I caught this too, but replacing the reporter made a lot more sense than replacing Hector abruptly. Why on Earth would Frank get rid of someone who he made the most headway with at the negotiating table for someone who just said no to everything and forced his hand. My friend speculates that something happened on set like a dispute. It was like one episode he was there with no indication that he was leaving, and the next Netflix was like Hector is on timeout, here is his replacement.
At least the reporter being replaced made sense and was more in tune with the story line. The reporter overstepped her boundaries, got fired, and the newspaper sent in a more ruthless reporter. "Let out a pitbull to let in a dragon." You SAW what happened to the reporter. Hector disappeared "off screen" with like 2 sentences of dialog from Frank.