I became a part of the KNWA News Team in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in October of 2009. I started out as the weekend reporter. I was promoted to Dayside reporter, turning hard-news, enterprise, and live breaking news reports for KNWA's newscasts at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Five months later, I was again promoted and am now working as lead reporter for the 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts.

I hail from the Arkansas Delta, where I graduated from Lee High School in Marianna. I came to the University of Arkansas in 2005 and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. in Journalism and Middle East Studies in May 2009.

I got my start in journalism as a staff writer and columnist for The Brinkley Argus in high school. But the hectic nature of live television news was something I learned at UATV, where I worked to climb the ranks from camera operator to News Director. 

During my college years, I worked as a camera operator for KHBS-KHOG, and I worked as free-lance on-air reporter for the Northwest Arkansas NPR affiliate KUAF. I also got a taste of international news coverage of a presidential election during a Fall 2008 internship at Al-Arabiya News in Washington, D.C., through The Fund for American Studies fellowship program, where I attended Georgetown University as well. 

After a post-graduate internship in Little Rock at KATV, I decided to come back to Northwest Arkansas. The Ozarks grew on me over the four years I spent there in college. I really feel grateful to be telling the stories of the place I've come to call home.

When I'm not covering a story, I like perusing through thrift shops, indulging in a newly-checked out spy novel or hiking down at Devil's Den State Park. 

Whether I'm at the grocery store or sipping a coffee down on Dickson, I want to know your story. If you have a story you think others in Northwest Arkansas need to hear about, email me at mmanley@knwa.com.