Mel Leavitt (né Mahlon Tirre Leavitt) was a local historian and broadcast journalist that served the New Orleans, Louisiana, market from 1949 until near the time of his death in 1997 at age 70. His 35-year broadcast career was primarily at WDSU-TV, a New Orleans television station. He was the first broadcaster of U.S. Senate Hearings, specifically the Kefauver Hearings, for which he earned the Raytheon Award. Leavitt married fellow New Orleans broadcast journalist Naomi Bryant.