A 40+ year veteran of broadcast journalism, Cynthia Smoot is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and passionate animal advocate. During her 25-year career at top-rated FOX 13, WTVT-TV in Tampa, Florida, she became known for her stories on animals and animal issues. 

Some of those stories include the famous “Winter the Dolphin” at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Cynthia followed Winter from the time she arrived as an injured baby, through the development of her amazing prosthetic tale, the people she touched along the way, movie stardom, and finally, her untimely death and enduring legacy.

40+ Year Veteran Of Broadcast Journalism

Cynthia
    Smoot

She also followed some of the area's most notorious animal cruelty cases, including "Casper," a boxer that was nearly starved to death, from the day he arrived at the county shelter to the day he went home with his new adoptive owner. She also reported on the issue of unwanted pets, receiving a coveted Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Green Eyeshade award for her hard-hitting report that showed euthanasia at a county shelter and the reality of what happens to animals surrendered and picked up as strays.

Several of her stories included threats to Florida’s native wildlife. She traveled to the Everglades to report on the growing threat of Burmese pythons, and to Boca Grande, where invasive spiny-tailed iguanas are pushing out threatened gopher tortoises and eating native birds.
Cynthia received a prestigious Emmy award in 1998 for "A Real Life Horse Whisperer," the story of Monty Roberts, who helped revolutionize horse training with his non-violent methods. She recently reconnected with Monty on Horsemanship Radio in a podcast hosted by his daughter, Debbie Loucks. You can listen to that podcast here.

Before coming to Florida, Cynthia was a main anchor at FOX 8, WGHP-TV in the Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem area of North Carolina where her focus was children. She produced and reported “Wednesday’s Child,” a feature dedicated to finding families for children in foster care. She received numerous community awards for her reporting on issues relating to foster care, adoption, infant mortality, and teenage pregnancy. She also traveled to Panama and Ecuador with the North Carolina chapter of “Operation Smile,” to report on life-changing surgeries on children with facial and limb deformities. 

Cynthia grew up in Yorktown, Virginia, and received her B.A. in communications from James Madison University. She currently lives in Tierra Verde with her husband, Bill, their adopted greyhound, “Karma,” and adopted cat, “Bo.” She is also the adopter of a bit of “living history,” her mustang, “Dream,” whom you can also follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.