Emily Ramshaw is an American journalist and news executive. She is the co-founder and CEO of

The 19th ''The 19th'', sometimes stylized ''The 19th*'', is a nonprofit, independent news organization based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2020 by CEO Emily Ramshaw and publisher Amanda Zamora, both former ''Texas Tribune'' staffers who served as ...

*, an independent nonprofit newsroom reporting at the intersection of gender, politics and policy in the U.S. The 19th's mission is to elevate the voices of women, people of color and the LGBTQ+ community, and to arm them with the information, resources and community they need to be equal participants in American democracy. The 19th* gives all of its journalism away for free, to readers and to every other news organization in America.

Early life and education

Ramshaw was born in Washington, D.C., to Mary Leonard and Gregg Ramshaw, both journalists. Her mother had a 30-year-career as a Washington correspondent and editor, and her father was a managing producer and news editor for PBS's ''NewsHour with Jim Lehrer''. Ramshaw graduated magna cum laude from Northwestern University in 2003 with a double major in journalism and American history.

Career

''The Dallas Morning News''

Prior to joining ''The Texas Tribune'', Ramshaw spent six years at ''The Dallas Morning News'', where she exposed stories about sexual abuse inside Texas’ juvenile detention centers, reported from inside a West Texas polygamist compound and uncovered “fight clubs” inside state institutions for people with disabilities.

''The Texas Tribune''

In 2010 Ramshaw joined the nonprofit, nonpartisan digital news startup ''The Texas Tribune'' as a founding reporter. By 2016 she had been named editor-in-chief of the news organization, considered the gold standard for sustainability in nonprofit news. Under her leadership, ''The Texas Tribune'' won a Peabody Award, several national Edward R. Murrow Awards and top honors from the Online News Association.

The 19th*

After announcing their departure from ''The Texas Tribune'' in December 2019, Ramshaw and co-founder Amanda Zamora introduced their new venture, The 19th*, in January 2020. The name is a reference to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which took effect on August 26, 1920, and prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the

right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. The

asterisk The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

used in the stylized name (The 19th*) is intended to serve as a visible reminder that millions of people, including women of color, were excluded from the ballot box for generations. Ramshaw said she first thought about creating a national newsroom that would report on gender, politics and policy in 2016, telling ''USA TODAY'', "The idea first entered my head when I was on maternity leave with my daughter. It was during the 2016 election, and we were seeing so many conversations around electability and likability, which are two words that are basically only used for women.... I didn't think about it much for another three years, until we entered the 2020 election cycle. And suddenly those exact same conversations about electability and likability were coming up, even though we had more women on the presidential debate stage than we'd ever had before." The news organization launched its full destination website in August 2020 followed by a week-long summit that included the first interview with newly-named vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, and a one-on-one interview with Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex. In January 2021, The 19th* expanded its mission statement to serve not just women but also the LGBTQ+ community. Early funders of The 19th* include American philanthropist and Craigslist founder

Craig Newmark Craig Alexander Newmark (born December 6, 1952) is an American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as the founder of the classifieds website Craigslist. Prior to founding Craigslist, he worked as a computer programmer for companie ...

, who donated $500,000 in its early stages; and Kathryn Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch's daughter-in-law, who invested $4 million. As of February 2023 The 19th* had raised over $40 million.

Awards and honors

Ramshaw was named to ''Fortune'' Magazine’s 40 Under 40 list in 2020. In 2016, she was elected to the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

Board, where she is serving a nine-year term.

Personal life

Ramshaw married David Hartstein in 2010 in Austin, Texas. Hartstein is an Emmy and Independent Spirit Award-winning feature film producer of documentary, fiction and commercials, whose credits include ''Sister Aimee'' (2019), ''The Sensitives'' (2018), ''Where Soldiers Come From'' (2011), ''P.O.V.'' (1988) and ''Along Came Kinky... Texas Jewboy for Governor'' (2009). Ramshaw and Hartstein have one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramshaw, Emily Women newspaper editors Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Journalists from Washington, D.C. Journalists from Texas 21st-century American newspaper editors 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists Northwestern University alumni