Former Iowa news anchor Dustin Nolan released a statement clarifying his now-viral farewell to KWQC TV6 on Friday.
“Facts matter,” Nolan began his statement Monday. “Journalists are important. Truthfulness is news. That was my message on Friday, and now it’s being twisted to fit whatever ideas people want. I wasn’t talking about the authenticity of my farewell message and I hoped the interest would fade. But now, as I see more publications twisting my words into unintended meanings, I feel I have to set the record straight.”
Nolan was speaking about his announcement during a broadcast on KWQC TV6 where he revealed that he is retiring from his job and the media industry.
“I’m going to try to get through this,” Nolan said. “Well, before we leave this morning, I have an announcement. Today is my last day here at KWQC TV6. I have chosen to leave the news industry. Before I say goodbye, I just want to say, I hope all of you who have allowed me to be part of your mornings know how important it is for me to take this job.”
As his comments gained national attention, Nolan pushed back on what he described as twisting his story to fit a narrative agenda.
“First, I didn’t give up on the air. I decided with my wife months ago, and the station wrote the job months ago. Second, I wasn’t blasting the news station or the news industry. I was explaining my journalistic approach and reminding everyone why we do what we do. In the end, I wasn’t fired or fired. Again, this was a difficult decision for me, but one that would allow me to always follow it,” Nolan wrote my dream.
Nolan added that he was not at liberty to discuss his future plans at the time.
He also attacked publications that published the story “without asking the context” and described his decision as anti-journalism.
“For the publications that sent this story without asking the context and those who got involved in making a story that doesn’t exist, you are part of the problem, especially those who used our son’s name in the story without our permission. Our world needs strong journalists now more than ever,” said Nolan.
He closed by thanking the people of the Quad Cities who reached out to him since he left.
In additional comments to Fox News Digital, Nolan stood by his statement, saying it “speaks for itself.”
“I wanted to thank our viewers for welcoming us into their homes every morning and tell them how I did my job. I really didn’t expect people to take what I said and turn it into a story that I didn’t intend,” said Nolan.
Fox News Digital has reached out to KWQC TV6 for comment.
Nolan has worked for KWQC TV6, an NBC affiliate, since 2022. He and his wife took home the 2025 Mid-America Emmy for Best Morning/Daytime Newscast in the mid- and small-market category.
