The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia

Susan Barnett
Official KYW-TV Photo
2008

Susan Barnett co-anchors Eyewitness News at 6 and 11 p.m. with Chris May. Barnett joined the Eyewitness News team in January, 2006 as a morning news anchor. Before being named to her current position, she has been filling-in as co-anchor for the station's 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts since January, 2008 and reporting for the station.

Since joining CBS 3, Barnett has distinguished herself with her outstanding field reporting including her award-winning coverage last November of the arrest of John Lewis in Miami for the shooting death of Officer Chuck Cassidy. Barnett was the only reporter to accompany Lewis on his flight back to Philadelphia, providing Channel 3 with exclusive video of the event.

Before coming home to the Philadelphia area, Barnett, a Bucks County native, had co-anchored the weekday morning newscasts in Miami at CBS-owned WFOR and its sister station WBFS since from October, 2003 until the end of 2005. Previously, she was also co-anchor of the morning news at KDKA, the CBS-owned station in Pittsburgh, where she had been on staff since 1999. Barnett began her career in television news at WDTV in Bridgeport, West Virginia. She had worked at WCIA-TV in Champaign, Illinois.

Along the way, Barnett's reporting has earned her numerous awards including a Pennsylvania Associated Press Award for an in-depth series of reports on area nursing homes statewide. She also distinguished herself with her outstanding anchoring during Florida's devastating hurricane seasons in 2004 and 2005.

Born on Tuesday, October 24, 1972, Barnett attended Harry S. Truman High School in Levittown, Pennsylvania. She was graduated from the University of Delaware in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communication with a minor in history.

Susan won the Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA title in 1990 and was a finalist in the Miss Teen USA pageant that same year. Six years later in 1996, Susan Barnett became Miss Pennsylvania, the first former Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA to win the Miss Pennsylvania title.

Susan Barnett and her husband, Dr. Greg Persichetti, a dermatologist and surgeon, reside in Delaware County. They have a son, Blase.

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com