Democratic U.S. House Candidate John Heenan is buying ads on Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned TV stations that blast the company for forcing reporters to read conservative-leaning corporate statements on air.
Heenan's ad started airing today in Missoula, Bozeman and Butte. In it, he calls Sinclair: “A powerful corporation that forces its journalists to read corporate talking points on the air. A corporation using its power to take advantage of journalists, our democracy and the people of Montana. Not on my watch."
Sinclair-owned KECI-TV’s general manager says the station does not turn down candidate ads, but declined further comment.
Earlier this month, a video by the website Deadspin showed dozens of news anchors from Sinclair-owned stations reading the same statement about a troubling trend of one-sided news stories.
