J. PETER FREIRE is at school, learning to be a better pundit.

He is being trained to carve his conservative philosophy into bite-size nuggets  preferably ones that end with a zinger  and to avoid questions he doesn’t like. He is discovering the right way to attack opponents (with a smile) and to steer a conversation in his direction (by interrupting).

Journalists once had to achieve a certain gravitas before appearing on television as a political expert, but not anymore. Thanks to the 24-hour news cycle, a riveting presidential election and the proliferation of cable channels, people like Mr. Freire, who is 26 and has been managing editor of The American Spectator, a conservative magazine, since January, are finding themselves in hot demand.

Tucker Carlson may have paved the way, becoming a host of “Crossfire” when barely over age 30. More-recent role models include Luke Russert, the 23-year-old son of the late Tim Russert, who was hired by NBC this summer to cover the youth vote, and Rachel Maddow, who is 35 and rose from nowhere to become a top-rated headliner on MSNBC.

But the transition from dorm-room debates to prime-time TV isn’t always easy, and that’s where pundit school comes in. Mr. Freire, whose résumé since graduating from Cornell includes a string of internships and short-term jobs, started making the television rounds  Fox News, MSNBC, C-Span, you name it  after he got his current job. Then came the embarrassing on-air moment when, by his account, a Fox News host baited him into calling for a boycott of The New York Times, where he had once been an editorial clerk. Mr. Freire, who had known for some time that he had room for improvement in his TV appearances, decided to seek professional media training.