“If a man is measured by the lives he touched–then surely Matt Turner’s reach spanned an entire state.”

Those were the first words spoken by KTHV‘s Lisa Hutson in a story about the memorial service for anchor Matt Turner.  You can watch  the video of the story after the jump.

Turner, who had been at the Little Rock CBS affiliate for a month, died in a crash on Arkansas’ I-30 over the weekend.

Matt’s friends and family gathered to remember the anchor at the church where his father was once pastor.  Hutson spoke with the attendees about the impact Turner had on so many lives in such a short time.

“I don’t have a memory of this church without Matthew. I don’t. Matthew was the greatest role model. My son looked up to Matthew.” says Sheri Shepherd.

“If you looked at the scene here tonight, it’s unbelievable that a 32 year old man could mean at this point in his life to this many people and I think what it tells you is that everyone he met, he had a profound impact on,” says Bo Mattingly.

Read more

Jonathan Martinez has signed on as evening anchor at KNWA, the NBC-affiliate in Fort Smith.

Martinez joins KNWA from KNIN, the Fox-affiliate in Boise, where he was the morning anchor. “Jonathan’s talent, experience and positive energy made this an easy decision,” KNWA general manager Lisa Kelsey said in a statement. “He will make a wonderful addition to our team.”

Martinez co-anchors the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts on weekdays alongside Neile Jones (pictured). He replaces Matt Turner, who left the station last month.

Ashley Ketz and Aaron Nolan, a married couple who currently work at rival stations in Fort Smith, are joining KOLR-KOZL in Springfield, MO this fall.

Ketz joins the stations as the weeknight co-anchor, alongside David Oliver, for the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts on CBS-affiliate KOLR. She comes from KFSM, the CBS-affiliate in Fort Smith, where she is the primary anchor.

Ketz’s husband, Nolan, also joins the station as the co-anchor of the 9 p.m. newscast on independent station KOZL. Since 2009, Nolan has been a general assignment reporter at KNWA, the NBC-affiliate in Fort Smith.

Using staffers and technical resources from four of its local stations in Arkansas, Nexstar Broadcasting is launching a statewide daily newscast called “Arkansas Today.”

Beginning today, the half-hour show will air on all four stations — KARK in Little Rock, KNWA in Fayetteville, KTVE in El Dorado and KTAL in Texarkana — on weekdays at noon. Although each station will have live broadcast capabilities for “Arkansas Today,” the newscast’s home base will be at KARK.

The show will be anchored by KARK anchor Mallory Hardin and meteorologist Greg Dee. Reporters from all four stations will contribute on a daily basis. Read more

Lisa Kelsey has been named vice president and general manager of Nexstar Broadcasting’s KNWA-KFTA in Fayetteville, AR.

Since 2008, Kelsey has been the director of sales for Nexstar’s Fayetteville-Fort Smith television and e-Media operations. She began her career with KNWA in 1996 as a senior account executive. From 2002 to 2004, she worked for Johnson & Johnson, returning to KNWA as sales manager in 2004.

“She has built high performance teams which generate impressive revenue share growth, has overseen regional business development efforts with noteworthy success, created countless successful advertising solutions for businesses, and has championed many new station initiatives which resulted in audience growth and revenue success,” Nexstar EVP-COO Brian Jones said in a statement.

Nexstar has promoted Mike Vaughn, the vice president and general manager of KNWA-KFTA in Fayetteville-Ft. Smith, to VP-GM of KARK-KARZ, the company’s Little Rock duopoly.

Before being named VP-GM in Fayetteville, Vaughn was based in Little Rock working as director of sales for KARK as well as KNWA-KFTA.

Vaughn said that he’s excited to be returning to Little Rock and promised that he “will be focusing on further extending our stations’ track record of broadcasting excellence and service to the Central Arkansas community.”

“Mike brings a wealth of broadcast experience and long-term track record of success to his new position,” said Rick Rogala, Nexstar’s senior vice president and regional manager, in making the announcement. He has “the right skill set and community commitment to lead our efforts in this important market,” Rogala added.