Just days after more than a dozen people at KRIS 6 News, the Coastal Bend’s NBC affiliate, lost their jobs due to layoffs, the TV station’s new multimedia journalist and AI-automated landscape is beginning to take shape for those left behind.
Earlier this month, MySA was the first to report the wave of massive layoffs that was coming to the Texas television station as part of a nationwide shakeup by KRIS 6’s parent company, the E.W. Scripps Company. Scripps CEO Adam Symson would go on to announce that the company was laying off 268 people across the country in a shift toward artificial intelligence-powered automated systems and a 24-hour news cycle both on-air and online.
Fueling the “refounding of Scripps” would be a wave of multimedia journalists on the ground “in the neighborhoods, listening to our neighbors” while publishing news stories on online streaming platforms throughout the day.
“Our approach focuses on creating connection by putting more reporters in our communities and delivering relevant, trusted local information throughout the day rather than only during traditional broadcast windows,” Symson said in a memo to employees obtained by MySA.
Among those laid off are popular husband-and-wife duo Michelle and Bryan Hofmann, who co-anchored the KRIS 6 Sunrise morning show, along with a host of technical directors and producers who helped stitch together newscasts behind the scenes. Tuesday, August 18 was the last day on the job for those laid off. In the days since, viewers have begun getting a clearer picture of what the station’s leaner newsroom looks like.
Part of that picture includes former producers who escaped the axe by transitioning to new reporting roles. Among them is Matthew Roberts, who joined the Corpus Christi TV station as a producer in March after previously working for the South Texan Newspaper, according to his LinkedIn profile. One day after the layoffs, KRIS 6 announced Roberts’ new role as a “neighborhood reporter.”
“Matthew has been an incredible producer with us for the past 6 months, and we couldn’t be more excited to see him take on this new challenge,” KRIS 6 officials said in a Facebook post on Wednesday, August 19.
“Join us in congratulating Matthew on this well-deserved promotion!” the post reads.
About a week before the layoffs went into effect, the Hofmanns similarly took to social media to introduce viewers to the person who would replace them on KRIS 6 Sunrise, Stephanie Molina.
“There’s been a lot of conversations around the changes… but behind it all of it are people who are still showing up every day, working hard and trying to do their jobs well while navigating a lot of changes themselves,” the couple’s August 12 post reads.
“One of those people is Stephanie Molina, who you’ll be seeing more of in the mornings. … She’ll also be taking over our Coastal Bend Weekend segment,” it further reads.
Molina joined KRIS 6 as a neighborhood reporter in March 2025. On Wednesday, Molina said she’s been preparing to take on the new role for a few weeks and hopes viewers will continue to tune in.
“I’m excited to take on this new position as an opportunity to learn and grow as a journalist, while continuing to make telling our community’s stories a priority,” Molina said on Facebook.