Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter Mike DeForest has been covering Central Florida news for more than two decades.
When Mike was 5 years old, his grandfather introduced him to broadcasting by handing him a microphone and a tape recorder. A few years later, Mike ran around his neighborhood in the Chicago suburbs with his family’s bulky VHS camcorder, shooting movies with his friends.
Mike studied broadcast journalism at the University of Southern California. While in Los Angeles, he was mentored by some of the biggest names in television news. Mike's first big assignment was covering the OJ Simpson case. On weekends, Mike put his voice to work navigating tourists past animatronic hippos on the Disneyland Jungle Cruise.
Mike began his career at KAAL-TV in Austin, Minnesota, better known at the birthplace of Spam. The highlight of the year was covering the annual Spam Jam festival. He then reported for WRCB-TV in Chattanooga, Tenn., where Mike fell in love with the mountains, the barbecue, and the woman he'd later marry.
Mike joined News 6 just as Florida officials began counting hanging chads in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election. Since then, Mike has covered some of the biggest news events in Central Florida, from hurricanes, to shuttle launches, to the trials of Casey Anthony and George Zimmerman. But what Mike loves most about his job is meeting the memorable people who make Central Florida one of the most interesting and exciting places in the country.
Mike lives in West Orange County with his wife April and their two boys.
You can email Mike and follow him on Facebook and Twitter via the links below.
