On this episode, Mark Simon is joined by Richard Ruelas. Richard has been a reporter and metro columnist at the Arizona Republic for 30 years. He has moderated debates, written a book, and also reported and anchored a podcast series about a murdered Arizona journalist, Don Bolles. And he’s an adjunct professor at Arizona State.

Richard talked about all aspects of his career, including his reporting on Turning Point USA, his moderating a contentious debate for Arizona Secretary of State, his podcast work and the time he had a gun pointed at him by an Arizona politician. Throughout, he provided advice to future journalists, most notably, decide early if this is the career for you.

Richard’s salute: Tony Ortega, The Underground Bunker (scientology reporting)

Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback at journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website at thejournalismsalute.org and Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod.