If you’ve been watching Fox 13 Seattle and noticed some familiar faces are gone, you’re not imagining it. Several well-known anchors and reporters have left the station in recent years, and viewers are understandably wondering what’s going on.
Is there some kind of internal meltdown happening? Did something go wrong behind the scenes? Or is this just normal life in local TV news?
Let’s walk through what’s actually documented — who left, what they said, and whether the “everyone is leaving” story holds up when you look at the real picture.
A Quick Look at Fox 13 Seattle Before We Dig In
If you’ve been watching long enough, you probably still think of it as Q13. The station rebranded from Q13 Fox to Fox 13 Seattle when Fox Television Stations unified their branding across all their markets. It was a corporate-wide change, not something specific to Seattle.
This isn’t a small independent station. Fox 13 Seattle is a major, corporate-owned outlet with a full team of anchors, reporters, meteorologists, and digital journalists. It’s also home to Good Day Seattle, a flagship morning program that viewers have watched — and connected with — for years.
The station still has a substantial active roster. You can check the Fox 13 “Meet the Team” page to see who’s currently on air. The full team didn’t vanish. But some well-known faces did, and that’s what people are asking about.
The Anchors Who Left and What They Said on the Way Out
Here are some of the most notable departures, based on what’s actually been made public.
Matt Lorch
Matt Lorch anchored at Fox 13 for 10 years before leaving. His farewell was aired on the station’s own YouTube channel, and he was straightforward about his reason: he was leaving to pursue his passion for helping area nonprofits. That’s a personal, mission-driven choice — not a sign of conflict or drama. The station gave him a warm sendoff, and he seemed genuinely at peace with the decision.
Liz Dueweke
Liz Dueweke was a familiar face on Good Day Seattle for a long time. When she left, Fox 13 gave her a celebratory on-air goodbye. Colleagues reflected on her time at the station and wished her well. Nothing in the public record suggests it was anything other than her choosing to move on to the next chapter.
Brian Flores
Brian Flores also received a public farewell segment from the station. Colleagues thanked him, shared kind words, and wished him luck. Again — the kind of send-off a station gives when things end on good terms.
Travis Mayfield
This one has the most detail publicly available, and it’s a bit different from the others. After 8 years at Fox 13, Travis Mayfield left when management reportedly wanted to reassign him — adding more field reporting responsibilities on top of anchoring the 4:30 a.m. slot. According to a RadioDiscussions thread citing the TV industry blog FTVLive, he had no new job lined up when he left and wanted to stay in Seattle. This is the clearest example of a management decision playing a role in someone’s departure.
It’s worth noting: FTVLive is an industry trade blog, not an official station statement. But it’s a commonly referenced source in local TV circles, and there’s no contradicting account that disputes it.
These four names are notable examples — not a complete list. The station’s team page is the best place to see who’s currently on air and who’s come and gone.
Were They Fired, or Did They Choose to Leave?
This is one of the most common questions people ask, and it deserves a direct answer.
Based on everything that’s publicly available, these departures appear to have been either voluntary or driven by role changes — not firings tied to misconduct or scandal. Lorch, Dueweke, and Flores all received warm, celebratory on-air goodbyes organized by the station itself. That’s generally not how firings are handled in public.
The Mayfield situation is the one case where a management decision clearly influenced things. Being asked to take on more field reporting — while still anchoring one of the earliest morning slots — is a significant shift. It’s easy to understand why someone might decide that’s not the job they signed up for.
Beyond official farewells and some industry blog reporting, the behind-the-scenes details — contracts, internal conversations, specific negotiations — are not public. So if you’ve seen confident claims online about what “really” happened, be a little skeptical. A lot of that is speculation dressed up as inside knowledge.
Why Several Departures Can Feel Like “Everyone” Is Gone
Here’s something worth thinking about: the feeling that “everyone is leaving” is real, even when the numbers don’t quite match the drama.
When you watch the same anchor every morning for years, you build a genuine sense of connection. They’re in your kitchen while you drink coffee. They’re the voice you hear before the day really starts. When that person disappears — and then another one follows — it hits differently than regular staff turnover in most workplaces.
Think about it like this: if three or four of your favorite teachers left the same school within a few years, students would say “all the good teachers are gone” — even if most of the staff was still there. The perception of loss is real, even when it’s not quite the whole picture.
That’s what’s happening here. A handful of well-liked, highly visible personalities have moved on. But the station itself is still running with a full team. The exits are real. The “everyone is gone” framing is more about how those exits feel than what’s actually happening on the ground.
Is This Normal for Local TV News?
Actually, yes — more than most people realize.
Local TV news has always had higher turnover than most industries. Anchors move markets to find bigger roles or better pay. Morning show hosts deal with brutal hours — waking up in the middle of the night, year after year — and some eventually decide they want a different kind of life. Reporters are often expected to work across multiple platforms now: on-air, digital, and social media all at once. That’s a heavier workload than it was even a decade ago.
Some journalists also leave traditional news entirely for mission-driven work, communications roles, or advocacy — which is exactly what Matt Lorch did. It’s not a reflection on the station; it’s a career shift that’s become more common across the industry.
When a station goes through a rebrand — like the Q13 to Fox 13 transition — it can also come with format changes and internal restructuring. That kind of shift doesn’t always cause departures directly, but it can create an environment where some people start reassessing what they want next. That said, no source has directly linked each of these departures to the rebrand itself. It’s worth mentioning as context, not cause.
What Fox 13 Seattle Looks Like Now
The station still has a substantial team of anchors, reporters, and meteorologists. Good Day Seattle is still running. The news operation is still active across broadcast and digital platforms.
Turnover and continuity can coexist. Some people left; others stayed and are still doing the work every day. If you want to know exactly who’s currently on the roster, the Fox 13 “Meet the Team” page is the most reliable place to check — it’s updated more often than any article will be.
If you’re interested in how media businesses navigate change like this, Flock Business covers those kinds of stories and industry shifts in a way that’s easy to follow.
The Bottom Line
Several well-known faces have left Fox 13 Seattle in recent years — that part is true. But “everyone is leaving” is more of a feeling than a fact. The departures that are documented were voluntary, mission-driven, or tied to role changes — not a wave of firings or some kind of station meltdown.
Travis Mayfield left after being asked to take on a different workload. Matt Lorch left to work with nonprofits. Liz Dueweke and Brian Flores both received warm, public goodbyes from the station. That doesn’t sound like chaos. It sounds like careers moving in different directions — which happens in every industry, just more visibly in local TV.
If you’ve been missing some of your favorite anchors, that feeling makes complete sense. But the station is still there, still staffed, and still covering the news every day. The faces may look a little different, but the story isn’t as dramatic as social media might have you believe.
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