Last week, Fallon’s own Steve Ranson was recognized as the Nevada Veteran of the Month for September, receiving the honor in Carson City in the Old Assembly Chambers at the State Capital. “I am humbled and honored to receive this recognition and to have Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony make the presentation,” said Ranson.
Ranson retired as editor/general manager of the Lahontan Valley News in Fallon, Nevada, on Aug. 1, 2017. However, he is still penning articles on military affairs, including Honor Flight Nevada, the Nevada Veterans Coalition, and the Nevada Department of Veterans Services for papers in the Nevada News Group. The Nevada Press Association named him one of two Journalists of the Year in 2012 and for having the state’s Editorial of the Year for all newspaper circulation divisions in 2014.
He began his career in print journalism by writing sports and general news feature articles for the Wells (Nevada) Progress while teaching English and Journalism at Wells High School. As a student council adviser, he invited military representatives from all service branches to be part of the career fair.
Receiving an officer’s commission in the Nevada Army National Guard in 1981, Ranson attended his officer basic training in the Adjutant General Corps at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana (since closed because of base realignment in 1993) and his officer advance course in 1990, where he earned the distinction of honor graduate in the Adjutant General Corps class. Because of his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Nevada, Reno, and practical experience as both a radio and television announcer/reporter and as a deputy public information officer with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, he was awarded qualifications as a print and broadcast journalist.
From 1984-1986, Ranson accepted a teaching assignment for the Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Panama, where he taught English and mass media in grades 10-12. Ranson was also assigned to the Southern Command Radio-TV Network as a broadcast officer. While in Panama, he worked with public affairs detachments on annual duty. He also spent the summer as a full-time reporter and production assistant responsible for designing and formatting station promos and going out on video shoots and stories.
Ranson introduced Partners in Education to his mass media students in Panama, and they were able to learn all facets of military broadcast operations. Students learned to do radio reports, television production and stories, and technical duties such as operating the studio camera.
Several highlights of his time in Panama occurred in 1985 at the Fourth of July parade at Fort Clayton when Maj. Gen. Fred Woerner, the 93rd Infantry Brigade commander, introduced the SCN television crew to Panama’s leader, Gen. Manuel Noriega.
The Ranson family returned to the States during the summer of 1986, settling in Fallon, where he accepted employment as an English/journalism teacher and assistant football coach. As he did in Panama, he established a Partners in Education program at the high school with the 106th Public Affairs Detachment. Students were able to produce radio and television sports for media in Churchill County.
Ranson is a past president of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors and the Nevada Press Association’s board of directors. He was inducted into the Nevada Army Guard Hall of Fame in 2012. He was also inducted into the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Hall of Fame in early 2018 and then the Greenwave Hall of Fame in late 2018 as a high school sportswriter and sports broadcaster.
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