Neile Jones Exiting KNWA After 17-Year Run

Evening news anchor Neile Jones will be leaving her position at KNWA-TV, the local NBC affiliate announced Monday.

“I’m heading home to be near my immediate family,” Jones said in a press release from KNWA. “I want to watch my nieces grow up, spend time with my sister and brother-in-law and, of course, be with my mom and dad.”

Jones, who has been with the station since 1997, will be moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her last day at KNWA will be Oct. 2, according to the press release.

News director Brook Thomas said the open position will be posted immediately and the plan is to have a replacement ready before Jones leaves.

“Whoever sits in that chair will have a big role to fill,” Thomas said. “Neile’s work in our community was second to none. But our station was always the driving force behind her and that commitment to our community will never change.”

Jones, a member of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 class in 2008, is known for her work for nonprofits and, in particular, with her work to raise awareness for breast cancer, according to the press release.

During her time at the station, she earned the Susan G. Komen For the Cure Foundation Cameo Award for Volunteerism and the Domestic Peace Award from the Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

She also earned a Mid-America Emmy Award for reporting while evening news anchor for KNWA.