Early life and education
Ramirez was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She attended Brooklyn Technical High School, where she majored in communications and was a member of ASPIRA, the nonprofit organization focused on Latino youth education. She then studied communications at Fordham University in the Bronx, where she was founder and co-captain of the Fordham Dance Team.1
Career
Early television work
After graduating from Fordham, Ramirez began her television career at WPIX-TV in New York, where she worked as a field producer, writer, and production assistant. She then relocated to West Texas, joining the NBC affiliate KWES-TV in Midland-Odessa, where she reported, anchored, and hosted "Colores del Barrio," a weekly syndicated Latino music program.1
NY1 News (1996-2021)
Ramirez joined NY1 News in October 1996 and spent the central 24 years of her career there, primarily as the network's Brooklyn bureau reporter.3 She covered the borough's 2.5 million residents across schools, politics, religion, neighborhoods, and community affairs, while also serving as the lead reporter on Latino issues citywide and filling in on the weekend anchor desk.
Her tenure encompassed some of the most significant stories of the era: she reported from the ground on the September 11, 2001 attacks; covered the devastation of Superstorm Sandy; followed the federal trial of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman; documented the development of the Barclays Center and the redevelopment of Coney Island; and traveled internationally for special reports from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Vieques, Puerto Rico, where she covered the 2001 Navy bombing-range protests.3
In June 2019, Ramirez joined four fellow NY1 female anchors, including Roma Torre and Kristen Shaughnessy, in filing an age and gender discrimination lawsuit against Charter Communications, the network's parent company. The women, all over 40, alleged they had been sidelined in favor of younger, less experienced reporters after Charter took over NY1 in 2016. Ramirez was 49 and had worked at NY1 for 23 years at the time of filing. A confidential settlement was reached in late 2020, and the five anchors departed the network in early 2021.45
In May 2021 Ramirez founded Jeanine Ramirez Media Consulting LLC, based in Brooklyn, guiding companies, nonprofits, and advocacy groups in generating positive media coverage and telling their stories across platforms.1 She hosts "Voces NYC," an NYC Media program centered on the lives and careers of prominent Latino New Yorkers,6 and co-hosts "The 5 Of Us" podcast. She is a SAG-AFTRA member and longtime member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ).1
Ghostbusters: Answer the Call
In the summer of 2016, Ramirez appeared in Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016) as a "Reporter Outside Theater," one of a group of real New York journalists cast to play themselves in sequences depicting media coverage of the ghost outbreak engulfing the city.2 The casting of working broadcast journalists added authenticity to the film's news scenes, reinforcing the story's grounding in contemporary New York media.
Awards and recognition
Ramirez is a five-time Emmy Award nominee. She has received honors from the National Hispanic Media Coalition, the New York Press Club, City & State, and El Diario/La Prensa, as well as recognition from elected officials, organized labor, and community organizations throughout Brooklyn and New York City.1 In 2002 she served as a Grand Marshal of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade on Fifth Avenue.3
References
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
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Jeanine Ramirez Media Consulting, "About Jeanine," accessed 2026-06-13, https://www.jeanineramirez.com/aboutjeanine
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"Jeanine Ramirez," IMDb, accessed 2026-06-13, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3810971/
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NY1 News, "Jeanine Ramirez -- Brooklyn Reporter" (March 13, 2015), https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/on-air/2015/03/13/jeanine-ramirez
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NBC New York, "Five Female Anchors Will No Longer Work at NY1 After Age, Gender Lawsuit Settlement" (January 2021), https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/five-female-anchors-will-no-longer-work-at-ny1-after-age-gender-lawsuit-settlement/2807527/
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Gothamist, "NY1 Loses Five Female Anchors as Network Settles Discrimination Lawsuit" (January 2021), https://gothamist.com/news/ny1-loses-five-female-anchors-and-reporters-network-settles-discrimination-lawsuit
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NYC Media, "Voces NYC," accessed 2026-06-13, https://www.nyc.gov/site/media/shows/voces-nyc.page?id=4819
