The Reynolds School of Journalism is pleased to announce Jon Ralston as the 2023 Robert Laxalt Distinguished Writer. Ralston has been covering politics in Nevada for more than 30 years and is the founder and CEO of The Nevada Independent. Ralston will be recognized for this award and engage in a conversation with Reynolds School Dean Al Stavitsky and an audience Q&A on Tuesday, November 7 at 7 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Auditorium.

Ralston wrote for the Las Vegas Review-Journal for 15 years, the last seven as a freelance columnist. In 1999, Greenspun Media Group purchased his political newsletter, The Ralston Report, and hired him as a columnist for the Las Vegas Sun where his byline appeared until September 2012. He was also a columnist for the Reno Gazette-Journal until he left to start The Nevada Independent in 2017.

Over the years, Ralston has hosted several TV programs, including "Ralston Live" on Las Vegas PBS and "Ralston Reports" on KSNV News 3. He also writes and publishes a Nevada-centric email newsletter called "Flash" that frames the political agenda for the day, breaks news and offers analysis and snark. In 2012, Politico named Ralston one of the Top 50 "Politicos to Watch." He regularly appears on MSNBC and he has also been on NBC's long-running "Meet the Press."

Today, The Nevada Independent has a growing staff and covers political campaigns and elections; federal and state government; economy and business; and the following policy areas across the state: education; law and criminal justice; health care; immigration; energy; and environment.

Laxalt Distinguished Writer Program events are sponsored by the Reynolds School of Journalism and Nevada Humanities with generous support from the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust, Sundance Books and Music and community contributors.

The Robert Laxalt Distinguished Writer Program was established posthumously in 2001 to inspire new generations of writers in honor of Laxalt, who developed from news reporter to fiction and nonfiction author during his prolific career. Considered by many to be Nevada’s finest writer, Laxalt founded the University of Nevada Press and wrote 17 books, four of which were entered for the Pulitzer Prize. He also wrote for National Geographic and served as a professor in the Reynolds School for 18 years, teaching magazine writing and literary journalism.

This event is free and open to the public. To register, visit the event page.