Forty Under 40: Matt Turner

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.”