Today is a sad day for Livingston County.
After nearly two decades on the air, Mike Marino and Jon King of the award-winning Mike & Jon in the Morning show on WHMI-93.5 signed off for the last time.
That King was leaving wasn’t a surprise. He posted on Facebook yesterday that he would be leaving the radio station on Feb. 25, calling it a “forced departure.” But this morning, both he and his longtime co-host, Mike Marino, announced that they were both gone immediately.
The show — crowned “Morning Show of the Year” in 2021 by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters, with King himself winning for best investigative reporting — was a popular commodity in Livingston County.
No one knows for sure why all this happened.
King, who also served as WHMI’s news director, said he will tell his story when the time is right. He shared with me, though, that his “forced departure” was solely the decision of Krol Communications, the Owosso-based company that bought WHMI in 2015. Krol booted King in response to a local advertiser who threatened to pull his ads because of the station’s news coverage.
Apparently, all an advertiser has to do is whistle and and Krol Communications will come to heel.
I don’t know whether Krol Communications thought through the implications of its wrong-headed, short-sighted decision, but it speaks volumes as to how little it thinks of its station if a little foot stomping by an offended advertiser is enough to fire a longtime employee.
Maybe it was more than that, you say? Maybe King’s news coverage was inaccurate?
I don’t think it was.
But I’ve been wrong before, so here’s the deal: If you can find a WHMI story that did not report the news accurately, send it to me with an explanation of the inaccuracy, and if you’re right, I’ll send you one of our limited edition LivPo coffee mugs.
Maybe it was what WHMI covered?
WHMI (along with stories and opinion pieces by The Livingston Post) covered some recent controversial stories in the community, from COVID and vaccinations and misinformation to Drag Queen Bingo to President Joe Biden’s visit to Howell.
I’ll argue forever that the news stories covered at WHMI are precisely the same stories I’d be covering if I were back running the local paper with a staff of reporters.
King’s leaving is a very bad omen for our community.
With King out as news director at WHMI, Livingston County is fast approaching becoming a local news desert, which is what happens when out-of-town companies swoop in to gobble up successful communication outlets only to bleed them dry. While that approach benefits the out-of-town companies, it leaves communities that once depended on their news outlets to hold local officials accountable fending for themselves.
Maybe it’s time to crown Facebook as our news source of record. And why not? We all know that everything you read on Facebook is true, right? It all goes through a rigorous editing and verification process, right?
This is not a good turn of events.
Look at the once-mighty Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, now a shell of the paper it was before Gannett bought it, back in the day when it won state and national Newspaper of the Year awards, and when it took to heart its role as an advocate for the good of the community. Where are the newspaper’s editorials and local endorsements today? Who’s combing through budgets and filing Freedom of Information requests to get to the bottom of what’s happening with our elected bodies?
And, now, look at the once-mighty WHMI, which has now sent the message to advertisers everywhere that it prioritizes their whims over the good of the community for the sake of a few bucks. How can you trust its news coverage from here on out?
The only locally owned and independent source of information and opinion left in Livingston County is The Livingston Post, which is not a happy fact.
I wish Jon King and Mike Marino all the success they can find.
And I thank Jon King for his news coverage.
Jon King was the reason I tuned into WHMI. With Jon’s departure, our area has lost an important voice deeply committed to Livingston County and the reporting of local news fairly and honestly. I urge businesses to pull their advertising from the station. Krol Communications, you’ve made a big mistake. You should correct it.
Well I think maybe some of the other local advertisers should call Krol and tell them if they proceed with this action then they’re pulling their advertising from them.
Clearly incompetence runs high among the executives running this so called “communications” company.
And clearly they care nothing for Livingston County.
I think the Mayor should reach out to them.
I have worked with both these gentlemen. They are upstanding individuals who supported their community. It is truly disheartening that an advertiser has decided the fate of these two and not the masses who love them. I too listen to WHMI every morning….but not any more. KROL needs to take a step back and see what they are doing. We are a small community and we support each other. To the advertiser who helped make this choice..shame on you. Your feelings got hurt and threw a temper tantrum and got your way like a spoiled bart. Jon King and Mike Marino I enjoyed working with you and if you pop up on another station that will be my new station on the dial where 93.5 used to be.
i also will remove whmi from my station of choice. Best of Luch to both of you thanks for all the years
I hope we can learn who the advertiser was that had an issue with Jon. For now I will turn to another station for my entertainment, and truly miss WHMI. I will in the future be sure to stay away from the “ad complaining company”, after we learn who it was. Thank you Mike for sticking with Jon.
I am sorry to hear that the morning show has ended. I am disheartened by some comments that they will no longer listen to the radio station. This is a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. Stop and think about what that will do…if no one listens anymore than that is hurting the local station, the other people employed by the station, the other advertisers that are local businesses, etc. Could that mean an end to our local radio station? There are other ways to show your displeasure.
The death of print and radio and even TV is due to changing technologies, not the bias of local outlets– left or right. These older technologies joined the old phone on the wall,gone and forgotten. Something is lost and something is gained. I rather have my Apple cell phone then my old GTE twisted pair phone. With the new technologies there is actually more access to more people than ever before. They can reapper on Streaming as opposed to another AM or FM radio that is going away. It is the best if times, it is the worst of times.
Extremely biased opinion? Have you been to a Livingston county board meeting lately? It cracks me up the people who think their opinion is the only one that represents the community. I just wish they had the marbles to call a duck a duck and admit what they are. I have a very good idea who the main whiner is in this case. But now I think its as simple as ANY advertiser that uses WHMI is supporting the small minded, far right bigotry that has made this county an embarrassment. Just my opinion
Jon and Mike were informative, engaging, and predictable. They were constant and expected in my daily routine for many years. Im a 70 yr plus Brighton and Livingston County resident. I appreciate dedication and respect for our community. My family experienced a terrible tragedy in Livingston County years ago. Jon King interviewed and reported our tragic event fairly and accurately over the years. Thank you for everything and informing the community for many years. Both have earned my respect and gratitude. God Bless and Thank you
This is an extremely biased opinion piece, not an actual news story. Nevertheless, regarding the topic, I don’t wish anyone to lose their job, but there IS more to the story. King became increasingly biased in his news coverage and while communicating with the community. His one sided views simply didn’t represent the voice of the community. He’s award winning because he has great talent. People are sick and tired of opinion being portrayed as news and the media controlling the narrative instead of reporting the news, regardless how talented someone is. You’re crazy if you think there’s only one sponsor or only a few local community members who were done with WHMI because of him. And, we’re not going to be without local news because this one show’s time has ended. You can’t possibly think these two guys are the only talent available. I personally will give the station another shot now. Just my opinion. -MV
Not only will I not listen to WHMI – I will notify all the advertisers that I can – that I will also boycott their business- for supporting such an atrocity!! Advertisers should not dictate the news ! I’d like to know who it is pulling the strings.
Is there anyway to find out which advertiser threatened to pull their ads? I will not only be finding a new radio to listen to, but I would like to be sure that I do not patronize that advertiser.
So, who is the advertiser ? Then let the marketplace decide the ‘winner’.
Loved Mike & Jon, hope you find another opportunity soon. I look forward to discovering the identity of the offended Karen that caused Krohl to cave. If this is indeed the case, a new species of spineless wimp will have been discovered.
This is indeed a dark day for Livingston county. While I might not have always agreed with the opinions they shared, I did respect the integrity that both Mike and Jon exuded. Sadly, I will no longer listen to WHMI and I hope that if Kroll Communications is going to participate in this ridiculous cancel culture that they are prepared to deal with the repercussions of this decision.
I am glad Ann Bignell is not here to see this. As you suggested with Mike and Jon gone WHMI will go downhill. Who wii buy Livingston County news in either form. I haven’t lived in Howell in years, but WHMI kept me up dated.
After 19 years of listening to WHMI and being entertained on my 33 mile commute, and as a result listening to all the advertisements, I will now be looking for a new radio station to listen to or may just listen to some podcasts on the way to work, hopefully the Mike and Jon Podcast!
Good luck Mike and Jon!
I like the morning crew on WHMI I don’t have a lot of respect or Maria Stuart’s commentary in many of the articles that she has written because she’s left-leaning. As is Jon King. There’s probably something deeper involved here. I am hopeful that they find good replacements as I listen to WHMI often.
Can you imagine how bad things are going to become if advertisers control the media. There is no hope. I am sorry to see this duo go.
So sorry to hear this. Jon has been a news talent and the area’s most credible reporter for decades. Krol Communications is making a big mistake catering to fringe community kooks. So sorry, but a man with Jon’s talent will find a new place, for sure.
This is deeply distressing. I hope this is NOT related to recent interviews related to the proposed asphalt plant; the community will be waiting to hear the details behind the decision to terminate Jon King.
We demand to know what advertiser has that kind of clout. Shame on Krohl Communications! We are watching this closely.
Thank you to the morning team of Mike and Jon. May you both land well.