Houston Public Media has named Laurie Johnson-Ramirez as its news director. She had been serving as interim news director since June, after serving as executive producer for the past 4 years. She also played a vital role in launching The Texas Newsroom, a collaboration between Houston Public Media, NPR and public media stations in Dallas, Austin and San Antonio.
In her new role, she will oversee strategic news planning and lead daily and enterprise reporting efforts across all media platforms. As news director, she has launched a Newscast Unit to provide more robust coverage of breaking and developing news in the Greater Houston region.
Johnson-Ramirez has been with the company since 2002. She has also won multiple awards during her career and is a frequent contributor to NPR. She has also been heard on CNN, BBC, MSNBC and several international news outlets.
She was also named 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.
