FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Beverly Keneagy, 904.626.0017 / bkeneagy@splc.org
Richard M. Goehler, a Cincinnati media attorney, has been elected Chair of the Board of Directors for the Student Press Law Center, a nonprofit advocacy group for the student media, for a two-year term that begins Jan. 1.
The Board also unanimously selected Mark W.C. Stodder, a Minneapolis media executive, as Vice Chairman. Stodder will serve for one year, until the completion of his second three-year term on the Board, and will also continue as chair of the SPLC’s Governance Committee.
The Student Press Law Center (SPLC) is a Washington D.C.-area nonprofit founded in 1974 to advocate for free-press rights for high school and college journalists. It provides legal information and referral assistance at no charge to student journalists and the educators who work with them.
Goehler is a partner with Frost Brown Todd LLC and has a practice focusing on media law, including digital, interactive and social media, advertising law, copyright and trademark, and complex intellectual property and business litigation. He represents media clients in all aspects of First Amendment and newsroom-related matters, including prebroadcast / prepublication review, newsgathering, defense of defamation and privacy claims, and access and freedom of information matters.
“It is an incredible asset to have Dick Goehler, one of the best-known and most respected media lawyers in America, as the public face of the SPLC during this crucial time in the history of journalism and the First Amendment,” said Frank D. LoMonte, executive director of the Center. LoMonte noted that Goehler is a past chair of the American Bar Association’s Forum on Communications Law, and in addition to his board service, has personally provided countless hours of pro-bono legal assistance to student journalists.
Goehler said it is an honor to oversee the organization as it moves forward in deploying its 2010-2015 Strategic Plan. “I’m looking forward to working with the Board and the staff in making legal assistance helpful and accessible to every student who needs it,” he said. “With the advent of digital publishing and social media, students are more in need of sound guidance about their rights and responsibilities than ever. That’s where the SPLC can make a difference.”
Stodder is the Executive Vice President of Business Information for Dolan Media, which provides business information and professional services to legal, financial and real estate sectors across the country. He has served as vice president of the company’s Newspaper division, chaired an internal group responsible for circulation growth, and held news reporting, editing and executive positions with community newspapers in Los Angeles and the Denver area.
Goehler thanked departing board Chair Virginia Edwards, president of Educational Projects in Education, Inc., and Vice Chair Angela Filo, a journalism educator and foundation executive, for their years of dedicated service. Both are leaving the Board having served the maximum two terms. The SPLC’s 15-member volunteer board includes representatives from the journalism, legal, education and nonprofit management fields.
Since 1974, the Student Press Law Center has been devoted to educating high school and college journalists about the rights and responsibilities embodied in the First Amendment, and supporting the student news media in covering important issues free from censorship. The Center provides free information and educational materials for student journalists and their teachers on a wide variety of legal topics on its website at www.splc.org.
-30-