Anchor Leaving Tampa’s WTVT to Become Counselor

By Andrew Gauthier 

St. Petersburg Times

Some might say a local TV anchor-turned-mental health counselor wouldn’t have to leave the business to find plenty of clients.

But longtime WTVT-Ch. 13 anchor Kathy Fountain has decided to depart the station on Dec. 31 for full-time work as a counselor, capping a 30-year TV journalism career and 24 years at Tampa’s Fox affiliate.

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And she makes one thing plain, while discussing her departure from co-anchoring WTVT’s 5 p.m. newscast and hosting the noontime talk segment Your Turn.

In a media world filled with cutbacks forcing involuntary departures, this exit was entirely her idea.

After earning a master’s degree in mental health counseling and running a support group for women with fertility problems, the 59-year-old anchor decided the time had come to try working in the field full time. More…

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