Joy Purdy is a two-time, Emmy-award winning journalist, on the anchor desk with The Local Station co-anchoring the main evening newscast at 5, 6, 10 and 11 p.m. with Kent Justice.
Joy was born and raised outside Trenton, New Jersey, where her parents nurtured her inquisitive nature by having her watch and relay to them the morning weather report from the Today Show as her parents prepared for work each day.
Joy’s television career started shortly after graduating from Villanova University with a B.A. Degree in Mass Communications and a minor in Education.
After beginning her broadcast career in New Jersey at what was then NJN News (PBS), Joy’s strong journalistic reputation and contagious energy led her to Jacksonville, ultimately as a Weekend News Anchor and “Police Beat” Reporter for then CBS-affiliate WJXT from 1995 to 2000. During this time, Joy was awarded the Associated Press Individual Achievement Award for her work.
Before long, bigger markets began calling and in 2000, Joy accepted a noon and 5 p.m. anchor position with CBS-owned WFOR in Miami. Known in the news biz as the nation’s breaking news capital, Miami TV coverage sharpened Joy’s journalistic skills.
After getting married in the spring of 2006, Joy returned to Jacksonville in September of 2007 to be with her new husband. She then joined the First Coast News team (WTLV).
Joy left WTLV early in 2013 shortly after giving birth to her second child, to spend time with her young children. At the end of the summer, she was ready to get back into the world of journalism and was happy to turn to her first family in Jacksonville at WJXT in the Fall of 2013.
Joy was recently awarded her second regional Emmy Award for her news story bringing awareness to local first responders’ efforts to more easily find people who have cognitive disabilities and have wandered from home. She won her first regional Emmy for her personal news story that focused on overcoming her anxiety over bridges.
Joy, her husband and their children enjoy spending time together, whether it’s at the beach, traveling to new cities, or just hanging out at home in Clay County. Joy is also close with her stepdaughter who lives nearby in St. Johns County.
