Meet Danielle Battaglia, The N&O’s congressional impact reporter
Hi! I’m Danielle Battaglia.
For four years, I served as your eyes and ears in Washington covering North Carolina’s congressional delegation and the White House and their impact on North Carolina residents. In January, I moved back to Raleigh and have received your messages wondering what that move means for my beat.
I wanted to take the time to explain. To start, we’re changing the name of my beat from Washington correspondent to congressional impact reporter.
But little is changing in terms of my beat, except a net-positive to tell stories that matter to you. I still plan to serve as a watchdog for what your representative is doing with his or her time in Washington. I still plan to keep News & Observer and Charlotte Observer readers informed about congressional legislation that could impact their lives.
Now, moving back to North Carolina allows me to better tell your stories — the impact Congress and the White House are having on your daily lives. It also allows me to better follow the campaign trail of the people running to represent you in Washington.
I’ve spent my entire career covering North Carolina in some capacity, whether that was the Reidsville City Council, the Guilford County Courthouse or state government. Doing so has been such an honor, and I’m excited to see where this move takes me.
How I got started in journalism
Let me tell you a little more about myself. I was raised, alongside my older sister, by two wonderful parents in Alexandria, Virginia.
I moved to North Carolina in 2006 to attend Lenoir-Rhyne University, where I studied electronic communications and journalism. I had plans to work in production in the film industry, until I fell in love with journalism.
I started my career at The Reidsville Review in 2011 covering the Reidsville City Council, the Rockingham County Board of Education and crime and courts. But being the only reporter covering a town of 14,500 people meant my beat could change from day to day, and it also meant covering who grew the largest tomato (true story) or photographing brothers competing to see who could catch the biggest fish and get it into the newspaper (also a true, repetitive story).
In 2014, The News and Record in Greensboro hired me to work as their Rockingham County reporter with a focus on government. Layoffs swept our newsroom quickly after I began, and I moved over to the crime and courts beat and helped with the newspaper’s website.
To this day, I still most often hear about two stories I worked on while working in Greensboro: an eight-part series on a Reidsville murder and an embezzlement scheme by two district attorneys I uncovered. They were arrested and convicted of failure to discharge the duties of his office, though one faced far more charges and convictions.
A shift to politics
I loved covering crime and courts, but after awhile, those stories began to wear on me, and that was happening around 2019 when N.C. Insider (previously owned by The News & Observer) reached out to me about coming on board to cover politics.
I joined the outlet, and then transferred to The News & Observer’s state politics team. In 2021, when the N&O asked me about covering Washington, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to leave North Carolina. At that point, I had lived in North Carolina longer than Virginia.
But then I realized it gave me the opportunity to move home and still cover North Carolina, which has become one of the loves of my life.
I wasn’t ready to give up covering North Carolina when the company approached me in October about returning to come back to Raleigh. I took the opportunity.
Since being back, I’ve been busy keeping up with North Carolina’s delegation in Washington. Here’s a look at some of my recent articles, which include covering President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance’s visits to the state.
- NC’s Thom Tillis isn’t leaving the Senate quietly. Here are 10 memorable moments
- NC’s Thom Tillis drops the filter as he prepares to leave the Senate
- Democrats in Congress fail to force Iran withdrawal. How did NC’s members vote?
- Senate candidate Roy Cooper promises to lower costs at rally in Durham
- At CPAC, Whatley pledges loyalty to Trump and uses Zarutska killing to attack Cooper
- Could Mark Robinson face legal liability for lying about porn reports?
- NC’s Deborah Ross echoes Tillis calling for Noem’s resignation over Helene relief
- President Trump flouts military tradition with partisan Fort Bragg speech
- Vance promises answers to Tillis’ questions on Operation Charlotte’s Web
How to reach me
My chiweenie, Julie, and I are almost settled back in, except a few boxes I’m too lazy to sort through. Julie is excited to learn about the squirrels outside our window and wonders why people nearby keep hitting tennis balls — her favorite things — with racquets.
In the meantime, I can not stress enough that is the privilege of a lifetime that you continue to read my writing, welcoming me onto your door stoops and inboxes. I hope my coverage continues to serve you well.
Please send any questions, ideas or tips, or just say hi, to dbattaglia@mcclatchydc.com.
You can find more of my reporting in our Under the Dome newsletter, which publishes every day but Saturday. Sign up for it here. And you might hear me periodically on our weekly Under the Dome podcast.
Thank you for reading this newsletter and for your support!
