The w88 online sports betting 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 ofThe Nevada Independent. Ralston will be recognized for this award and engage in a conversation with w88 School Dean Al Stavitsky and an audience Q&A on Tuesday, November 7 at 7 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Auditorium.
w88 wrote for theLas Vegas Review-Journalfor 15 years, the last seven as a freelance columnist. In 1999, Greenspun Media Group purchased his political newsletter,The w88 Report, and hired him as a columnist fortheLas Vegas Sunwhere his byline appeared until September 2012.He was also a columnist for theReno Gazette-Journaluntil he left to startThe Nevada Independent in 2017.
Over the years, w88 has hosted several TV programs, including "w88 Live" on Las Vegas PBS and "w88 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 w88 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 w88 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 w88 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 w88 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.
