WDBJ (Channel 7) has hired a news director, the latest in a string of new faces in top offices at Roanoke media companies.

Amy Morris, a former WDBJ reporter-producer who is now an executive producer for WLS-TV, Chicago's ABC affiliate, will lead the newsroom at Roanoke's ratings leader beginning in October, she said.

She replaces Jim Kent, the longtime WDBJ newsman ousted from the station in late July.

"Amy is a terrific journalist. She is an outstanding producer of news programs," said Jeffrey Marks, the station's president and general manager.

Marks also is new to WDBJ; he was named to the station's top post in June. In July, The Roanoke Times announced Michael Stowe would become managing editor. And on Monday, Melissa Preas began as news director for WSLS (Channel 10).

Morris, 38, has worked in broadcasting for 17 years, starting with an internship at Lynchburg's WSET (Channel 13) while still a student at the University of Maryland. After graduating, she joined WDBJ as a reporter-producer, preferring the latter role.

Since leaving Roanoke, Morris' resume includes stops in increasingly larger markets: Pittsburgh and Norfolk as a producer, then executive producer credits in Minneapolis and Chicago, which is third in Nielsen's market rankings.

Roanoke ranks No. 67, but was the right step toward fulfilling her desire to be news director, Morris said.

"I've always had this itch to run my own newsroom," she said.

Here, she hopes to lure back viewers and counter the national trend of declining interest in local news broadcasts, she said.

A graduate of Cave Spring High School, Morris will return to Roanoke after running the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 7, she said. Her parents still live in Roanoke County.