Joel Connable

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Joel Connable (born 1973) is a news reporter, private pilot, and former paramedic, from Long Island, New York. He currently works as anchorman of NBC's television channel 6 in Miami, Florida.

Joel Connable grew up in Roslyn, New York on Long Island. Joel was adopted in 1973 in New Orleans, Louisiana by his parents who lived in New York. Joel grew up in Roslyn Estates and attended the Roslyn Public Schools. His father is a writer and used to be the speechwriter for the president of Columbia University in New York. His mother is avidly involved in politics and is also a writer. His parents met at the University of Michigan where they were both students. Joel Connable's brother is an Arabic linguist and a Major in the United States Marine Corps.

Joel Connable's great grandfather, Alfred B Connable gave Henry Ford the money to start building the Model T. Joel Connable is also related to Barber Conable, the former US Congressman and former President of the World Bank.

Connable was an editor on his high school newspaper, The Hilltop Beacon. He was almost suspended during his senior year for publishing a story about the lack of fire extinguishers in the high school. Joel was known for fighting censorship by the school's adminstration to make sure stories made the front page for students. Joel attended University of Southern California, studying broadcast journalism at the Annenberg School for Communications. Joel also studied at Tulane University in New Orleans and Columbia University in New York.

Joels first broadcasting job was as a newscaster with CBS affiliate, WLTX in Columbia, South Carolina, doing a segment called the Restaurant Report Card in South Carolina where he reported the state health inspection scores of restaurants across the state. It became one of the most popular segments on local television in the State. Joel also handed out one Golden Spatula every week to the one restaurant the received the highest grade. Today there are over 200 Golden Spatulas hanging in restaurants around the Midlands of South Carolina. He also did a segment called "Big Money Monday" where he traveled with the State Treasurer to notify people that they were owned money by the State. In the weekly segment, Joel brought the 82 year old State Treasurer with him to surprise people at their homes that they were owed thousands of dollars by the State of South Carolina. In an article, the State Treasurer said the segment helped win him re-election. Joel worked in a special consumer unit called, "The On Your Side Team," where he and another reporter, named Adam Murphy, answered calls about rip offs and scams and helped people get their money back or helped to notify the public about bad businesses. The On Your Side Team turned News19's ratings around after years of being in second and third place.

After three and a half years at News19, Connable was hired at CBS2/KCAL in Los Angeles, California. He spent three years there as a reporter and then in 2005, Connable moved to WTVJ, the NBC affiliate in Miami as a consumer/investigative reporter, weekend anchor. He also serves as a fill-in anchor for Early Today on NBC News in New York and as an anchor for MSNBC. There has been speculation of Joel leaving NBC6, and accepting a job with the national news network, MSNBC, full time. Though Joel has mentioned that there is a possibility of this, he hesitates due to an ongoing relationship and a required move to New York.

Connable has always been known for his casual style of delivering the news. One newspaper reporter described it as "a friend telling you a story without all the formality of normal newscasters."

Connable earned several Emmy awards for reporting. He was also honored by the Los Angeles Press Club and the Associated Press for his breaking news and feature reporting.

Prior to entering journalism, Connable worked as a paramedic for the Nassau County Police Department. Connable worked on a one person ambulance where he worked alone and was assisted by police officers on emergency calls. The Nassau County Police Department operates the only full-time EMS service in Nassau County. He also volunteered as a paramedic in Nassau County, New York for a local ambulance corps.

Many people don't realize that Connable has Type I diabetes. He carries an insulin pump with him 24 hours a day to stay alive. He has had diabetes since he was 13 years old. Joel Connable was named as Volunteer of the Year by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in 2005 for his work to help find a cure to the disease.