Laurie Johnson-Ramirez

Laurie Johnson-Ramirez leads news coverage for Houston Public Media across broadcast and digital platforms. Ramirez is a native Houstonian who started her career at Houston Public Media in 2002. Before becoming News Director, Ramirez held the position of Executive Producer for Daily News, leading daily and breaking news coverage, helping reporters craft and sharpen their stories, and helping launch The Texas Newsroom, a collaboration between Houston Public Media, NPR and public media stations in Dallas, Austin and San Antonio.

Ramirez has won multiple awards for her coverage of breaking news, politics and government, and public affairs reporting. In her career, she has covered a wide range of topics including the crash of the Space Shuttle Columbia, Hurricanes Katrina, Ike and Harvey among other natural disasters, the Enron trials, and numerous elections. She is a frequent contributor to NPR and has been heard on CNN, the BBC, MSNBC and multiple international news outlets.

She was named the Radio Journalist of the Year in Texas in 2012 by the Houston Press Club and won the award for Best Newscast in 2016 from the Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI). She is a graduate of the University of Houston.