Jonathan Mark Ralston (born July 13, 1959)[2] is an American journalist, political commentator, and former talk show host.[3] His show, Ralston Live, was seen each weekday on the two Nevada PBS stations in Las Vegas and Reno until being discontinued on June 21, 2016.[3]
In 2017, Ralston launched The Nevada Independent (TNI), a nonprofit online news site devoted to Nevada business and government.
After completing his master's degree, Ralston moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, to become a night-time police reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 1984.[6] In 1986, he was assigned to cover politics, and in 1989, he became a full-time political columnist for that paper.[5][6] In 1999, he sold his newsletter side project to Greenspun Media Group and began writing for the Las Vegas Sun, one of its newspapers.[5] His book, The Anointed One: An Inside Look At Nevada Politics, was published in September 2000. It recounted how Kenny Guinn won his first election, the Nevada governor's race in 1998, with backing from the casino industry and political insiders.[7][8]
In September 2012, Ralston left the Las Vegas Sun.[5] In 2014, Ralston appeared as an actor in the Amazon original series Alpha House.[9] His KSNVRalston Reports TV show ended on December 12, 2014.[10] On January 7, 2015, he began writing for the Reno Gazette-Journal.[11] As of 2016, did a television show, Ralston Live, a different email newsletter called Flash, and a twice-weekly column for the Reno Gazette-Journal. His show was discontinued on June 21, 2016 by KLVX and KNPB.[2][5][11][12]
Reporting on the Nevada Democratic state convention in 2016, Ralston tweeted that supporters of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders had thrown chairs.[18] The Associated Press filed a similar report. NPR originally repeated Ralston's reporting as did other media outlets, but removed it after only being able to find evidence of a chair being lifted in the air but not of one being thrown.[19]Snopes, a website that documents and debunks urban legends and rumors, identified Ralston as the source for the statement that Sanders supporters had thrown chairs and said there was no evidence to support it.[20]
The Nevada Independent
Ralston launched a digital news publication in early 2017 titled The Nevada Independent, and Ralston announced he would disclose the sources of its donations.[14][21][22]
Personal life
Ralston married Sarah Hoeveler, a former TV reporter and anchor, and they had one child.[23] They divorced and Ralston in 2012 married Jessica Sferrazza, a Reno city councilor.[24] The couple divorced in 2017.[25]
References
^Ralston, Jon (May 23, 2016). "The child I love". Ralston Reports. Retrieved January 22, 2017.