He joins from Sinclair’s CBS affiliate KRCG in Columbia-Jefferson City, Mo., and takes over news leadership in Kalamazoo on Oct. 10.

The CBS-CW affiliate’s long-time leader Jim Lutton will retire in July and be succeeded by Fred Corbus, the current sales director.

Sinclair fired an executive news producer at WWMT Kalamazoo, Mich., Randy Lubratich, for two tweets from her personal account that challenged the confirmation of Trump’s pick to head the Department of Education, Betsy DeVos.

The Sinclair CBS affiliate in Grand Rapids, Mich., is will start two-hour broadcasts on Jan. 19.

In Western Michigan, online engagement has long been part of the local media mission. And with local TV sites and statewide behemoth MLive.com — which represents Advance Publication’s area newspapers — all fighting for the market’s online audience, the battle often comes down to who is forging the most resonant connections with users.