FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Frank LoMonte, SPLC Executive Director
(202) 872-1704
director@splc.org
Veteran journalist and nonprofit executive Diana Mitsu Klos has joined the Student Press Law Center on a consulting basis in the role of Director of Engagement, adding depth and talent to the staff of the advocacy organization that serves America’s largest community of journalists.
Klos is a former executive director of the National Scholastic Press Association/Associated Collegiate Press, as well as a longtime staff member with the American Society of News Editors, where her portfolio included running the ASNE’s journalism-education programming.
In this newly created position, Klos will draw on her extensive professional network to broaden and strengthen the SPLC’s partner relationships across the fields of law, media and education, as well as designing initiatives to tap into the power of the SPLC’s nationwide network of attorney and educator volunteers.
The SPLC is searching for a replacement for departing Executive Director Frank LoMonte, and LoMonte said bringing aboard additional veteran leadership to advise the SPLC’s board and staff at a time of transition was a top priority.
“The demand for help from the SPLC never abates, and the opportunities for us to make positive public-policy change have never been greater. It will be invaluable to have Diana’s wise guidance so that the SPLC does not lose any momentum and continues delivering the reliable service for which we’ve always been known,” LoMonte said. “Diana is a respected and beloved person across the journalism education field who has dedicated her career to the betterment of journalism training, and we’re really proud and gratified that she agreed to help strengthen our organization at a time of such challenge for American journalism.”
As executive director of the NSPA/ACP Associated Collegiate Press from 2013-16, Klos oversaw eight national high school and collegiate conventions annually, plus several other training and recognition programs..
While with ASNE from 1996-2012, Klos launched the High School Journalism Initiative. With support from the Knight and Reynolds foundations, the initiative included a two-week training program for more than 2,300 media advisers; the first, free national website hosting service for student publications; an educational website and a national online advertising network.
For leading these efforts, Klos has been honored with The Joseph Murphy Award for Outstanding Service and the Gold Key from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, the Journalism Education Association’s Friend of Scholastic Journalism Award, and the Association for Journalism in Education and Mass Communications’ Robert P. Knight Multicultural Award. She serves on the Dow Jones News Fund Board of Directors.
Klos grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., graduated from the City College of New York, and worked as an award-winning reporter, city editor and managing editor for news organizations in New Jersey, Connecticut and New York.