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Candidate Buys Ads on Sinclair TV Stations to Blast Company

Heenan said he wants to take on Sinclair over its own airwaves to support its employees and viewers

By Justin Franz

HELENA — A Democratic candidate for Montana’s U.S. House seat is buying ads on Sinclair Broadcast Group-owned television stations that blast the company for forcing reporters to read conservative-leaning corporate statements on air.

John Heenan’s ad will air starting Monday on stations in Missoula, Bozeman and Butte. In it, he calls Sinclair “a corporation using its power to take advantage of journalists, our democracy and the people of Montana.”

Heenan said Friday that he wanted to take on Sinclair over its own airwaves to support its employees and viewers.

Sinclair-owned KECI-TV general manager Tamy Wagner says the station does not turn down candidate ads. She 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.