Meet the Team
John Amick, Managing Editor
John Amick is the managing editor for AINN, as well as the editor for AINN’s 50-state site, The American Independent. John has worked with a variety of print and online publications, including WashingtonPost.com, Talking Points Memo and The Pitch (Kansas City, Mo.). He lives in Washington, D.C.. Email editor [at] americanindependent [dot] com.
Yana Kunichoff, Editorial Assistant
Yana Kunichoff is an editorial assistant with The American Independent’s Outing the Corporations project, where she has reported on the influence of corporate donations, private prisons, Super PACs and many other campaign finance issues in the post-Citizens United world. She is also an assistant editor and reporter for Truthout.org and freelance journalist in Chicago, where she has written for the Chicago Reporter, In These Times, Inter Press Service and Campus Progress. You can reach her at yana [at] americanindependent [dot] com and follow her on Twitter @yanazure.
David S. Lewis, Contract Reporter
David S. Lewis is a reporter for TAI based in Columbus, Ohio. He was the founding editor of (614) Magazine in Columbus, and Dig Magazine, in Baton Rouge, which he left to pursue a career in freelance political correspondence.
Nicolas Mendoza, Editorial Assistant
Nicolas Mendoza is a graduate of Wesleyan University’s College of Social Studies, and has previously written for Campus Progress and interned at the American Prospect. He reports on immigration, politics and economic policy. You can reach him at nicolas[at]americanindependent[dot]com and follow him on Twitter @nicmend.
Sam Petulla, Associate Editor
Sam Petulla is a 2010 graduate of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and has reported from Europe and the Middle East. He has written for Wired, The Atlantic, The American Prospect, Nieman Journalism Lab, Gawker and other publications and he often writes about election law, political organizing and economic policy. He previously worked as an office assistant for Google in New York City.
Sofia Resnick, Reporter
Sofia Resnick lives in Washington, D.C. She writes about reproductive rights, LGBT issues and money in politics for The American Independent. Before coming to TAI, Sofia worked as a freelance reporter in Chicago. She has also worked for The Austin Chronicle in Austin, Texas, and the teen-girl feminist Web magazine PaperDolls. She has a master’s degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Email tips and concerns at sofia[at]americanindependent[dot]com.
Mikhail Zinshteyn, Editorial Assistant
Mikhail (pronounced Michael) Zinshteyn (pronounced anyway you want it) is an education reporter for the American Independent. His work has appeared in The American Prospect, The Huffington Post, and Louisiana Weekly. He focuses on K-12 education policy, teacher quality, and the education reform movement. Mikhail was born in the USSR, grew up in Los Angeles, and received his education at Union College (dual BA) and The London School of Economics (MSc).
