Joyce Peterson is the main anchor of abc24 News at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
She joined WPTY-TV/WLMT-TV in July 2006. Prior to that, Joyce was the weekend morning anchor and education reporter for WMC-TV.
Before moving to Memphis, Joyce was an anchor and reporter for WSIL-TV in Carterville, Illinois. Her career began in 1992 as the weekend anchor for WHIZ-TV in Zanesville, Ohio.
Joyce’s work has been recognized by the Mid-South Emmy chapter with nominations for best live reporting and for her series of live reports from Oklahoma City after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Joyce and the abc24 News weekend team also received a nomination for best weekend newscast in 2008, when Joyce provided live reports from San Antonio, Texas during the Memphis Tigers trip to the finals in the NCAA tournament. The abc24 team received another best weekend newscast nomination in 2009 for a broadcast that included Joyce’s live coverage from Gulfport, Mississippi during Hurricane Gustav.
Joyce is extremely proud of her accomplishments as the Mid-South’s leading education reporter. Her work has been honored by The Associated Press, the Tennessee Education Association, the Tennessee School Boards Association and the National Education Association. The NEA presented Joyce with the prestigious Advancement of Learning Through Broadcasting Award for her series titled: “Failing the Fitness Test”, one of the first in-depth looks at how budget cuts forced schools to eliminate physical education classes.
Joyce received a bachelor’s degree in mass communication with a political science minor from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
She is deeply committed to visiting Mid-South schools, stressing the importance of education and providing mentoring to young people. She also donates countless hours to local charities and organizations.
Joyce is married to Emmy-award winning meteorologist Ron Childers. They have one daughter, Emily, who attends the University of Memphis. And they have one dog and two cats. They are rescue animals from local shelters and the Memphis-Shelby County Humane Society.
