Chicago’s top-rated newsroom has a new leader. On Tuesday, WLS-Ch. 7 announced that the station is promoting one of its assistant news directors, Doug Whitmire, to be the station’s vice president of news, effective Aug. 5. (Doug Whitmire) A 21-year veteran of the station and a graduate of Bowling Green State University, Whitmire, 45, joined ABC 7 in 2003 as a news writer and producer.