Arizona’s Family news stations let Kris Pickel go. Here’s why

Kris Pickel, the award-winning anchor and reporter for Arizona’s Family TV news stations in Phoenix, is no longer with the company.

“It was called a business decision,” Pickel said Tuesday. “They let me go.”

Pickel, who joined the station in 2015, said she had a feeling she might be out.

“If I had been taken by surprise I would have been the world’s worst reporter,” she said.

She’s not. Pickel has won multiple Emmy Awards and is highly regarded. She made the announcement on social media.

Representatives at Arizona’s Family did not respond to a request for comment.

Pickel, remarkably upbeat, said, “This is a brutal part of the business, but it’s part of the business.”

Goodbye to KJZZ:Why Al Macias steps down after 47 years in Phoenix news

She has no plans for what’s next at the moment.

“I don’t,” Pickel said. “I am open. I love journalism. I’ve never been a cynic. I know that you have to be flexible. We will see what happens.”