The following letter, which was sent to the Petoskey News-Review/Ryan Bentley, was written by John Calabrese. We repost it with his permission. ERG agrees with every word of it.
Good morning Ryan,
I am writing you because I will not be renewing my subscription to your paper. I always admired your writing in the past. You were very thorough, factual, and non-biased in the stories you wrote about Public Safety. You always gave us a fair shake and allowed me to have input before you ran a story.
I also used to enjoy the local stories I could find in the PNR. Sadly, those stories are becoming few and far between.
What I see now is a barrage of ultra-progressive, leftist opinions. I have been amazed at some of the outrageous columns that have been printed in your paper. It wasn't long ago that you printed an opinion piece where the writer openly advocated for gun confiscation in this country. Disgraceful. I see very little opposing views printed. While not surprising, it sure is disappointing. It is reflective of the state of the media in this country. It is no longer objective or interested in finding the truth. Media simply is an arm of a political party, attempting to advance an agenda that half the county (at least) disagrees with. At any cost. Truth is no longer a factor.
It would have been nice to at least see an effort by the staff of the PNR to present both sides of an issue. What I see an-ex employee of the PNR who gets free range to disparage and insult anyone he disagrees with. Shameful. Anyway, I do not choose to spend my inflation ravaged pension money on this type of reporting. I can use it for better things. In my career I often had to swallow my pride and carry out orders that I disagreed with. That was the nature of the beast. What I did not do is compromise my beliefs or stay silent when I saw something wrong.
Good luck, Ryan.
John Calabrese