Ralston, Gentry out at the Las Vegas Sun

Longtime local political journalist Jon Ralston has left the Las Vegas Sun, the pundit and newspaper each confirmed on Friday.

The split between the feisty columnist and TV commentator and the Sun comes days after Ralston producer Dana Gentry parted ways with the newspaper.

Blogger and former Review-Journal editor Thomas Mitchell reported that Gentry resigned after Las Vegas Sun editor Brian Greenspun pulled her from covering the legal woes of Aspen Financial Services, a hard-money lender whose principal owner is Jeff Guinn, son of former Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn.

Las Vegas Sun editor Brian Greenspun did not respond to requests for comment.

In a post on LasVegasSun.com, Greenspun said, "The Sun and Ralston combined to build a significant brand in political commentary that is unsurpassed in Nevada. After a dozen years, it is time for Jon to take that brand and strike out on his own."

It also said the paper, which is distributed inside the Review-Journal but is editorially independent, would continue to sponsor "Face to Face," the political talk show Ralston hosts on KSVN, Channel 3.

Gentry has become entangled in a nasty litigation involving Aspen Financial. Although Gentry is not a named party in the lawsuit, Jeff Guinn attorney John Bailey has pushed in court to obtain personal financial information that might link her to players in the case. That issue is before the state Supreme Court. The Review-Journal and other news organizations, including the Sun, have filed an amicus curiae "friend of the court" brief on Gentry's behalf.

In a brief interview Friday, Sun managing editor Tom Gorman said Gentry's removal from the Aspen story was simply an example of the newspaper practicing professional standards.

"What I can say is our editorial standards, and in this case the Guinn litigation, call for that story to be covered by a journalist who doesn't have a stake in the proceedings," Gorman said. "When that case got heated up and Dana was drawn into it, maybe through no fault of her own, we thought it was the prudent thing to do to assign that story to another reporter."

In an email, Ralston didn't elaborate on the reason for his departure from the Sun other than to say, "I am excited to take the next step in my career and use all of the available new technology to extend my brand. I'll be launching it very soon, and I'll still be hosting 'Face to Face.' "

In a series of tweets on Friday, Ralston addressed the transition.

"Fact: I'll still be hosting F2F. Fact: RalstonFlash will still exist. Fact: Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Thanks for well wishes," he wrote in one tweet. "Suffice to say, tweeps, there's about to be a new site in Nevada to get political info. It will have news, analysis, columns, more."

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@
reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.