Kentucky’s longest-serving news anchor to retire after 41-year career at WKYT
After more than four decades, WKYT Anchor Barbara Bailey announced Friday she would retire at the end of this month.
Bailey is currently the longest-serving anchor in Kentucky, according to WKYT.
“I have wonderful memories, and I’ve made great friends in my years here at WKYT,” Bailey said. “So when is the right time to hang up the mic and head home? There’s no perfect time. But this feels right. It’s been 41 years.”
Bailey announced her retirement at the end of the 12:30 p.m. news on Friday, wiping back tears.
“They are happy tears,” Bailey said.
The Harlan County native and University of Kentucky graduate started at the Lexington CBS news affiliate as a newsroom assistant in 1979. She quickly worked her way up the ranks and began anchoring in 1980. In 1984, she started anchoring evening newscasts with the late John Lindgren. During the last half of the 1980s, she was paired with Bill Bryant and Sam Dick and has continued to anchor with both ever since.
She has won numerous awards and is seen as a trailblazer for women in TV, friends and colleagues said. She was recently inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame. The Kentucky Broadcasters Association honored her with its Mic Hall of Fame Award in 2019.
“When I came to WKYT in 2006, I quickly learned that Barbara is an invaluable part of the station. Her passion for the station, its viewers, and the community was immediately evident,” said WKYT News Director Robert Thomas. ”For me, and I know for so many other people at WKYT, Barbara is a major part of what makes WKYT so successful. She’s an outstanding journalist and mentor to countless other journalists who walked through the doors at WKYT.”
In an upcoming special program called “A Conversation with Barbara Bailey” that will air at 7 p.m. on Sept. 19, her longtime co-anchors will highlight her work and most memorable moments.
Bailey’s last day will be Sept. 25.
Bailey said in a statement that she will miss her co-workers and the viewers. She won’t miss the hours. Bailey is married to Roger Cowden. They have two children, Courtney Cowden Woomer and Clark Cowden, and granddaughters Callie and Caroline Woomer.
“It is a team, and that’s what made this place so special all these years,” Bailey said. “Now, I want to spend quality time with my family which has been as supportive – and patient – with my career and the crazy hours that go with it, as one could possibly hope. I have two precious granddaughters. I’ll still have my friends at WKYT and, of course, the viewers I’ve met along the way. But I won’t be working holidays, and I don’t have to schedule vacations around ratings periods. It sounds very peaceful to me.”
Bailey is the second long-time Lexington news anchor to announce their retirement in the past two months. LEX 18 Anchor Kevin Christopher announced his late August retirement after spending 20 years at the NBC affiliate.
This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 1:00 PM.
