Susan Barnett (born October 24, 1972) is an American television news anchor. She spent five years at

KYW-TV KYW-TV (channel 3), branded as CBS Philadelphia, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division alongside WPSG (channel 57 ...

as co-anchor of the 5, 6, and 11 P.M. newscasts and is a former

beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes so ...

from

Levittown, Pennsylvania Levittown is a census-designated place (CDP) and planned community in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area. The population was 52,699 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

who competed at Miss Teen USA 1990 and Miss USA 1996.

Pageantry

At age 17, Barnett won the Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA title and competed in the 1990

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant that has been run since 1983 by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19 years old as of January 1st of the competition year. They must be US citizens, and cannot have been married, pregnant, or ...

pageant, broadcast live from

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...

on July 16, 1990. She placed first in the swimsuit competition and was a Top 6 finalist in the nationally televised pageant, won by

Bridgette Wilson Bridgette Wilson Sampras (born September 25, 1973) is an American former actress, singer, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Teen USA 1990. She began her career in acting, playing the character of Lisa Fenimore on the soap opera '' S ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. In her "Parade of States" introduction, Barnett stated that after college she wished to travel the world and start a career in

fashion merchandising Fashion merchandising can be defined as the planning and promotion of sales by presenting a product to the right market at the proper time, by carrying out organized, skillful advertising, using attractive displays, etc. Merchandising, within fashio ...

. Six years later, Barnett became Miss Pennsylvania USA 1996, the first former Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA to win the Miss title. She represented her

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

in the 1996

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020. ...

pageant held in

South Padre Island, Texas South Padre Island is a resort town in Cameron County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Brownsville, Texas, Brownsville–Harlingen, Texas, Harlingen Brownsville-Harlingen metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population w ...

, obtaining the 15th highest preliminary score. The pageant was eventually won by Ali Landry of

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, who had also been a semifinalist along with Barnett in Miss Teen USA 1990.

Journalism career

Barnett attended Harry S. Truman High School in

and graduated from the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication with a Minor in History. Barnett is a six time Emmy Award winning Journalist. She began her television news career in Bridgeport, West Virginia where she worked as a reporter and anchor for WDTV. Her first morning news role was for WCIA in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in ...

. She joined the staff of CBS-owned

KDKA-TV KDKA-TV (channel 2), branded CBS Pittsburgh, is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division alongside WPKD-TV (channel 19), a ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

in 1999 as the morning and noon co-anchor. In 2003 she was one of a team who received the "Golden Quill" award from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania for Best Television Public Affairs/Documentary. She then moved to Miami where she co-anchored the weekday morning newscasts at WFOR and its UPN sister station WBFS after joining the station in October 2003. Barnett left Miami to join

in Philadelphia on January 2, 2006. In April 2008, she became the full-time weekday evening co-anchor, replacing

Alycia Lane Alycia Lane (born May 10, 1972) is an American television journalist. Until October 2013, she served as weekday morning News presenter, anchor at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. From September 2003 until January 2008, she was co-anchor of the weekday eve ...

. Barnett's contract expired at the end of March 2013 and left the station for good a month later. In 2016 and 2017, she has done television commercials for Pennsylvania-based law firm Kline and Spector.

Personal life

Barnett is married to Greg Persichetti, a dermatologist and surgeon. They have two sons, and one daughter. Barnett currently lives in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

References

External links

Official Miss Pennsylvania USA & Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Susan 1972 births Living people Television anchors from Philadelphia Philadelphia television reporters 1990 beauty pageant contestants 20th-century Miss Teen USA delegates KDKA people University of Delaware alumni People from Levittown, Pennsylvania Miss USA 1996 delegates Journalists from Pennsylvania American women television journalists 21st-century American women