Voice of Politics in Nevada Media Starts a News Website - New York Times
“I chose the latter,” he said.
On Tuesday, Mr. Ralston will set off on his own with The Nevada Independent, a nonprofit, donation-based news website that he hopes will add more journalistic heft to the coverage of state politics.
“I have been frustrated for all the 30-plus years that I’ve been here at the depth of coverage not being what it should be,” he said in an interview last week. “Especially in what I consider one of the greatest media environments in the country.”
The site, he said, will focus on state and local politics, and public policy, but it will also delve into areas like business.
“We want to focus more on how policies affect real people,” Mr. Ralston said, adding that the site will emphasize data and polling. It will have articles in English and Spanish to appeal to the state’s large Hispanic population, and it will start publishing on Jan. 17, just weeks before the Nevada’s biennial legislative session opens on Feb. 6.
It might seem an odd time to start a news organization, given the significant challenges facing the news media industry. Beyond the financial headwinds, the public’s perception of journalism has plummeted after an election campaign in which traditional news media largely failed to predict the success of Donald J. Trump.
Mr. Ralston, 57, acknowledged the difficult environment.
But he said he had long wanted to lead his own organization, and he thought the site could carve out a niche as an independent voice in a state where he believed the ownership of major Las Vegas dailies, The Review-Journal and The Las Vegas Sun, had compromised coverage at times. Mr. Ralston said most political reporting in the state focused on “horse races and personalities.” He wants to report more on public policy and how it influences the lives of people in Nevada.
“I have to tell you I think there was a real appetite out there for this,” Mr. Ralston said. “And I think people are thrilled to support something like this.”
Keith Moyer, The Review-Journal’s top editor, disputed the idea that there were gaps in the coverage of the state; he pointed out that his paper had added about 50 positions to its newsroom in 2016.
“We have yet to see the product,’’ he said in an email, referring to The Independent. “But if it is heavy on politics and business news, the R-J already covers all of those areas in depth daily. So they won’t be filling some coverage void, per se. Ralston’s site will be another source of information and, frankly, there’s nothing wrong with that.”
For Mr. Ralston, the new venture could also be viewed as a denouement.
He began his Nevada journalism career in 1984 as the night cops reporter for The Review-Journal, where he worked for 15 years. He went on to write columns for The Sun — now an insert in The Review-Journal — and The Reno Gazette-Journal. His blog, Ralston Reports, has a loyal following. In addition to his show on PBS, he has hosted a show on local NBC affiliates, and has appeared as a commentator on MSNBC during the campaign.
Those who have worked with Mr. Ralston describe him as aggressive and confrontational. During TV interviews, he often cuts off the person he is interviewing to make points of his own.
“He does not suffer fools gladly, and he’s absolutely all over the scene,” said Steve Sebelius, the political columnist for The Review-Journal, who is also friends with Mr. Ralston. “If somebody tries to put one over on him, forget about it.”
Mr. Ralston acknowledged that his take-no-prisoners approach has not endeared him to everyone. Harry Reid, the recently retired Nevada senator, refused to speak to him for two years in the 1990s after he wrote about the senator accepting speaking fees. That history could pose problems for his new site and its reporters, and for that reason, he said, he does not want The Independent tied directly to his personal brand. A spokesman for Mr. Reid did not respond to requests for comment.
“One of my concerns is that the enemies I might have made — the people who don’t like me — that’s going to reflect on my reporters,” Mr. Ralston said, “which is why I don’t want this to be about me.”
He plans to write a column and a blog for the site, with the frequency determined by how time-consuming his editing duties are.
The project includes a handful of reporters and contributors and has raised about $2 million in donations, or enough to support the effort for about two years, he said.
Mr. Ralston said the prospect of fund-raising did not initially appeal to him.
“I felt inherently uncomfortable doing it,” he said.
He said the donations to date included $250,000 from MGM, a casino and resort company that is a major player in Nevada’s economy and politics. He said he was aware of the potential conflict of interest. “Someone could say, ‘Aren’t you biased now for MGM?’” he said. “All I can say is, I want the work to speak for itself.”
He said he would disclose all of the site’s donations and their sources and would be transparent with readers about “how we gathered the news, how we covered the news or donors.”
The project follows other regional nonprofit news organizations, particularly The Texas Tribune, which was founded in 2009. Evan Smith, a founder and the chief executive of The Tribune, called Mr. Ralston shortly after plans for The Independent became public in November to offer advice. The Tribune’s website, for example, lists every donation over $1, in real time. “You have to open with integrity,” Mr. Smith said. “If you don’t,” he added, “you’ve got nothing.”
The real question is whether The Independent will find an audience. Nevada is a battleground state politically; once reliably Republican, it has voted twice for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama in presidential elections. Hillary Clinton took the state by about 27,000 votes in November.
Ben Birkinbine, assistant professor of media studies at the University of Nevada, Reno, said he thought the acquisition of The Review-Journal and the questions it raised presented an opportunity for independent journalism. “I do think that ownership matters,” Mr. Birkinbine said. “And I think that when Adelson purchased The Review-Journal, a lot of people took note of that.”
The Adelson family has said it does not interfere in the paper’s operations or influence its coverage.
Mr. Ralston said he did not start The Independent as a response to Mr. Adelson’s acquisition or any other negative perceptions about the state of the news media in Nevada. But he said he would be happy if his site benefited from the public’s desire for another independent news source.
“Everyone knows what the media environment is here,” Mr. Ralston said. “If the state of the media in Nevada helps us get donations, I’m fine with that.”
Continue reading the main story
No comments :