The Student Press Law Center has selected Mary Ellen Ritter as the inaugural Rosalind G. Stark Student Press Freedom Intern. The paid internship is funded by a permanent endowment SPLC announced in August in honor of former board chair Rosalind “Roz” Stark.
Ritter joins SPLC on the internship’s journalism track, where she will report this academic year on censorship cases, public records disputes and other issues affecting student journalists.
“I was 15 years old, curious about how I could contribute to my high school’s yearbook staff, when I first stepped into a newsroom and discovered my love for storytelling. Now, a decade later, I’m happy to report that I’m still chasing my younger self’s dream of being a journalist, and I am proud to be part of an organization that works hard to support other young people who have the same ambitions as me,” Ritter said.
Ritter brings experience covering schools and public records. In August, she earned a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, specializing in investigative and data reporting. At Medill, she took part in the Media Law and Government Transparency practicum run jointly with the Pritzker School of Law. That led to a FOIA externship at The Chicago Reporter, where she filed and tracked about 40 public records requests and sorted nearly 12,000 pages of documents.
Prior to her time at Medill, Ritter spent 18 months as an education reporter at The Daytona Beach News-Journal, covering about 76,000 students in Florida’s Volusia and Flagler counties. Her beat included school boards, school safety, book banning and exceptional student education.
A Wisconsin native, Ritter got her start in student media. She was editor-in-chief of her high school yearbook and was named her state’s high school journalist of the year. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota, where she served as visuals editor of The Minnesota Daily.
“The Rosalind G. Stark Student Press Freedom Internship Fund honors a long legacy of introducing young people to our mission. We are proud to have someone with Mary Ellen’s impressive credentials and commitment to in-depth reporting on student journalism join us as the inaugural intern,” SPLC Executive Director Gary Green said. “We are grateful to Roz for her decades of dedication and service to SPLC, and to her son, Andy, for establishing the endowment that makes this internship possible.”
SPLC expects to open applications for its next Stark intern, a summer legal internship, later this fall. Law students interested in applying can watch for the posting at splc.org/work-with-us-at-splc.
About the Rosalind G. Stark Student Press Freedom Internship
The Rosalind G. Stark Student Press Freedom Internship Fund is a permanent endowment that supports paid internships for law and journalism students at SPLC. It was created through a gift from Andrew F. Stark in honor of his mother, a longtime SPLC board member and former board chair. Gifts to the fund can be made at splc.org/donate/RozStark.
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.