Melissa Long Signs Off

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One of the state’s most prominent news anchors has signed off for the last time. Melissa Long, whose television career has spanned more than 30 years, anchored her final newscast Thursday for our partners at 21Alive WPTA in Fort Wayne. The DePauw University graduate has been with the station since 1992.

During her farewell, Long said of her co-workers "as the front-person, I just hope that I’ve been able to represent the station in a way that makes all of you proud." Long continued "it has been my pleasure and my absolute joy to come into work with people like you and I will miss it very, very much."

Her professional media career began in the early 1980s at WGL radio in Fort Wayne. She move to the television side in 1984 as noon anchor of WKJG-TV, a Fort Wayne NBC affiliate. She came to 21Alive on a freelance basis in 1992 and began co-anchoring mornings two years later, before taking the lead seat evenings in 1995.

Long says she will continue to be an "avid viewer" of the station while "I sit at home and eat bonbons."