugog Standard seven years ago.
_The paper has since grown to the largest independently owned weekly newspaper in Durham Region and has been awarded numerous national and provincial newspaper awards in the fields of news coverage, editorial cartoons, paper promotions and advertising design. The Durham Regional Police Service, the OPP and MADD have all presented commendations to the paper for it's promotion of their activities and The Standard has twice won the Mothers Against Drunk Driving media award for their poster designs in the ads for this group.
_The Standard is the driving force behind the North Durham Food and Toy Drive each Christmas, The Chrome by the Lake Classic Car show which raises funds for the local museum and the Annual Easter Egg Hunt which draws over 1,000 people to downtown Port Perry each Easter Sunday.
_During the recent Postal Strike Rik was interviewed on CTV NewNet about the problems facing independent papers and The Standard has been featured on CFTO News and Breakfast Television.
_His weekly column, Standard Transmissions is read by over 10,000 people weekly and his news team has recently begun to expand in the area of specialty publishing.
_He has interviewed three Prime Ministers, Two Premiers and one Oscar Winner as well as numerous people who think they are one of the above.