The First Amendment Coalition is pleased to announce the appointment of Ginny LaRoe, a veteran reporter and editor with substantial experience in legal affairs news, as FAC’s Programs and Outreach Director.
LaRoe spent more than a decade on staff at newspapers in five states, primarily focused on the criminal justice system and local government. She dealt directly with threats to access, transparency and press freedoms, documenting them in the pages of local newspapers and working behind the scenes to fight reporter subpoenas, sealed records and closed courtrooms. More recently, she led communications efforts for a Bay Area nonprofit.
At FAC, LaRoe will oversee the expansion of the organization’s reach into the digital world and beyond, helping to bring FAC’s expertise and programs to a larger and more diverse audience. She will also help grow FAC’s advocacy and education programs, including its live forums on First Amendment issues.
“With her deep and varied experience, keen passion for the First Amendment, and thorough understanding of press freedoms and their crucial role in our democracy, Ginny is ideally suited to oversee the growth of our programs and outreach work,” said Executive Director David Snyder. “FAC could not be more fortunate to have her as we expand to meet the unprecedented threats to the freedoms and ideals we hold dear.”
LaRoe received her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Indiana University at Indianapolis, where she was editor-in-chief of The Sagamore. Before that, she held internships in California and Indiana state government. She got her start at the Chattanooga Times Free Press and worked in newsrooms across the South, including as criminal justice editor at the Times-Picayune of New Orleans. In San Francisco, LaRoe covered federal courts for The Recorder, a legal affairs newspaper, where she held several leadership roles, including managing editor and interim editor-in-chief. She joins FAC after directing communications for the ChIPs Network, a nonprofit that focuses on advancing women in the legal profession, and following a temporary assignment as an editor on the San Francisco Chronicle’s business desk.
LaRoe starts work at FAC on July 29.