Former Syracuse radio host Chris Barnes dies at 66, colleagues mourn

Chris Barnes, a former Syracuse radio host and news director whose 45-year broadcasting career stretched from local newsrooms to national networks, died Tuesday night at age 66.

Barnes was briefly news director at NewsRadio 570 WSYR in Syracuse, arriving in September 2010 to run the station’s newsroom after leaving Fox News Radio for personal reasons. He later moved on to CBS as part of the launch team for All News 99.1 WNEW in the Washington, D.C. area, leaving behind a short but notable chapter in Central New York radio.

His final Facebook post, made Monday, said, “I had a good run...”. Hours before he died, Barnes posted a publicly viewable video saying he was on his 10th day in the ICU and facing multiple serious health problems, including liver and kidney failure and a fatal blood infection. He said doctors had told him to get his affairs in order.

Tributes from colleagues and friends began appearing on Facebook after his death, including from Bill Ali of The Jim Reith Show Unleashed podcast. The outpouring reflected the reach Barnes built over four and a half decades in broadcasting, and the personal ties he maintained with the Syracuse radio community long after he left town.

Barnes’ role at WSYR carried added significance in a market where the station has deep roots. Syracuse University Libraries says WSYR first broadcast in 1922 as WMAC in Cazenovia before moving to Syracuse in 1928 and adopting the WSYR call letters. That history placed Barnes inside one of the oldest radio institutions in the region during a period when local news on the air was still a defining part of daily life for listeners across Onondaga County.