Jessi Turnure has been promoted to statewide political correspondent for Nexstar television stations in Arkansas, including KARK-TV in Little Rock, where she will host the Sunday morning political program "Capitol View."
News director Austin Kellerman announced the move Wednesday, saying that Turnure would replace Drew Petrimoulx, who drew strong reviews on "Capitol View" and was promoted last week to a Nexstar reporting position based in Washington, D.C.
Turnure, a graduate of the University of Missouri journalism program who joined KARK in 2015, is a former a former reporter at KAIT-TV in Jonesboro. "She's worked very hard over the last few years to prepare herself for this," Kellerman said. "You don’t have to worry about Jessi getting to the bottom of a difficult issue. We expect her to excel in this new role.”
Turnure will be guided by KARK anchor Bob Clausen as she adapts to the new job. "Capitol View" became Little Rock's first weekend morning political show in April 2013, focusing on leading politicians and newsmakers. The program is available to 2.5 million viewers in markets of Little Rock, Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Memphis, Monroe-El Dorado, Shreveport-Texarkana and Springfield, Missouri, according to a Nexstar news release.
Turnure praised her successors, Petrimoulx and Clausen, and said she looks "forward to being a source Arkansans can trust to break down important issues and hold their leaders accountable."
On Twitter, she spoke of "big responsibility, big shoes to fill and big thanks" to her colleagues. "Let's do this."
Kellerman also offered congratulations to Petrimoulx, who started at KARK in 2013. "We're all very excited for Drew and this new opportunity with our company. We're happy he'll continue to serve viewers in central Arkansas. We expect a more formal announcement about his new job to come from Nexstar in the next few weeks."
