{{short description|American journalist (born 1980)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2017}} {{Infobox person | name = Mary Katharine Ham | image = Mary Katharine Ham (25003954384) (cropped).jpg | alt = Photo of Mary Katharine Ham at CPAC, 2016 | caption = Ham in 2016 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1980|4|5}} | birth_place = | nationality = | other_names = | political_party = | occupation = Journalist | alma_mater = [[University of Georgia]] | known_for = | spouse = {{plainlist| {{marriage|Jake Brewer|2011|2015|reason=his death}}<br />{{marriage|Steve Fountain|2020}} }} | children = 4 }}
'''Mary Katharine Ham''' (born April 5, 1980) is an American journalist and political commentator. She has worked as a contributing editor for ''[[Townhall]]'' and ''[[Hot Air]]'', written for ''[[The Federalist (website)|The Federalist]]'', and served as a [[CNN]] contributor. In 2024, she rejoined [[Fox News]] as a contributor and also writes columns for the sports-and-commentary site [[OutKick]].<ref name="Mediaite2024">{{cite web |last=Jones |first=Kipp |date=June 5, 2024 |title=Fox News Wisely Taps Mary Katharine Ham |url=https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/fox-news-just-made-a-great-hire/ |access-date=October 15, 2025 |website=Mediaite}}</ref><ref name="Barrett2024">{{cite web |date=June 5, 2024 |title=Mary Katharine Ham Joins Fox News as Contributor |url=https://barrettmedia.com/2024/06/05/mary-katherine-ham-joins-fox-news-as-contributor/ |access-date=October 15, 2025 |website=Barrett Media}}</ref>
==Career== Ham wrote for the ''[[Richmond County Daily Journal]]'', ''[[Townhall.com]]'' where she was a columnist and [[managing editor]], and ''[[The Washington Examiner]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.adweek.com/performance-marketing/katharine-ham-leavestownhall-com-for-dcexaminer-com/ |title=Katharine Ham LeavesTownHall.com For DCExaminer.com |work=FishbowlDC, The Revolving Door |publisher=Mediabistro, Inc |author=Patrick |date=May 27, 2008 |access-date=September 28, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307092315/https://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/katharine-ham-leavestownhall-com-for-dcexaminer-com_b11900 |archive-date=March 7, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> Her [[video blog]] series for Townhall.com, HamNation, won a [[Golden Dot]] award for Best Vlog of 2006 from the [[Institute for Politics, Democracy & the Internet]] and her HamNation video, "Sopranos DC," was voted "Video of the Year" in the 2007 [[Weblog Awards]].<ref name="weblog">{{cite web |url=http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/video-of-the-year-1.php |title=Video of the Year |publisher=The 2007 Weblog Awards |author=Kevin Aylward |date=November 11, 2007 |access-date=December 23, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212060801/http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/video-of-the-year-1.php |archive-date=December 12, 2007 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> The series ended in June 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://townhall.com/blog/g/e4c35d84-a48f-4fb7-b400-d9abd7de7f56 |title=Last HamNation: Obama on Your Shoulder! |author=Mary Katharine Ham |date=June 6, 2008 |publisher=[[Townhall.com]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809142331/http://townhall.com/blog/g/e4c35d84-a48f-4fb7-b400-d9abd7de7f56 |archive-date=August 9, 2009 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
Ham was a host of The Morning Majority (5–9 a.m., Monday–Friday) on [[WMAL-FM|WMAL]] (simulcast on 105.9 FM and [[WSBN|630 AM]]) in [[Washington, D.C.]], until March 5, 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adweek.com/performance-marketing/wmals-ham-abruptly-signs-off/ |title=WMAL's Ham Abruptly Signs Off|work=FishbowlDC, The Revolving Door |publisher=Mediabistro, Inc |date=March 5, 2012 |access-date=November 9, 2013|first=Betsy|last=Rothstein}}</ref>
She took part in [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]’ Republican [[2016 Republican Party presidential debates and forums|primary debate]] in Goffstown, New Hampshire, on February 6, 2016, posing questions alongside moderators [[David Muir]] and [[Martha Raddatz]] and [[WMUR-TV|WMUR]]’s Josh McElveen.<ref>{{cite web |title=ABC News/WMUR/IJReview Republican Presidential Debate – Feb. 6, 2016 |url=https://www.p2016.org/chrnprep/primdeb/deb020616.html |access-date=October 15, 2025 |website=P2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Plott |first=Elaina |date=March 26, 2017 |title=Mary Katharine Ham Is Not Here to Entertain You |url=https://washingtonian.com/2017/03/26/mary-katharine-ham-is-not-here-to-entertain-you/ |access-date=October 15, 2025 |magazine=Washingtonian}}</ref>
At the 2014 [[Conservative Political Action Conference]], she was presented with the [[American Conservative Union]] Blogger of the Year award.<ref name="cpac-2014">{{cite web |title=ACU Announced Mary Katharine Ham as Blogger of the Year ...|url=http://www.conservative.org/news/acu-announced-mary-katharine-ham-blogger-year-cpac-2014|work=The American Conservative Union|access-date=March 7, 2014|date=March 6, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307035745/http://www.conservative.org/news/acu-announced-mary-katharine-ham-blogger-year-cpac-2014|archive-date=March 7, 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name=CPAC2014>{{cite video|title=CPAC 2014 – Blogger of the Year Award – Mary Katharine Ham |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI4Y4dGsTyU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/KI4Y4dGsTyU |archive-date=2021-12-19 |url-status=live|publisher=YouTube|access-date=March 7, 2014|date=March 7, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
In October 2022, Ham wrote that she had been quietly suspended by CNN for about seven months; media coverage at the time summarized her account, which followed criticism she had made of former CNN legal analyst [[Jeffrey Toobin]]’s Zoom incident. She subsequently left the network.<ref name="Mediaite2022">{{cite web |last=Jones |first=Kipp |date=October 6, 2022 |title=Conservative CNN Analyst Blasts Network, Claiming Zucker Secretly Suspended Her for Speaking Out About Toobin's Incident |url=https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/conservative-cnn-analyst-blasts-network-revealing-zucker-secretly-suspended-her-for-speaking-out-about-toobins-masturbation-incident/ |access-date=October 15, 2025 |website=Mediaite}}</ref><ref name="Barrett2022">{{cite web |date=October 7, 2022 |title=Mary Katharine Ham Claims CNN Suspended Her After Criticizing Jeffrey Toobin |url=https://barrettmedia.com/2022/10/07/mary-katherine-ham-cnn-suspended-jeffrey-toobin/ |access-date=October 15, 2025 |website=Barrett Media}}</ref>
In June of 2024 she joined [[Fox News]] as a contributor. She also works for Fox's sports and commentary site, [[OutKick]].<ref name=Fox2024>{{Cite web |title=Media Relations {{!}} Fox News |url=https://press.foxnews.com/2024/06/mary-katharine-ham-joins-fox-news-media-as-a-contributor |access-date=2024-06-23 |language=en}}</ref>
Ham co-hosts the news-and-culture podcast ''Getting Hammered'' with journalist Vic Matus, distributed by Nebulous; the show has released hundreds of episodes since 2021.<ref>{{cite web |title=Getting Hammered |url=https://nebulouspodcasts.com/shows/getting-hammered |access-date=October 15, 2025 |website=Nebulous Podcasts}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Getting Hammered – Apple Podcasts |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/getting-hammered/id1589858387 |access-date=October 15, 2025 |website=Apple Podcasts}}</ref>
==Personal life== Ham was married to [[Jake Brewer]], a [[White House]] aide.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mary Katharine's Husband JAKE BREWER on WMAL |year=2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D40vTschdOM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/D40vTschdOM |archive-date=2021-12-19 |url-status=live|work=YouTube |access-date=March 7, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The couple married in 2011; two years later, Ham gave birth to their first child, a girl.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fantastic news! Conservative superstar Mary Katharine Ham is expecting a baby |date=June 7, 2013 |work=Twitchy Media |url=http://twitchy.com/2013/06/07/fantastic-news-conservative-superstar-mary-katharine-ham-is-expecting-a-baby/ |quote=I make a joyous announcement on a wholesome late-night show |last1=D. |first1=Sarah }}.</ref> Brewer died from serious injuries sustained in a bicycle accident on September 19, 2015, while Ham was in her third trimester of pregnancy with their second baby.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Balingit |first1=Moriah |last2=Siddiqui |first2=Faiz |date=September 20, 2015 |title='I lost part of my heart': Beloved White House staffer Jake Brewer mourned |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/09/20/i-lost-part-of-my-heart-beloved-white-house-staffer-jake-brewer-mourned/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> Ham gave birth to their second child, a girl, in late 2015.<ref>{{cite news |last=Joyella |first=Mark |date=November 30, 2015 |title=Mary Katherine<!--sic--> Ham Gives Birth to Daughter |work=TV Newser |url=http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/mary-katherine-ham-gives-birth-to-daughter/278441}}</ref>
She remarried on March 7, 2020,<ref>{{cite web |author=Staff |date=March 7, 2020 |title=Birthday of the day: Guy Benson, Townhall.com political editor, Fox News contributor and host of 'The Guy Benson Show' |work=[[Politico]] |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/07/playbook-birthday-guy-benson-123351 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201206210555/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/07/playbook-birthday-guy-benson-123351 |archive-date=December 6, 2020}}</ref> to Steve Fountain, a man "who has no social media presence."<ref>{{cite interview |last=Ham |first=Mary Katharine |interviewer=Alison Rosen |title=Mary Katharine Ham Finds Love Again |url=https://www.alisonrosen.com/2019/10/mary-katharine-ham-finds-love-again/ |website=alisonrosen.com |date=October 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201206205831/https://www.alisonrosen.com/2019/10/mary-katharine-ham-finds-love-again/ |archive-date=December 6, 2020}}</ref> Ham has three daughters and a son.<ref>{{cite AV media | date = February 10, 2022 | title = 345 w/Mary Katharine Ham "The Moronic Inferno b/w Hammer of the Gods" | type =podcast | url =https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/345-w-mary-katharine-ham-the-moronic-inferno-b-w/id1097696129?i=1000550729810 | access-date =February 18, 2022 | time =3:05 o| publisher =The Fifth Column}}</ref><ref>Mary Katharine Ham: [https://mkhammer.substack.com/p/welcome-baby-cal-my-latest-and-biggest ''Welcome, Baby Cal, My Latest and Biggest Baby!''], Substack, 2023/01/20</ref>
Ham describes her political leaning as "primarily fiscal- and security-conscious conservative."<ref name="politico">{{cite news |author=Ryan Grim |date=June 3, 2007 |title=BlogJam: Hammin' it up |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2007/06/blogjam-hammin-it-up-004287 |work=[[Politico]]}}</ref>
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Ham |first=Mary Katharine |title=End of Discussion: How the Left's Outrage Industry Shuts Down Debate, Manipulates Voters, and Makes America Less Free (and Fun) |author2=Guy Benson |publisher=Crown Forum (Random House) |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-553-44775-0}}<ref>{{cite web |title=End of Discussion |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/248531/end-of-discussion-by-mary-katharine-ham-and-guy-benson/ |access-date=October 15, 2025 |website=Penguin Random House}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=End Of Discussion (First edition details) |url=https://www.abebooks.co.uk/9780553447750/End-Discussion-Ham-Mary-Katharine-0553447750/plp |access-date=October 15, 2025 |website=AbeBooks}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{commons category|Mary Katharine Ham}} * {{official|http://www.mkhammertime.com}} * {{C-SPAN|1021859}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ham, Mary Katharine}} [[Category:Writers from Montgomery, Alabama]] [[Category:Writers from Durham, North Carolina]] [[Category:University of Georgia alumni]] [[Category:The Weekly Standard people]] [[Category:1980 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American women bloggers]] [[Category:American bloggers]] [[Category:American editors]] [[Category:American women editors]] [[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]] [[Category:21st-century American women writers]] [[Category:Fox News people]] [[Category:21st-century American women journalists]]