Around Town Panelists

Joe Barber

Joe Barber, a native Washingtonian, has worked as an entertainment reviewer and cultural critic for a variety of Washington-area and national broadcast and print outlets for 20 years. He has been a panelist on WETA TV 26's award-winning arts review program "Around Town" since 1994.

Barber is the entertainment editor for WTOP AM/FM and appears once a month to discuss films on WHUT TV's "Evening Exchange with Kojo Nnamdi." Barber reviews television programs on "Talking TV" on WBIS AM in Annapolis, Maryland. Barber's weekly column The Current Scene appears in the Northwest and Georgetown Current newspapers. He is a senior reviewer for the Web-based Reel Images Magazine, which covers the arts and popular culture from an African-American perspective. His reviews can also be found online at www.dcmovieguys.com, a site he founded with fellow film critic Bill Henry.

Barber's prior credits include reviewing films on video and DVD on NBC TV's "Weekend TODAY Show"; serving as a video columnist and feature writer for The Washington Post's Fast Forward column and TV Week magazine; and appearing on numerous programs: "Fox Morning News," "The Tony Kornheiser Show," "The Jim Bohannon Show" and "BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley."

Barber is a frequent participant and contributor to public programs and lecture series sponsored by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution's Resident Associates and the American Film Institute.