We’re growing!

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has promoted one and added five new members to its team to expand our work to protect First Amendment freedoms, defend the newsgathering rights of journalists, and improve access to public information.

Caitlin Vogus has been promoted to a staff attorney and will focus on growing the Reporters Committee’s amicus work. Caitlin joined the Reporters Committee in 2015 as a Stanton Foundation Media Litigation Fellow working on freedom of information, court access, and First Amendment issues. Previously, she was an attorney advisor in the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Rossie D. Alston, Jr. of the Virginia Court of Appeals. Caitlin received her bachelor’s degree in American studies from the University of Virginia, where she was executive editor of The Declaration, a weekly news and humor magazine. She earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Sarah Matthews comes to the Reporters Committee as a staff attorney. She will take the lead on our work evaluating requests to the First Look Media Press Freedom Defense Fund, as well as focus on our amicus and litigation work. Before joining the Reporters Committee, Sarah was associate principal counsel at The Walt Disney Company, where she handled complex media distribution deals. Before that, she was a litigation associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where she worked on First Amendment and media law cases and represented the Reporters Committee on a pro bono basis.

Katie Aune joins the Reporters Committee as development director and will lead fundraising efforts and build relationships with foundation, corporate, and individual supporters. Previously, Katie worked with donors to structure planned gifts at the National Geographic Society and oversaw alumni engagement and annual giving for IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, where she helped coordinate the school’s 125th anniversary celebration. She also launched the alumni relations program at DePaul University College of Law and worked on the school’s $30 million fundraising campaign. Katie holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa, a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School, and an LL.M. in Taxation from Northwestern University School of Law. Before transitioning into development, she practiced tax law at two Chicago law firms.

Amelia Nitz will help raise awareness of the Reporters Committee’s mission and promote its work to a wider audience as the organization’s communications manager. Amelia comes to the Reporters Committee from GMMB, a full-service communications firm, where here work primarily focused on brand and reputation management and media relations for mission-driven nonprofits, foundations, and trade associations. Prior to GMMB, Amelia worked for Capstrat, a strategic communications agency in North Carolina, and interned for the former Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina and in the U.S. Senate. Amelia earned bachelor’s degrees in journalism and peace, war, and defense from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was also a reporter for the independent student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel.

The Reporters Committee also welcomes two new legal fellows for 2017-2018:

Josh Moore will focus on libel, invasion of privacy, and protection of confidential sources and materials as the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Legal Fellow, funded by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation. Josh recently graduated magna cum laude from American University Washington College of Law, where he was associate managing editor of the American University Law Review. He has also completed legal internships with National Public Radio, the Maryland Court of Appeals, and the Student Press Law Center. Before attending law school, Josh was a newspaper copy editor and designer in Kentucky. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Western Kentucky University, where he was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The College Heights Herald.

Michael Shapiro will help journalists access government records under state and federal freedom of information laws as the Jack Nelson-Dow Jones Legal Fellow, funded by the Dow Jones Foundation. Before graduating in May from the University of Virginia School of Law, Michael was an investigative reporter at newspapers in South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.