Matt and Julee Turner

Each year, Northwest Arkansas Business Journal presents its 40 Under 40 list to recognize intriguing business and political leaders under 40 years old who bear watching. Matt was chosen and was honored at a banquet today for this award! His family and I am so incredibly proud of him and all his hard work. He has had to work the past year while feeling sick most days but being recognized like this really was a huge honor!
Below is the picture and article that is featured in the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal this week.

Matt Turner, 29, follows two rules when delivering the nightly news for KNWA: Don’t try to imitate anybody and don’t make it too complicated.

“My job is really pretty simple,” Turner added with a laugh. “Read the news, report the news, and be myself when the time is right.” That’s been a successful formula for Turner, originally hired as a weekend sports anchor at KNWA fresh out of Ouachita Baptist University.

“I lucked out,” said Turner, who transferred to his hometown school after a year as a redshirt quarterback at Southern Miss. “I found out the day after I finished my last class that Mike Nail had hired me.”

That was August 2003. Less than a year later Nail was gone, leaving Turner to learn the ropes on a daily basis. Turner said he owes a lot to Nail’s eventual successor, Bo Mattingly. “He taught me what TV is supposed to look like,” Turner said of Mattingly.

Another break came in July 2006, when KNWA executives promoted Turner to his current job. He made the move almost seamlessly. “I’ve been a news junkie all my life,” he said. Turner, whose wife, Julee, also is from Arkadelphia, believes his roots help him connect to his audience. “I love covering Arkansas,” he said, “and I think I can relate to the people of Arkansas because I’m from here.”