Treat Republicans with respect

Congrats to The Gazette on your Iowa Newspaper Association awards. The Gazette has always been a winner. Now here's a suggestion to the editors, publishers, and owners of The Gazette.

You may not realize that half the country, half of Iowans, half your potential readers, subscribers, and advertisers are Republicans. You tend to slant your reporting toward the Left, while constantly belittling Conservatives.

We're not bad, nor dumb … we're your neighbors, relatives, and friends — we just prefer a conservative government. The AP articles are terribly biased against the Republicans, as are your editorials. I don't get it. It makes for unpleasant newspaper reading for half the area's citizens. You seem to think "I'm right and you're wrong," but no, it's OPINIONS on government actions and social issues. We just hold different opinions. We can accept that not everyone agrees with everyone. But we can be — and should be — civil about it.

Newspapers are struggling. Just please report the news without being so disrespectful to half the population. You should maximize readership potential and your advertising potential. And maybe stay in business.

Pete Looney

Marion