During his time at NBC affiliate WRC-TV Johns won an Emmy Award for his coverage of the violent efforts of the Nation of Islam to cleanse the neighborhood of drugs.  Johns has been honored with two National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence awards. First, in the year 2005, for his report on the lynching survivor James Cameron and then again, in the year 2007, for his feature piece about environmental justice. The Emmy award winning team at CNN for the Election Night coverage in 2006 also credited Johns for his contributions to the coverage. Johns was a member of the Peabody Award winning team for the 2008 election coverage as his team was voted Best Political Team on television.  Joe Johns’ team at NBC Nightly News won the Edward R. Murrow award for the reporting on the Beltway sniper attacks.

Notable Assignments

Johns has reported on several debates related to legislation covering events on Capitol Hill, the White House and the Pentagon. Johns has also reported on or narrated documentaries about the anthrax mailing attacks in 2001 and on allegations of voter suppression fraud in national elections. Johns worked through the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11 as well as reporting on United States Supreme Court developments such as Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s retirement and the demise of Chief Justice Warren Rehnquist. Johns covered the Africa tour of then President Clinton and also the seven nation visit of first lady Hillary Clinton to Central Europe. He also attended the first boot camp scheduled for war correspondents at the Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia. Because of his legal expertise Johns has recently contributed to CNN’s coverage surrounding the Affordable Care Act and the controversy surrounding the National Security Agency due to electronic monitoring.

In 2016 Joe Johns did an interview with Capitol Standard where he spoke about the lessons he has learned by being in the media. He was quoted as saying “Be skeptical of hype. People who tell big lies don’t back down, even when confronted with the truth.” This quote could be construed as fairly revealing considering the amount of time Johns has spent covering American politics. In that same interview, conducted by Margaret Greco, Johns was asked about the reasons behind his success and if he followed and pre-interview rituals. Johns stated: “The only ritual I can think of is preparation. The more prep the better.”

In addition to his reporting work, Johns is also the president of the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association and the former chairman of the Correspondents of Congressional Radio and Television Galleries’ executive committee. He is also a board member of the Yeager Scholars at Marshall University and the Howard University School of Communication.

Johns tells people to block out the trolls and naysayers in their life as those types of people are a waste of time. He recommends that if you are considering a career in media that you must understand where the business is going and that you must position yourself to be your own personal corporation. His time in the trenches has show him that trust can only be earned and that accurate information has a way of making people angry at you. Joe shows the wisdom that he has collected over the years when he says: “The first version of the truth that you hear is seldom accurate, but information has a way of correcting itself over time.”