WBNS, Newspaper To Host Senatorial Debate

Dispatch Broadcast Group’s CBS affiliate WBNS Columbus, Ohio (DMA 32), in partnership with co-owned The Columbus Dispatch and Dispatch’s Ohio Newspaper Organization (OHNO), will host a debate between Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown and Republican State Treasurer Josh Mandel. Brown and Mandel are running for the United States Senate.

Veteran WBNS anchor Jerry Revish will moderate the one-hour debate, which will be held at the Jeffers Auditorium on the campus of Nationwide Insurance Headquarters in Columbus on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 8 p.m.

In traditional question/answer format, the debate will include a panel of journalists from the Dispatch/OHNO media consortium.

WBNS is working with the Ohio Association of Broadcasters to offer the debate to every television station in Ohio at no cost.

“As leading news organizations, 10TV and its media partners share a central mission: to inform and educate,” said President and General Manager Tom Griesdorn. “In these times of political and economic uncertainty, we recognize that the public’s need for information is greater than ever. With Ohio playing such a key role in this election, it’s our responsibility to provide a public service worthy of our great community and state. We’re proud to join together to make this important debate available to television viewers across the Buckeye State.”

WBNS will also stream the debate live on 10tv.com and on dispatch.com.

WBNS and The Columbus Dispatch are members of The Dispatch Broadcast Group, which also includes WBNS-AM-FM, Radio Sound Network in Columbus, Ohio; WTHR-TV and WALV-LP Indianapolis, Indiana; Dispatch Interactive Television in Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Ohio Newspaper Organization includes The Columbus Dispatch, the Plain Dealer (Cleveland), The Blade (Toledo), the Dayton Daily News, the Akron Beacon Journal, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Canton Repository and the Youngstown Vindicator.