Big City TV News Reporter To Join CT Station

CONNECTICUT — Boston's loss is Hartford's gain in television news.

Veteran television news reporter Sam Smink, who is wrapping up her tenure at WHDH in Boston, will join Hartford's WFSB on Aug. 8 as the station's new chief investigative reporter, she announced on Facebook.

"I'm happy New England will still be my home and I can't wait to start fighting (figuratively of course) for the communities of CT," Smink wrote. "Thank you to the viewers of WHDH for being so kind to me - I hope you stick around. And if you know anyone in CT looking for someone to investigate their story, send them my way!"

The Laurel, which was the first to report about the move, called it a bit "unusual," because television reporters typically use a Hartford station as a springboard to larger, metro stations.

But as she said, Smink is staying in the Northeast, not that far from Philadelphia where she grew up.

Smink joined WHDH in November 2019, after several years in West Palm Beach and Fort Myers, Florida, according to her WHDH bio. Before her southern tenure, she was an anchor/reporter in Elmira, New York.

While in Florida, Smink reported on unsafe food being delivered to day care centers, which helped lead to a change in the state's health policy.

She also reported on allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation inside Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, which led to the firing and forced retirement of three top chiefs, according to her bio. Smink's investigations also looked into the deaths of two veterans inside the West Palm Beach Veterans Administration Medical Center while under government watch.