This week, Ira spoke with Jon Ralston.
Jon Ralston, who has been covering politics in Nevada for 30 years, and is recognized as the foremost expert in the state, is the editor of The Nevada Independent, a new online, nonprofit news source launching in January 2017.
He also has hosted several TV programs, including “Ralston Live” and “Ralston Reports.”
Ralston distributes an email newsletter called “Flash” that sets the political agenda for the day, breaks news and contains analysis. He is a contributing editor at Politico Magazine. He also regularly appears on national television, including programs on MSNBC, FOX and PBS. Ralston also has appeared on “Meet the Press.”
He is originally from Buffalo, New York, and has a B.A. in English from Cornell University and a M.A. in journalism from University of Michigan. Ralston came to Las Vegas in 1984 as the night police reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, later covering general assignment and county government before becoming a political reporter in 1986.
Ralston wrote for the Las Vegas Review-Journal for 15 years, the last seven as a freelance columnist. In 1999, the Greenspun Media Group purchased his political newsletter, “The Ralston Report,” and he worked for that company, publishing columns in the Las Vegas Sun, until September 2012.
His awards include Nevada State Press Association’s Outstanding Young Journalist of the Year in 1986; Best Columnist of the Year in 1991 and 1992; and Best Non-Staff Columnist in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2015. In 2009, Ralston won the Associated Press News Executive Council award for best local column.
