The executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Student Press Law Center is coming to work at UF.
UF’s College of Journalism and Communications announced Wednesday that Frank LoMonte will start as the new executive director for The Brechner Center, UF’s center for the freedom of information, in early August. LoMonte, who’s worked as a journalist and lawyer, was one of about 25 people who applied for the position after former executive director Sandra Chance stepped down at the beginning of Fall, said Clay Calvert, the director of the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project at UF.
“It is a magnificent hire for the College of Journalism and Communications but also the University of Florida,” Calvert said.
The Brechner Center is a nonprofit educational center that answers questions and offers legal advice about media law and the First Amendment.
LoMonte’s annual salary will be $140,000, UF spokesperson Steve Orlando wrote in an email.
LoMonte said he was an undergraduate in political science at UF and finished his degree at Georgia State University. After working as a journalist for 11 years, he attended the University of Georgia’s law school, graduating in 2000.
Since 2008, LoMonte was the executive director for the Student Press Law Center, a nonprofit advocating for students’ First Amendment Rights. For the Brechner Center, LoMonte said he wants to incorporate more data journalism and bring national attention to the program.
“I got no problem punching back at the people who call CNN fake news,” he said.
Contact Paige Fry at pfry@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @paigexfry
Frank LoMonte
