Marvin Bartlett has been a journalist for more than 40 years, recently completing a 32-year career as an anchor and managing editor for FOX 56 News in Lexington. During his tenure, he received 19 regional Emmy Award nominations for writing and reporting, winning five. He also received more than a dozen awards from the Associated Press and the Kentucky Broadcasters Association.
This fall, Bartlett is working for KET, where he will host several episodes of Kentucky Edition and moderate panels on the long-running public affairs program Kentucky Tonight.
On January 2, 1995, Bartlett became co-anchor of WDKY-TV’s FOX 56 Ten O’clock News, helping launch the newscast he would anchor for more than 31 years. His remarkable tenure cemented his place as one of the longest-serving and most recognizable news anchors in Lexington television history.
Before joining FOX 56 News, Bartlett worked for seven years as a reporter and anchor for WLEX-TV in Lexington. Prior to coming to the Bluegrass, he spent two years as the Eastern Kentucky bureau chief for WCHS-TV in Charleston, West Virginia, working from an office in Paintsville.
For the past 13 years, he has served as the reporter, writer, videographer, and editor of a weekly segment called Spirit of the Bluegrass—a true one-man band. He continues to share stories about interesting people and places in Kentucky on his Spirit of the Bluegrass Facebook page.
Bartlett has written three books, including The Joy Cart and The Boy Who Delivered Joy, which tell the inspiring story of Jarrett Mynear, a Central Kentucky boy who gained national recognition for collecting toys for patients in children’s hospitals while battling a rare form of bone cancer himself.
His third book, Spirit of the Bluegrass, was released in 2025 and features more than 80 of his favorite stories from the television series.
Bartlett has taught journalism classes at the University of Kentucky and Florida A&M University.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Marshall University and a master’s degree from Ohio University, where he also produced a nightly student-run newscast for WOUB-TV. While at Ohio University, Bartlett produced a one-hour documentary about the effects of longwall coal mining in southern Ohio as his thesis project.
He discovered his love of journalism in his hometown of Grafton, West Virginia, where he became editor of his high school newspaper and co-editor of the yearbook. Bartlett also worked part-time for a local radio station and interned at his hometown newspaper, The Mountain Statesman, each summer throughout college.
He has moderated debates, hosted telethons, and written columns for various publications, including Lexington Family Magazine. Throughout his career, Bartlett has also emceed numerous events, including the Miss Kentucky pageant and the Dream Factory gala. He remains active as a speaker and leader of storytelling workshops.
He and his wife, Elizabeth, have two children and live in Jessamine County.