This fall, The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) launched a new Media Accelerator Fellowship, welcoming an inaugural cohort of 15 talented early-career journalists. Over the course of this nine-month program, running from September to May, Fellows are learning from policy experts and accomplished journalists to develop the skills needed to succeed in today’s media landscape.

Through sessions focusing on both intellectual and professional development, Fellows have extensive opportunities to identify their beats, refine their reporting and writing skills and incorporate the principles of liberty into their work.

This Fellowship builds on the success of established TFAS Center for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) programs such as the Rago and Novak Fellowships, which have a proven track record of fostering promising journalism careers. Several current Media Accelerator Fellows, including Alex Stamell, Blake Mauro ’22 and Jameson Mitrovich were involved in TFAS’s Student Journalism Association through writing for their campus papers.

The 2024-25 curriculum includes monthly roundtables in Washington, D.C., where leading journalists and policy experts guide Fellows in developing their reporting beat.

We’re excited to launch the inaugural Media Accelerator Fellowship, which is designed to equip emerging journalists with the skills they need to thrive. These Fellows are becoming leaders who will uphold the principles of liberty in their reporting.” – Ryan Wolfe, Director of the Center for Excellence in Journalism

The Fellowship officially began with an orientation and welcome dinner in September, featuring Vic Matus of the Washington Free Beacon, who shared insights from his career on navigating shifts in the media and offered advice on how to succeed as a journalist.

In October, Fellows heard from Kurt Couchman ’02, PPF ’07, a senior fellow in fiscal policy at Americans for Prosperity, who led a discussion on Hayek’s “Use of Knowledge in Society” and Bastiat’s “What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen,” connecting these essays to contemporary discussions of economic policy in the media and sharing how Fellows can differentiate themselves as reporters of economic policy.

In November, Fellows traveled to Annapolis, Maryland, for a three-day retreat focused on developing the skills to succeed in a dynamic media environment. The retreat featured sessions on the business of media, polling and statistics, source development, brand development and media training. Fellows heard from distinguished speakers and TFAS alumni, including Andrew Kerr from the Washington Free Beacon, Paul Glader ’99, ’00 from Stand Together and John McCormack, Novak ’11, of The Dispatch and others.

Future sessions include Steve Hayes ’94, Novak ’00, of The Dispatch on political reporting, Mike Watson of the Hudson Institute on national security reporting and Kevin Daley, Novak ’21, of CRC Advisors on legal reporting. In the spring, Fellows will reconvene in Richmond, Virginia, for a spring retreat on “Liberty and Responsibility in the Media.”

Director of the Center for Excellence in Journalism Ryan Wolfe emphasized the Fellowship’s role in empowering emerging journalists.

“We’re excited to launch the inaugural Media Accelerator Fellowship, which is designed to equip emerging journalists with the skills they need to thrive,” said Wolfe. “These Fellows are becoming leaders who will uphold the principles of liberty in their reporting.”

For more information about the Fellowship, please visit TFAS.org/MAF.

Kayla Bartsch

William F. Buckley Fellow in Political Journalism – National Review

Kayla Bartsch, PPF ’23, is a William F. Buckley Fellow in Political Journalism at National Review, where she writes about education, culture and American conservatism. She graduated from Yale University in 2020 with distinction in philosophy and humanities. Originally from Minnesota, she now resides in Washington, D.C., where she is pursuing a master’s degree in theology at the Dominican House of Studies. Kayla is also an alumna of the 2023-24 TFAS Public Policy Fellowship program. In addition to her work and studies, she helps lead the Cicero Society – a debating society for young professionals in the nation’s capital – and performs with the Washington National Cathedral Choral Society.

Victoria Churchill

Campaign Reporter – New York Post

Victoria Snitsar Churchill is a 2024 Swing State campaign reporter with the New York Post and a Young Voices commentator. Formerly, Victoria was a writer and editor for American Liberty News and The Republican Standard and a Young Voices contributor. Her writing has also appeared in publications such as Forbes, The American Conservative and The Washington Examiner.  In addition to her written journalistic work, Victoria has appeared as a commentator in national and international media outlets and programs, including CBS News, The Federalist Podcast, TIME Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine and Alghad TV. Before working full-time in the media, Victoria spent a decade in grassroots politics and studied journalism at The University of Kansas. She has completed the Emerging Leaders Program at the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership under the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service and The Dwight D. Eisenhower Excellence in Public Service Series. She previously served as a mentor for TFAS undergraduate programs in Washington, D.C.

Guy Denton

Research Assistant, Domestic Policy Studies – American Enterprise Institute

Guy Denton, PPF ’22, is Matthew Continetti’s research and communications associate at the American Enterprise Institute. He co-hosts ”The Wrong Stuff” podcast with Matt Lewis and publishes regularly in outlets such as The Dispatch, National Review and The Washington Free Beacon. Previously, he worked for Jonah Goldberg at AEI and was an AEI Summer Honors Fellow, a Hertog Political Studies Fellow and a Public Policy Fellow at The Fund for American Studies. After trying for years to escape the dreary wasteland popularly known as England, where he was born and raised, he moved to the United States in January 2022.

Victoria Holmes

Associate Audio/Visual Editor – The Dispatch

Victoria Holmes is an award-winning podcast producer based in Washington, D.C. Currently, she works as a multimedia producer for The Dispatch, where she produces several podcasts and manages social media projects. Prior to that, she was a television reporter in Greenville, North Carolina.

James Lynch

News Writer – National Review

James Lynch is a news writer for National Review, where he covers breaking news and original stories on a wide range of subjects. His original reporting includes site coverage from the Hunter Biden gun trial, anti-Israel protests and Capitol Hill activity. Before joining National Review, Lynch was a reporter for the Daily Caller, where he primarily focused on the Biden family scandal and left-wing activist organizations. He was a podcast and video producer prior to jumping into the reporting world. Based in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, Lynch enjoys running, walking, going to church, reading and hanging out with friends in his free time. Originally from New York City, Lynch graduated with a political science degree from the University of Notre Dame in 2021. Lynch is a recent convert to Catholicism and a passionate New York sports fan.

Blake Mauro

Breaking News Reporter – Washington Free Beacon 

Blake Mauro ’22 is a breaking news reporter for The Washington Free Beacon. She joined the Free Beacon in June after graduating from Clemson University in May. At Clemson, Blake served as the editor-in-chief of The Tiger, the university’s student-run newspaper. She was involved in TFAS’s Student Journalism Association through writing for her campus paper. Blake is also an alumna of the 2022 TFAS D.C. Summer Program in the Journalism + Communications track. Blake was a reporter for the College Fix as an undergraduate student and held internships as a reporter for The Daily Caller News Foundation and as a production assistant for the Ingraham Angle on Fox News.

Elizabeth Mitchell

Reporting Fellow – The Daily Signal

Elizabeth Mitchell is the reporting fellow at The Daily Signal. She covers culture issues for The Daily Signal and co-hosts “The Daily Signal Podcast.” Elizabeth graduated from Hillsdale College in May 2024 and got married in June. At Hillsdale, she studied politics and journalism and served as the editor-in-chief of The Hillsdale Collegian. Elizabeth’s work is featured in The Daily Signal, Fox News Digital, the Washington Free Beacon, the Center Square, the Washington Stand and the Federalist. Elizabeth is originally from Winter Park, Florida and now resides in Arlington, Virginia.

Jameson Mitrovich

Assistant Editor – Washington Free Beacon

Jameson Mitrovich is from Los Angeles, California, and is an assistant editor at The Washington Free Beacon. He graduated from Claremont McKenna College in 2024, where he studied political philosophy in the government department. His senior thesis, advised by James Nichols and Christopher Nadon, was entitled “Techne and the Problem of Happiness.” In college, he was the managing editor of the Claremont Independent and is an alumnus of the Hudson Institute’s Political Studies program. James was involved in TFAS’s Student Journalism Association through writing for his campus publication.

Cami Mondeaux

Congressional Reporter – Washington Examiner

Cami Mondeaux ’20 is a congressional reporter with the Washington Examiner where she covers House Republicans as well as national campaigns and elections. She started with the outlet as a copy editor in May 2021, later joining the breaking news team a year later to cover local news in D.C., and the 2022 midterm elections. After that, Cami moved to the Congress beat in February 2023 to focus on the House and GOP leadership. Prior to the Examiner, Cami covered state government and elections as a breaking news reporter for KSL NewsRadio in Salt Lake City. Originally from Utah, Cami graduated from Westminster College in 2021 with an honors degree in journalism and a minor in sociology. She currently lives in Washington, D.C.

Gabriel Ogunjobi

Don Lavoie Fellow – Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Gabriel Ogunjobi is a Nigerian-born journalist based in the Washington, D.C., region. He has written for several local and international newspapers across Africa and the United States, including the Foundation for Investigative Journalism in Nigeria, The Continent in South Africa, New Lines Magazine and the Reason Foundation in the United States. Since relocating to the United States, he has worked with the Cato Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Reason Foundation, gradually shifting his focus toward foreign policy, crime and immigration. His commitment to reflecting the nuances of liberalism after his internship at Cato was recognized when he was featured as part of the “Next Generation of Libertarian Leaders” in the think tank’s 2023 end-of-year publication. He is currently a master’s fellow in the Mercatus Center’s Don Lavoie Fellowship at George Mason University in Virginia.

Nick Pope

Reporting Fellow – Daily Caller News Foundation

Nick Pope is a reporting fellow at the Daily Caller News Foundation, where he has worked since June 2023. As an energy and environment reporter, he has covered federal agencies and regulations, the Inflation Reduction Act, environmental activist groups, the power grid, energy markets and more. Nick was raised in Darien, Connecticut, along with two younger brothers and he now resides in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of Cornell University, holding a bachelor’s degree in government and a minor in business administration.

Katelynn Richardson

Reporter – Daily Caller News Foundation

Katelynn Richardson is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation, covering courts and legal issues with a focus on free speech and culture. She has reported on major cases at the Supreme Court, the trial of former President Donald Trump in New York and has testified before Congress about her reporting on government funding for censorship tools. She has also appeared on Fox Business, Newsmax, and One America News Network, and has written for outlets including the Washington Examiner, The Federalist and The Center Square.

Mark Sawyer

Lead Open-Source Investigator – Centre for Information Resilience  

Mark Sawyer ’24 is a lead open-source investigator at the Centre for Information Resilience, where he conducts online investigations of coordinated influence campaigns. Previously, he was a senior intelligence analyst at Logically, where he investigated threats of violence against election officials and online narratives impacting public trust in election integrity. Prior to Logically, he worked as a program officer at the International Republican Institute (IRI), where he designed and managed taxpayer-funded programs to support democracy in Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus. Mark is a weekly contributing writer for the Morning Brief from the Center on National Security at Fordham Law, focusing on issues of national security, civil liberties and the rule of law. He also writes as a freelancer, having recently participated in Humanities DC’s Community Journalism Program and the TFAS European Journalism Institute. Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Wheaton College and has lived in Washington, D.C., for six years.

Alex Stamell

Editorial Assistant – American Enterprise Institute

Alex Stamell is an editorial assistant at the American Enterprise Institute. At AEI, he edits the daily Tech Policy Outlook blog and the weekly Africa File, a newsletter about security threats in Africa. He also edits AEI scholars’ books and reports on topics such as economics, foreign and defense policy and education reform. Alex is editor in chief emeritus of the Michigan Review, the independent journal of campus affairs at the University of Michigan. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Romance languages and literatures and minored in the history of law and policy. Alex writes a column for his pre-K–12 school’s biannual alumni magazine and is researching and writing a complete history of the performing arts at that school. In his free time, he enjoys editing music notation. Alex was also involved in TFAS’s Student Journalism Association, through writing for his campus paper.

James P. Sutton

Morning Dispatch Reporter – The Dispatch 

James P. Sutton is a morning dispatch reporter at The Dispatch. He hails from San Francisco, California, and attended Swarthmore College. Prior to working at The Dispatch, he taught high school history and interned at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He also holds a master’s degree in military history from Oxford University. He is interested in writing about defense and national security issues.