Prior to 1982, Dicker was a state government reporter for the Albany Times Union, a morning daily newspaper owned by the Hearst Corporation.
He broke the story in November 1976 of alleged Latvian war criminals hiding in the U.S., naming Vilis Hāzners, an upstate New York resident, based on official Latvian publications and Hazners' mention by name to Gertrude Schneider on her visit to Latvia.
[5] A 2005 New York Observer story on Dicker stated that he is a "political institution in his own right" and his reporting "regularly drives news coverage".
[7] In addition to his newspaper work, Fred Dicker also hosted a talk show from 1997 to 2018 on WGDJ in Albany and WVOX in New Rochelle.
He abruptly ended the radio show in November 2018 due to a family illness and his relocation to Florida.