Elsa Ramos Ramírez: a life dedicated to critical and in-depth journalism

“People also have a certain label for me, that I only do critical journalism. Well-timed words, precise adjectives, concrete ideas. They’ve told me I’m incisive. In fact, this jury just pointed that out to me, and I said: ‘Oh, look, they used incisive.’ It delves into necessary, current issues, the kind that cut to the bone. For me, being incisive means being intentional, intentionally crafting a question, a phrase, and so on.”

She is Elsa Ramos Ramírez, whose life has taken her far beyond the profession she chose and has proven to master, whether in radio or print media, the two public media outlets where she has made her mark.

“I’ve been in radio for 36 years, which is still my medium, but in print media, specifically in Escambray, I’ve been working for about 30, and more directly, for 26 years I’ve been running the sports page.”

From there, at number 10 Adolfo del Castillo Street in Sancti Spíritus, she was crowned for the second consecutive time with the Juan Gualberto Gómez National Journalism Prize. And if we’re talking about making headlines, this is the sixth award of her career. The daughter of Palmarito has set the bar high in the profession.

“Escambray has always given me the opportunity to do any kind of work, on any topic. And it was precisely in that work, especially with Juan Antonio Borrego, who always even entrusted me with other kinds of work, social and economic, because he knew I enjoyed it. So, a kind of systematic approach to those topics developed. It continued with Giselle, and then with Juan Carlos Castellón. They’ve entrusted me with work specifically on almost all critical, almost all somewhat thorny issues, as we say, investigative ones, because I enjoy it, and print media, you know, gives you that opportunity to develop research, to compare sources.

You know I have some personal characteristics, and it seems I’m going to be the last representative of the provinces, because the print media has stopped right now. We don’t know when it will start up again, but well, I don’t think it’s that simple because other newspapers will continue circulating, but the provincial newspapers won’t. It seems I’m going to be the one to see that closure too.”

She knows the closing stage well. For over 20 years, she’s felt the adrenaline rush of putting the finishing touches on her work, when all that’s left are her sports articles to send to Escambray for printing. Publication after publication, she carved out her place in a field dominated by male voices.

“Yes, it was difficult at first, but I really enjoyed the challenge, because I’m a woman who thrives on challenges. Not only because I was surrounded by men writing about sports. No, it was also because almost all my sources were men, and I had to prepare a lot, because you know how things stay in print media. Escambray already had a reputation, and people went to Escambray a lot to read it.

Once, I did a piece on baseball, which was in bad shape in Sancti Spíritus at the time, across all levels. And the piece was called ‘That’s baseball, this is baseball.’ And then the coaches, all men, kind of put me on trial.” After the initial tension of that moment, well, I remember telling them: look, you’re all wearing pants. And I am too. I mean, you’re men and I’m wearing pants too. I mean, the fact that you’re wearing pants and I am too doesn’t mean the pants make a difference. That’s more or less how things eased up, the tension eased. Afterwards, I can tell you that I’ve had excellent relations with the source.

As the most recent jury that evaluated her work in 2025 stated, Elsa Ramos Ramírez remains one of the sharpest and most essential voices in Spanish journalism, one of the most followed and respected professionals in the field. Therefore, the idea that she might step away from her profession is surprising.

“I’ve been 60 since September 2025, but according to my driver’s license, I’ll turn 60 in April. And I’m already working on the paperwork and I’m going to apply for retirement in April. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I have to wait. I mean, I don’t know if they’ll rehire me. April has to come because I also want to take some time off and completely disconnect from the internet. But I have said that I’m not going to practice journalism anymore.”