Laura Moody is an American broadcast journalist best known as the morning news anchor for Good Day Tampa Bay on WTVT FOX 13 in Tampa, Florida.
She built her career across three television markets before joining FOX 13 in 2006, where she has anchored the station’s top-rated morning program for nearly two decades.
Who is Laura Moody?
Laura Moody is the weekday morning anchor for Good Day Tampa Bay on WTVT, the FOX 13 affiliate serving the Tampa Bay area.
She shares the desk with co-anchor Russell Rhodes, and together they lead the broadcast from 6 to 10 a.m. every weekday. The show covers local news, community features, sports, and weather for one of Florida’s largest media markets.
Before arriving at FOX 13, Moody worked as a journalist in Sarasota and Nashville, earning experience across different market sizes.
Her segments at Good Day Tampa Bay go well beyond hard news. She covers high school graduation stories, conducts interviews with children in the popular Kid Wit segment, and has taken part in military experiences at MacDill Air Force Base that few civilian journalists have attempted.
Laura also serves as co-chair of the March of Dimes’ March for Babies in Tampa and has served as emcee for the annual walk.
Her work with the organization reflects a long commitment to community service that runs alongside her broadcasting career.
Early Life of Laura Moody
Laura Moody grew up in Alabama, which she still cites as her home state. Her early years in the South shaped a grounded, community-oriented approach she later brought to her on-air work in Florida.
Details about her parents and siblings are not publicly confirmed, as Laura keeps her family background private.
After high school, she enrolled at Florida State University in Tallahassee, where she pursued a course of study that prepared her for a broadcasting career.
The university is one of Florida’s flagship public institutions, and many prominent Florida journalists got their start there.
Her broadcasting career began in Sarasota, not far from her college campus, giving her an early foothold in the Florida media market.
Laura Moody Age / Birthday
Laura Moody is 48 years old as of 2026, born on August 6, 1978. Her zodiac sign is Leo, a sign often linked with confidence and a natural affinity for the spotlight.
Both traits match the live television environment she has worked in for over two decades.
Laura Moody Ethnicity and Nationality
Laura Moody is American. She was born in the United States and grew up in Alabama, and her broadcasting career has been entirely within the American television market.
Her specific ethnic background is not publicly confirmed.
Laura Moody Education
Laura Moody attended Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, graduating with a degree that set her on the path toward broadcast journalism.
Her choice of school was practical as well as academic. Florida State sits in Tallahassee, and Sarasota, where she landed her first job, is well within the state’s media ecosystem. That geographic connection made her early career transition a natural one.
Her time at Florida State gave her both the skills and the regional network she needed to start working in local television almost immediately after graduation.
Laura Moody Career
Laura Moody has built one of the longer tenures in Tampa Bay television, anchoring the morning program at FOX 13 for nearly twenty years.
Her career path moved through three distinct markets before landing her in one of Florida’s most competitive broadcasting environments.
Early Career: Sarasota and Nashville
Moody started her television career at SNN, a Sarasota-based station owned by The New York Times Company.
The Sarasota market offered a strong entry point, and the New York Times ownership meant the station operated with serious editorial standards for its size.
From Sarasota, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, joining WKRN as a weekend morning and evening anchor. WKRN is Nashville’s ABC affiliate, and working there meant covering a significantly larger and more competitive market than Sarasota.
Her time at WKRN sharpened her live anchor skills across both morning and evening formats. By the time she left Nashville, she had the range to anchor in a major market.
Arrival at FOX 13 Tampa Bay (2006-Present)
Laura joined WTVT in 2006, starting as the weekend morning anchor alongside longtime FOX 13 personality Bill Murphy. That role gave her a foothold in the Tampa Bay market without the immediate pressure of a daily weekday anchor slot.
She transitioned to the weekday morning desk over time, eventually becoming the lead anchor for Good Day Tampa Bay alongside Russell Rhodes.
The 6 to 10 a.m. weekday block is the station’s flagship morning program, drawing a large daily audience across the Tampa Bay area.
Her tenure now spans nearly twenty years at the same station, a level of continuity that is rare in local broadcasting.
Signature Reporting and Segments
Some of Moody’s most distinctive work at FOX 13 has come through military access stories. The Special Operations Command’s Parachute Team took her 12,000 feet up for a skydive she describes as unforgettable.
More notably, she became the first female civilian to skydive from a CV-22 Osprey.
Her access to MacDill Air Force Base also led to rides aboard a KC-135 Air Refueling Squadron aircraft and a flight in a Blackhawk helicopter over the Bay Area.
She later flew with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, pulling 7Gs during the flight. That experience gave her an on-air perspective on military aviation that no script could replicate.
In 2008, she traveled to Philadelphia to cover the Tampa Bay Rays’ run through the American League Championship Series and into the World Series. She stood through the cold weather to the end of the series, and it remains one of her notable sports assignments.
Community Segments and Local Focus
Two recurring segments define Moody’s local identity at FOX 13. Good Day Grads tells the stories of high school seniors approaching graduation, covering themes like adversity, peer pressure, and students who fought hardest to earn their diplomas.
Kid Wit pairs her with second- and third-grade students in unscripted conversations, a segment she describes as one of her favorites for its unpredictability and genuine moments.
Both segments reflect a reporting style built around real people in the Tampa Bay community rather than only breaking news.
Laura Moody Husband
Laura Moody married Jim Previtera in 2015 after the two met in 2012. Their meeting reportedly came through her work, connecting with him in a professional context before the relationship developed.
Jim Previtera works in law enforcement and has served as an assistant chief with the St. Petersburg Police Department.
The couple married in the fall of 2015 after a few years of dating. Their wedding drew interest from Laura’s viewers in Tampa Bay, though detailed photos were not widely shared publicly.
As of 2026, the two remain married. Both continue to live in the Tampa Bay area.
Laura Moody Children
From her previous relationship, Laura has one daughter. She keeps her daughter’s name and details private, rarely discussing her personal family life in media coverage.
Jim Previtera has four children from his own previous relationship.
Together, Laura and Jim do not have any children from their marriage. However, the children from both sides of the family reportedly have a close relationship with one another.
Laura’s choice to keep her daughter out of the public eye reflects the broader approach she takes to her personal life, sharing her professional life freely while maintaining a clear boundary around her family.
Laura Moody No Wedding Ring
Laura Moody has appeared without her wedding ring on several occasions, and those moments drew attention from viewers and fans who follow her closely.
The appearances sparked questions about whether she and her husband had separated or divorced. Those questions have a clear answer: the two remain married.
Laura is still married to Jim Previtera as of 2026, and her ring-free appearances have no publicly confirmed explanation.
Wedding rings are personal jewelry, and many people go without them for any number of practical, medical, or personal reasons. No statement from Laura or the station has addressed the specific topic.
Laura Moody Net Worth
Laura Moody’s estimated net worth is $1 million as of 2026. Her income comes primarily from her long-running position as a morning news anchor at FOX 13 in Tampa Bay.
Morning anchor roles at established local television stations in major markets typically carry competitive salaries.
Laura has held the same position for nearly two decades, and her seniority at the station reflects a stable and continuing income from broadcasting.
Her community work, including the co-chair role with the March of Dimes’ March for Babies, represents unpaid civic commitment rather than a separate income stream.
Laura Moody Social Media
Laura Moody maintains a presence on both Facebook and Twitter, where she engages with the Tampa Bay community she covers each morning.
Her Facebook page at Laura.FOX13 connects viewers with her work at Good Day Tampa Bay and allows for direct engagement between broadcasts.
On Twitter, she uses the handle @LauraMoodyFOX13, which she has used to share coverage, community stories, and updates from the station.
Summary
Laura Moody has anchored Good Day Tampa Bay at FOX 13 since 2006, building one of the longer careers in Tampa Bay morning television through a combination of community-focused journalism and memorable field reporting.
Her marriage to Jim Previtera in 2015 and her close ties to Tampa Bay life have made her a recognizable and trusted figure in the market she has served for nearly two decades.
