Ryan ChartrandThe National Association of Hispanic Journalists inducted award-winning journalism chairperson George Ramos into its Hall of Fame during the 25th Anniversary Gala held June 16 at the Fairmont Plaza Hotel in San Jose.
“I’m speechless,” Ramos said. “People tell me I deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, but I’m not so sure. I feel honored to be in the same group as Ruben Salazar, who died covering anti-Vietnam war demonstrations.”
Salazar was a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and news director of Spanish-language television station KMEX. Salazar was covering the Chicano Anti-Vietnam War Moratorium in East Los Angeles when he was killed by a tear-gas projectile fired by a deputy sheriff in 1970. He was posthumously inducted into the NAHJ Hall of Fame in 2000, which was created that year
NAHJ’s Hall of Fame honors those journalists and industry pioneers whose efforts either nationally or locally have resulted in a greater number of Latinos entering the journalism profession or have helped to improve news coverage of the nation’s Latino community.
Among the other inductees was Cecilia Alvear, who has been a producer for three network stations in Los Angeles, president of Galapagos Alvear Foundation, and Rigo Chacon, a retired San Francisco television reporter and president and executive director of Abrazos and Books.
“This trio has inspired so many young Latinos and colleagues,” stated NAHJ’s executive director Ivan Roman in a press release. “Cecelia, Rigo and George have dedicated their lives not just to their careers but to helping those in need, and have collectively spent more than a century fighting for better representation and coverage of our community. The breadth of their dedication and their work is truly humbling.”
Besides being immortalized in NAHJ’s Hall of Fame, Ramos received three Pulitzer Prizes while reporting for the Los Angeles Times, where he worked for 25 years.
His first Pulitzer was in 1984 when he and a team of reporters created a series on the lives of Latinos living in Southern California, including a story of his childhood in the barrio.
He won his second Pulitzer in 1992 for a team coverage on the Los Angeles riots after the Rodney King verdict. He earned his third Pulitzer two years later for his reports on the Northridge earthquake.
“Few journalists have done as much as George Ramos has to bring both sides of a city to life with their reporting,” journalism faculty staff member Brady Teufel said.
Other journalism professors praised Ramos for his achievements as a journalist.
“George Ramos is deserving of the honor because he is a role model for young people,” associate journalism professor Douglas Swanson said. “As a journalist, George identifies with people who are under-represented in society. He’s able to tell their stories in imaginative and empathetic ways. We need more journalists like George who will pound their fist on the table and demand that we care for people, learn about their needs and report stories that have depth and compassion and make life better for everyone.”
Journalism students are proud to have an award-winning professor.
“It’s a big achievement, and it’s cool to have someone who has done so much and achieved awards as a professor,” journalism senior Brooke Robertson said.
“Ramos can give students a hard time, but it’s all love,” Robertson said. “He helped me to be more confident as a journalist by pushing me to do my best.”
“I think Ramos deserved this award and he should have received it years ago,” Kathrene Tiffin, a Cal Poly journalism graduate, said. “He has done so many things for the Hispanic culture in his work and it is obvious he is among the top journalists with what he has done. Cal Poly is lucky to have such an experienced teacher.”
Ramos not only helped establish the NAHJ, but also shaped the California Chicano News Media Association at the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Journalism, which promotes diversity in the news media by providing encouragement, scholarships and educational programs for Latinos pursuing careers in the news media, fostering an accurate and fair portrayal of Latinos in the news media, and promoting the social, economic and professional advancement of Latino journalists.
“I can’t just sit on my laurels,” Ramos said. “I didn’t get into journalism for the rewards. I still consider myself as the kid from East L.A.”
Ramos said he pursued journalism for several reasons: 1. He could write and 2. He wanted to prove that Mexicans aren’t “problem people” who are many times associated with illegal immigration issues and portrayed as gang members in the news media.
“We’re just like everybody else,” Ramos said. “We care about the same issues as other people like good schools and clean streets.”