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

KYW-TV KYW-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside CW affiliate 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 that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

from

Levittown, Pennsylvania Levittown is a census-designated place (CDP) and planned community in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The population was 52,983 at the 2010 census. It is above sea level. Though not a ...

who competed at

Miss Teen USA 1990 Miss Teen USA 1990, the 8th Miss Teen USA pageant, was televised live from Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, Mississippi, on July 16, 1990. At the conclusion of the final competition, Bridgette Wilson of Oregon was crowned by outgoing ti ...

and

Miss USA 1996 Miss USA 1996 was the 45th Miss USA pageant, held at South Padre Island Convention Centre on South Padre Island, Texas culminating in the final competition and crowning on February 2, 1996. At the conclusion of the final competition, Ali Landry o ...

Pageantry

At age 17, Barnett won the

Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA The Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Pennsylvania in the Miss Teen USA pageant. This pageant is independently conducted and produced by Proctor Productions based in Cincinna ...

title and competed in the 1990

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on Fox and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on the Mis ...

pageant, broadcast live from

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

on July 16, 1990. She placed

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

in the swimsuit competition and was a Top 6 finalist in the nationally televised pageant, won by

Bridgette Wilson Bridgette Leann Wilson Sampras (born September 25, 1973) is a former American actress, singer, model, and Miss Teen USA award winner. Wilson began her career as an actress after being crowned Miss Teen USA in 1990, playing the character of L ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. 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

to win the Miss title. She represented her

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

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– Harlingen Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,066 at the 2020 census. The town is located on South Padre Island, a bar ...

, obtaining the

15th 15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 (number), 14 and preceding 16 (number), 16. Mathematics 15 is: * A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and . * A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky ...

highest preliminary score. The pageant was eventually won by

Ali Landry Ali Germaine Landry (born July 21, 1973) is an American actress, model, and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1996. She played Rita Lefleur on the UPN sitcom '' Eve'' and was the Doritos Girl in a 1998 Super Bowl commercial. In 1998, ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, who had also been a semifinalist along with Barnett in

Journalism career

Barnett attended Harry S. Truman High School in

and graduated from the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

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 Bridgeport is a city in eastern Harrison County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 9,325 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Clarksburg micropolitan area. The town of Bridgeport had its beginning in pre-American Revolutionary W ...

where she worked as a reporter and anchor for

WDTV WDTV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Weston, West Virginia, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for North-Central West Virginia. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Clarksburg-licensed dual Fox/ CW+ affiliate W ...

. Her first morning news role was for

WCIA WCIA (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Champaign, Illinois, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Central Illinois region. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Springfield-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WCIX ...

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

. She joined the staff of CBS-owned

KDKA-TV KDKA-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Jeannette-licensed CW affil ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

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 anchor at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. From September, 2003 until January, 2008, she was co-anchor of the weekday evening newscast ...

. 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 Dr. Greg Persichetti, a dermatologist and surgeon. They have two sons, Blase and Steele, and one daughter, Cruise Theresa. 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