A Hall of Famer: Well-deserved honor for R-J’s Ed Vogel

Carson City is a day’s drive from Las Vegas, making it impossible for the vast majority of the state’s residents to be directly, regularly engaged in the functions of state government.

Yes, public meetings and legislative hearings are teleconferenced to the Sawyer Building in downtown Las Vegas, but it’s not the same thing as being in the state capital. If it were, lobbyists wouldn’t pile up frequent flier miles and put such a premium on personal interactions with various players.

To understand what’s really happening in Carson City – to protect your interests and have influence – you need boots on the ground.

That’s where journalist Ed Vogel comes in.

Mr. Vogel has carried a Review-Journal byline for 35 years, the past 33 of them in Carson City, first as a reporter and then as bureau chief. He has covered 17 regular sessions and 12 special sessions of the Legislature, spanning the administrations of five governors.

Mr. Vogel, 64, works for you. He is your eyes and ears in the capital. For more than three decades, he has reported and refined the big stories and back stories of public policy and state politics, putting them into context for voters of all stripes. He talks to everyone – Republicans and Democrats, career lobbyists and average citizens – and produces report after report, year after year. All so you have the information you need to participate in the political process.

On Saturday night at The D hotel in downtown Las Vegas, at the Nevada Press Association’s annual awards banquet, Mr. Vogel was inducted into the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame. It was a well-deserved honor for a man whose professional life has been dedicated to telling stories that matter to all Nevadans.

Far from being an insulated insider, Mr. Vogel has spent countless days venturing beyond Carson City, into rural outposts few people have ever heard of, finding unusual stories about unique people who live far from the bright lights of Las Vegas and the corridors of power in the capital.

It’s a special gift to be able to talk to anyone and relate the conversation to just about everyone.

But Mr. Vogel is not just an extraordinary storyteller. He’s a prolific one as well.

It’s not uncommon for Mr. Vogel to have three to five separate stories in a single edition of the Review-Journal when the Legislature is in session. He cranks out this copy while taking countless calls from editors and sources, managing the interruptions of breaking news and dealing with the pressures of daily deadlines. It is an exceptionally difficult task that few experienced journalists can handle.

“Even after more than four decades as a journalist, including 35 years at the R-J, Ed somehow manages to outhustle most of the reporters on our own staff, to say nothing of how he handles the competition,” Review-Journal editor Mike Hengel said at Saturday’s induction. “His commitment to getting the job done right is unflinching; he does not give up, he does not give in.”

Congratulations, Mr. Vogel, on your induction into the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame.