As student journalists face increasing censorship, retaliation and legal threats, the Student Press Law Center is proud to announce four new members of its Board of Directors to help it meet the moment.
Kate Ortega, director of newsroom operations at Business Insider, joined the SPLC board in January. This month, the organization welcomed Christina Bellantoni, director of USC Annenberg’s Media Center; Rick Hirsch, director of the Collier Prize for State Government Accountability; and James Libresco, a first-year student at Brown University.
These additions come as SPLC implements a bold new strategic plan to expand its legal and advocacy support and ensure that student journalists can continue serving as a vital source of information amid a growing local news crisis.
“Student journalists are doing essential accountability reporting on campuses and in communities across the country, often with fewer protections than their professional peers,” said Board Chair Steve A. Holmes. “As we implement our strategic plan, Kate, Christina, Rick and James will help us expand our impact to ensure the newest generation of journalists can do this work safely and without interference.”
Christina Bellantoni is a professor of professional practice at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, the director of USC Annenberg’s Media Center, and a columnist for the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. Bellantoni has worked as a reporter and editor, as a producer and as an analyst on national television. She has covered local, state and federal government, including four presidential campaigns and the White House. Her prior roles include serving as an assistant managing editor focused on politics at the Los Angeles Times, editor-in-chief of Roll Call and political editor and an on-air analyst at the PBS NewsHour.
Rick Hirsch is an award-winning journalist with more than four decades of experience, including 12 years as managing editor of the Miami Herald. He currently serves as director of the Collier Prize for State Government Accountability, the nation’s most lucrative journalism award focused on state-related institutions. During his tenure as managing editor, the Herald earned two Pulitzer Prizes and was named a finalist five times. Hirsch also is past president of the Florida Society of News Editors and served eight years on the government board of Campus Communication Inc., the nonprofit that oversees the Independent Florida Alligator.
James Libresco, a senior staff writer at The Brown Daily Herald, has covered local politics and education for various publications in Northern Virginia, where his reporting has prompted million-dollar budget shifts, uncovered misleading statements by public officials, and sparked community discourse. For his work as editor of Alexandria City High School’s newspaper, Theogony, he was named Virginia’s 2025 Student Journalist of the Year and was a recipient of the 2025 Courage in Student Journalism Award from the Student Press Law Center and National Scholastic Press Association.
Kate Ortega is director of newsroom operations at Business Insider, where, among her other duties, she is building out a risk-management structure for the 250-person newsroom. Before joining BI, she spent nearly 25 years at The Wall Street Journal, including six years as assistant managing editor for operations. She transitioned the news staff to work from home ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic and returned them to the office afterward, and assisted in the evacuation of local colleagues from Kabul as the U.S. military pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021.
SPLC’s Board of Directors consists of up to 20 volunteers from across the fields of journalism, education, law, philanthropy and nonprofit management. Board members serve three-year terms that are renewable for one additional term.
About the Student Press Law Center: The Student Press Law Center is the nation’s only legal organization devoted exclusively to defending and advancing the free press rights of student journalists. Since 1974, we have helped students and their educators navigate the law, strengthen their reporting and stand up for press freedom. Our legal support, education and advocacy empower student journalists to report freely and courageously. Stay updated by subscribing at splc.org/newsletter.