FOX 56 News Team
Jennifer Nime Palumbo: Anchor
Jennifer Nime Palumbo is the co-anchor of the Fox 56 Ten O'Clock News. Previously she was the anchor of the Fox 56 Morning Edition which airs weekdays from 7-8 a.m. Jennifer grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio where her passion for journalism began in high school as editor of the school newspaper. She studied broadcast journalism at Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism graduating Phi Beta Kappa. After college she headed to London, England to work for ABC News as an assignment desk assistant.
In 1994 Jennifer returned to the U.S. where she landed her first on-air job at the CBS affiliate in Hazard, Kentucky. There she was an anchor of the morning news, as well as a reporter, videographer and producer. Jennifer came to Lexington in 1995 to work for WKYT-TV. There she worked her way up from weekend producer to co-anchor of the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts. During that time she also spent six years on the Fox 56 Ten O'Clock News with Marvin Bartlett.
In 2005 Jennifer decided to take a break from TV news to spend more time with her family. She is married to Joe Palumbo, and they have two children. In 2007 she returned to TV news for the launch of the Fox 56 Morning Edition. In 2009 she was reunited with Marvin Bartlett on the Fox 56 Ten O'Clock News.
Jennifer enjoys giving back to the community as a volunteer with Jarrett's Joy Cart at Kentucky Children's Hospital, the Lexington Dream Factory and Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital. She also is a member of the Junior League of Lexington.
Barbara Bailey: Anchor
Barbara Bailey joined the Fox 56 Morning Edition as co-anchor in August 2012. The native of Harlan County, Kentucky has had a life-long interest in current events. In high school, she worked on the yearbook and newspaper staff.
Barbara started her college career at the University of Kentucky as a music major, in performance piano. She says, "When my advisor told me it was time to 'get serious' about a major, journalism seemed the obvious choice. While I was still in school, I wrote for my hometown newspaper, The Harlan Daily Enterprise, over summer vacation. I was hooked. I did an internship at the UK Public Relations office, and at WTVQ-TV."
When Barbara was a student at UK's Graduate School of Communications, she taught beginning journalism classes at UK and got her first break at WKYT in 1979.
Since then, she's done stints as morning anchor, noon anchor, evening anchor, education and crime beat reporter, producer, and even backup weather person.
Barbara and her husband, Roger, have two children, Courtney and Clark. She has served on the boards of several charities, Big Brothers/ Big Sisters of the Bluegrass, The Kidney Foundation of Central Kentucky, The Ronald McDonald House, Bluegrass Tomorrow and the Center for Women, Children and Families.
Marvin Bartlett: Anchor
Marvin Bartlett has been a co-anchor for the Fox 56 Ten O’clock News since its start on January 2, 1995. Since then, Marvin has won three regional Emmys for news writing and reporting and in his career, he's won more than a dozen reporting awards from the Associated Press.
Marvin is a native of Grafton, West Virginia. He's a 1983 graduate of Marshall University, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism. In 1985, he completed requirements for a master's degree in journalism at Ohio University.
After working for his hometown newspaper and radio station and then at the public TV station at Ohio University, Marvin's first job in commercial television was in Paintsville, Kentucky. There he served as the Eastern Kentucky Bureau Chief for WCHS-TV in Charleston, West Virginia.
In late 1987, Marvin moved to Lexington to work for the NBC affiliate, where he worked his way up from videographer/reporter to weekend anchor and then morning anchor.
Marvin’s wife Elizabeth works for the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation. They have a son, Cooper, born in 2006 and a daughter, Eliza, born in 2008.
Marvin has also taught at the University of Kentucky School of Journalism. In 2002, he wrote “The Joy Cart,” a book about an inspirational young cancer patient he met while on the job. He’s a member of Southern Hills United Methodist Church. In his spare time, his interests include golf, photography and travel.
Bill Bryant: Anchor
Fox 56 Morning Edition co-anchor Bill Bryant grew up in Williamsburg, Kentucky.
Bill and some classmates started a newspaper and sold it on the streets when they were in the 5th and 6th grades. By the time he was 14, he started hanging out at the local radio station, where he was allowed to read announcements and pull wire copy for newscasts. When he was 15, he was given a regular shift on WEZJ radio, playing country music and doing local news. A year later, the managers started a cable TV station, and Bryant produced and anchored the news while also playing basketball and serving as class president.
He attended what is now the University of the Cumberland's and continued working in radio and TV and then transferred to Eastern Kentucky University where he earned a degree in broadcasting and political science.
The summer before his senior year at EKU, Bryant did an internship with WKYT in Lexington. He was supposed to be there just for the summer, but has remained there for more than 25 years. Bryant has anchored every show at WKYT at one time or another, as well as the long-running "Kentucky Newsmakers" program. In the fall of 2009, he added to his duties by becoming the co-anchor of the FOX 56 Morning Edition.
Bryant is a member of EKU's "Hall of Distinguished Alumni" and the Williamsburg High School "Hall of Fame." He's also been recognized by The Associated Press and is proud to have been a part of newscasts honored with Emmy and Communicator Awards.
He is active helping Kentucky Children's Hospital raise money and in recent years helped spearhead an effort to build a downtown community park in his hometown.
For fun, Bryant likes to work out, go boating and read. He especially likes to read about Kentucky history and the national political scene.
Brian Milam: Sports Anchor
Fox 56 Sports anchor Brian Milam was born and raised in Louisville and attended Butler High School.
While at Butler, he played baseball and football, helping the lead the Baseball Bears to the 1992 region title. He attended Morehead State University on a baseball scholarship, setting several school records for most hits and most at-bats in a career. The team won the 1993 OVC Baseball Championship.
Brian went to MSU hoping to become a high school history teacher and baseball coach, but got involved in the TV program and has worked in a newsroom ever since.
His first job after college was at WYMT-TV in Hazard, Kentucky, where he stayed for 12 years as a news anchor, sports anchor and, eventually, sports director. "I love eastern Kentucky a great deal and the people at WYMT and in the mountains helped mold me into the person I am today," he says.
Brian loves doing play-by-play. "I have been behind the microphone for Morehead State football and basketball games, high school sports of every kind, but the biggest thrill I received came from the KHSAA. From 2006-2008, I did the television play-by-play for all 16 state football finals!"
Brian became the primary sports anchor for FOX 56 in late 2011 and also reports for WKYT-TV. His nightly "Fox 56 Sports Extra" is the most comprehensive sports segment on Lexington television.
Chris Bailey: Chief Meteorologist
Chief Meteorologist Chris Bailey returned to Lexington in March 2012 after working three years at a TV station in Huntington, West Virginia. He first worked at Lexington's WKYT from 1997 to 2008 and was the first co-host of the FOX 56 Morning Edition in 2007-08. He's now seen weeknights on the FOX 56 Ten O'clock News.
Born and raised in Salyersville, Bailey started at WKYT in 1997 as an intern while still a student at Morehead State University. After earning his bachelor’s degree, Bailey became a full-time associate producer, helping do everything from writing news stories to printing and sorting scripts for anchors.
But Bailey’s passion was always weather.
“It was one of those situations you read about but never think will happen to you,” Bailey said about how he received his big break. “WKYT had an opening for a meteorologist and asked me to make a tape of myself doing a weather segment. They watched the tape, and I was hired the next day to do weekend weather.”
Bailey also graduated from the meteorology program at Mississippi State University. He is a member of the National Weather Association and the American Meteorological Society.
Bailey started his broadcasting career at a young age. While in the fifth grade, a flood hit his hometown of Salyersville and he did a live phone report describing the conditions.
“Weather has been in my blood since I was a kid,” Bailey said. “I got the opportunity to become a weather watcher for my old friend, Brian Collins, and which really set me on the path I’m on today.”
Bailey is an avid University of Kentucky Wildcat fan. When he's not on air doing the weather, you’ll likely find him at his computer updating his blog (kyweathercenter.com).
Bailey and his wife Scarlett have a nine-year-old daughter.
Micah Harris: Meteorologist
Meteorologist Micah Harris joined the Fox 56 Morning Edition in October, 2012 after working for a television station in Montgomery, Alabama. Harris grew up in a small town just outside of Birmingham and says he learned to appreciate how quickly weather can change by experiencing just about every condition in Alabama.
“April 27, 2011 is a day that a lot of us can remember no matter where you live,” Harris says about the day a record 62 tornadoes hit the state.
“It was definitely surreal and puts a knot in my stomach every time I think about it," says Harris.
“Now that I am in this beautiful city called Lexington, I can already feel a difference in the air,” says Harris. “My wife and I are extremely excited to call Lexington our new home." He says he looks forward to covering big snowfalls, something he didn't see much of while working in the south.
Before working in Montgomery, Harris was a meteorologist at KTEN in Denison, Texas. He studied meteorology at Mississippi State University.
Harris says he is often gets asked what is the best part about his job. “Meeting people is always my answer,” he says. “I really enjoy meeting and speaking to people, so if you ever see me around please come up and say hello."
FOX 56 News Team
Jennifer Nime Palumbo
Barbara Bailey
Marvin Bartlett
Bill Bryant
Brian Milam
Chris Bailey
Micah Harris
Tonight on FOX 56
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10-11p Fox 56 Ten o'clock news