About Me

My name is Caleb Barnes and I am a multimedia journalist at LEX 18 News.. 

I love following Jesus and I love racing. Growing up as a pastor's kid, my family has moved around a number of times. Originating in Kentucky, I've lived in Florida, Virginia, and Arkansas. 

While in Florida, I encountered racing for the first time and became hooked on loud engines, burnt rubber, and the smell of gasoline. Since, I have desired to pursue a career in racing, in media, or in both. 

My family spent six years in Virginia, and we moved to Bryant, Arkansas just before I started high school. I graduated as salutatorian from Bryant High School, growing in my faith and work ethic through those four years.

I went to college at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA (Go Flames!) with little to no clue what I wanted to do. I double majored in Strategic Communications and Digital Media: Sports Journalism to hone my media skills. 

During that time, I learned a lot about live production in a studio. I am familiar with the Adobe Creative Cloud, especially Illustrator, Photoshop, Premiere, and Audition. I also know my way around a camera to do photo and video, and I wrote articles for The Liberty Champion as well, covering a few NASCAR races for the site (and for a few school projects).

Utilizing my skills, I created a couple platforms for myself. On Twitter, I make phone wallpaper images based on weekly NASCAR paint schemes and have amassed over 2,500 followers for my page @nascarwallpaper. At school, I created a meme account to have fun and at one point grew it to over 10,000 followers.

After college, I worked an incredible internship with Educational Media Foundation in Nashville, TN. You may better know their platforms, such as KLOVE Radio and Air1. I was with the KLOVE On Demand division, and I worked multiple live events with Christian artists - including KLOVE Live at Red Rocks. Through this, I received credits and saw my name scroll twice on the big screen in movie theaters.

I also became connected with a group of freelance racing reporters at Frontstretch.com. I began as a behind-the-scenes video editor, but quickly grew into multiple writing and podcast hosting roles, covering a few  races for the site.

In 2024, I was offered an on-air position at LEX 18 News in Lexington, KY. Getting to be back in my Old Kentucky Home was an incredible opportunity, and I've had many fun moments getting to hone my storytelling and videography skills, even getting to go live for our Sunrise morning shows and covering the infield at the 151st Kentucky Derby.

I pride myself on my work ethic and work quality, but I certainly want to have fun in whatever I do. I love adding in a little of my personality into anything I create, and I learned some of this through my time running my pages and also through being a camp counselor. 

In everything I do, I make it my goal to glorify God, give my best effort, have fun, and make others feel welcome and encouraged.