Raul Ramirez (1946 – November 15, 2013) was an accomplished and widely published print and broadcast journalist and executive, educator, and activist in promoting independent reporting and diversity in the profession.
In 1976, while working for the Examiner, Ramirez and freelancer Lowell Bergman, later of 60 Minutes, investigated a San Francisco Chinatown murder case, describing how police and prosecutors pressured witnesses, leading to a conviction.
[5] When the Examiner refused to provide a legal defense for freelancer Bergman, Ramirez also declined the company's lawyers and with friends raised private funds to defend both reporters.
In that role and later as executive director for news and public affairs, he transformed KQED into a significant outlet for journalism in the Bay Area and California.
He was a founding director of the Latino Public Radio Consortium and led workshops on civic journalism and investigative reporting in the United States, Europe and Ukraine.