WLFI’s Jeff Smith, signing off. A Q&A

A conversation with Jeff Smith, longtime anchor and familiar presence for 40 years in Greater Lafayette news, as he signs off for the last time.

• Thanks today for ongoing help from Based in Lafayette sponsor Long Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Lafayette, presenting comedian Luenell Oct. 18. For tickets for the show and details for other events, go to longpac.org.

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WLFI’S JEFF SMITH SIGNS OFF. A Q&A

At the close of Friday’s 6 p.m. newscast on WLFI, former West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis pulled TV18 anchor Jeff Smith in for an embrace.

“Can we tell the stories about how we first met?” Dennis whispered on air, just after he and current Mayor Erin Easter read a proclamation live to mark Smith’s final broadcast.

“Later,” Smith said, laughing. (And, as co-anchor Marlee Thomas suggested, “not with the microphone.”)

Smith has been reporting long enough in Greater Lafayette, starting in 1984, to take in a time when Dennis was a beat cop, now a retired Lafayette Police Department deputy chief and another 16 years as mayor in West Lafayette. The stories Dennis had in mind, no doubt, would have had some on-the-scene, insider moments that probably would have been better discussed over beers than on the air.

Jeff Smith, right, with co-anchor Marlee Thomas, during his final shift Friday at WLFI. (Screenshot: WLFI broadcast)

Smith’s been a familiar presence on TV and a piece connective tissue in local media to older administrations and different looking place. Not quite what Dennis had mind, maybe, but here’s a conversation with Smith on his way.

Question: Why are you leaving?