Melissa Dart joined WDSU as news director in January 2021.

Dart joined WDSU from WPTV/WFLX, the NBC/Fox duopoly in West Palm Beach, Florida, where she served as assistant news director since 2018.

Dart built her career in a number of large Florida markets. She began as a producer at WTXL in Tallahassee, before moving to WPEC in West Palm Beach as a producer. Later, Dart moved to WFTX in Fort Myers as an executive producer and then to WTSP in Tampa, also as an executive producer. Dart eventually returned to West Palm Beach joining WPTV/WFLX and serving as managing editor before becoming the assistant news director.

Dart has been fascinated with local news and weather since elementary school. After graduating from the University of West Florida with a B.A. in Telecommunications and Film, she returned to the classroom to further pursue her passion at Florida State University and received a B.S. in meteorology.

Dart has covered hundreds of local and national stories; highlights include the production of more than 60 hours of continuous coverage during Hurricane Irma and serving as an executive producer for coverage of the Republican National Convention in Tampa in 2012.

While at WPTV, Dart led an award-winning investigation team whose groundbreaking stories include the Emmy winning special “The Making of Filthy Rich: The Epstein Story”, a revealing investigation into the case against Jeffery Epstein, based on the book co-authored by Palm Beach resident James Patterson and the subsequent Netflix documentary. WPTV teamed with Patterson and Netflix to provide details on the case and to give a voice to Epstein’s alleged victims.

In 2019, under Dart’s leadership, WPTV investigated the cost of health care in south Florida. This Emmy award-winning series helped several residents who were over charged for health services have their bills completely paid for by their insurance companies.

Though a Florida native, Dart has strong ties to New Orleans; her family lives close by in Slidell, Louisiana.