Joy Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News. Prior to joining The Dallas Morning News, Joy worked as a co-op for The Boston Globe and interned with Washington Monthly, The Delaware News Journal, and Philadelphia Magazine. Joy majored in Social Studies at Harvard University and wrote a senior thesis on religious liberty and evolving interpretations of the First Amendment. They also served as an executive editor, Arts Chair, and magazine staff writer for their student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. In 2023, Joy was named a finalist for the Society of Professional Journalists’ cultural criticism award for their arts criticism at The Boston Globe. Outside of work, Joy loves dancing, camping, and getting lost in a good TV show.
Beat: Faith and religion in North Texas
This beat fills a coverage gap that stretches across every community in North Texas, which has it all: Evangelicals, mega-churches, other Protestant faiths, Catholicism, Judaism, Hindu, New-Age and more. Faith—personal conviction, community stewardship, church affiliation, trust, religious values, the value of life, etc.—is complex. Our goals are to cover religion in ways that reflect how people and communities actualize their beliefs in everyday life.
