The first female reporter to work at two major television stations in Louisville, Melissa Forsythe was known for her tough but fair approach, savvy judgment and work with reporters to improve their stories. She started in 1972 at WAVE-TV, which made her its first woman anchor. She built a large following, but it declined, and the station fired her in 1979. She went to WHAS-TV, defeating a legal challenge from WAVE when a judge said her no-compete agreement with the station was “industrial espionage which has no place in today's society.” She became a leading reporter and anchor at WHAS, the city’s top-ranked station, and greatly respected by her colleagues. She was press secretary to Gov. Paul Patton from 1995 to 2000. A native of Southern Indiana, she was a graduate of Indiana University. She died in February 2022, just before her 72nd birthday.