Joe Fryer

Joe Fryer is an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist and national news correspondent, recognized for his versatility in television news reporting and feature anchoring. Fryer anchors the morning hours of News NOW and serves as a feature anchor for segments such as "PopStart" on "Saturday Today." A graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Fryer earned a Bachelor of Science in journalism and has been inducted into the school's Hall of Achievement.

Fryer began his career at local stations including WKYT-TV in Lexington, Kentucky; WBAY-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin; WTVF-TV in Nashville, Tennessee; KARE-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and KING-TV in Seattle, Washington. He joined NBC News part-time before becoming a full-time West Coast correspondent. At KING, Fryer focused on in-depth reports and daily assignments, covering stories such as the Amanda Knox verdict, the historic vote approving same-sex marriage, the Skagit River Bridge collapse, and a high-profile kidnapping case in San Diego.

Fryer has covered major national news events, including the Oso mudslide, the Isla Vista shooting rampage, and deadly flooding in Colorado. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fryer relocated to New York City to help launch a morning news streaming broadcast, anchoring from 7 to 11 a.m. ET and expanding his contributions to the network's platform. Fryer is part of Today's weekend lineup, appearing alongside Laura Jarrett and Peter Alexander on "Saturday Today," and also serves as an anchor and correspondent reporting for "Today," "Nightly News," and MSNBC.

Fryer's journalism has been recognized with multiple honors, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards, 19 regional Emmys, 11 regional Murrow Awards, two National Headliner Awards, and three Sigma Delta Chi Awards. He received the NLGJA Journalist of the Year Award from the Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists for his contributions to LGBTQ+ media coverage, as well as a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Television Journalism in the news segment category for his report "HIV/AIDS: 40 Years Later."

Beyond his on-air work, Fryer is a prominent voice on issues of identity and authenticity in media. He has spoken about the challenges he faced earlier in his career as a gay journalist, and his openness has resonated with audiences and colleagues. His professional contributions extend to mentorship and education in inclusive journalism; he developed a storytelling course as part of a training program for aspiring journalists, where he teaches narrative writing techniques. Fryer's career is defined by journalistic rigor and a commitment to human-centered storytelling in broadcast journalism.