Phyllis Smith

Phyllis Smith started working at WTAP on July 15, 2015. She grew up in Vienna and graduated from Parkersburg High School. She graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Communication Studies and a minor in English. While she was at Wesleyan, she interned at WDTV in Bridgeport. She was hired as a weekend reporter while she was still in college. Phyllis learned the ropes at WDTV and met some of her closest friends there.

Some of the biggest stories she covered at WDTV were a train derailment in Randolph County, the Elk River water crisis in Kanawha County, and when a man shot and killed four people in a drug deal gone wrong in Clarksburg. Two of the people shot and killed were a father and son that were delivering newspapers early in the morning that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. One of the most intense stories she covered at WTAP was the IEI warehouse fire in 2017. Thirty-nine fire departments worked for over a week to put out the fire, and it could be seen from miles away.

In 2021, Phyllis won second place for 'Best Anchor' in the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors contest. That same year, she won second place for 'Best Producer' in both the Ohio APME and the Virginias AP Broadcasters awards.

It was always Phyllis' hope she could come back home and work at WTAP. Being the 6 and 11 p.m. anchor is a dream come true for her.