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Sometimes, life has a way of bringing us to places we least expect to do things we never thought we would.

As a child, Danielle Battaglia ’10 had every intention of being a teacher, an actress or a lawyer. Even up until college, her dream was to work in film and television production — doing what exactly was still up in the air. But one thing was for sure: she knew what careers she didn’t want.

“I vowed at a young age to never work in journalism or politics,” Battaglia said.

Born in Los Angeles, Battaglia’s father was a project manager at an electric supply company and her mother was a Lutheran school teacher. The family moved to the D.C. area when Battaglia was six. A decade later, she began exploring colleges hoping to find a Christian-based college with a television production program.

“My mom had heard of Lenoir-Rhyne from someone she taught with in California,” Battaglia said. “We happened to pass a road sign for [the campus] on a family vacation and stopped to tour it.”
Despite her strong aversion to journalism, Battaglia enrolled in a journalism course with Patrick McConnell, Ph.D., as part of her course of study.

“[McConnell] made me fall in love with journalism, and Gary Bartholomew, who worked in the marketing department, told me I had a natural talent for reporting and should consider it. The two of them unintentionally made me rethink my career.”

With two internships under her belt — one with WBTV in Charlotte and another with the Alexandria (VA) Times Newspaper, Battaglia graduated in 2010 from Lenoir-Rhyne with a bachelor’s degree in communication. She spent the first few months following graduation freelancing for the Hickory Daily Record before accepting a job as a reporter in Rockingham County, located on North Carolina's eastern side.
“I graduated at a terrible time in the job market,” laughed Battaglia. “I applied for 83 jobs before I stopped counting.”

Her first full-time reporting position was working for BH Media Group in Reidsville, North Carolina, writing for three newspapers covering each of the biggest towns in Rockingham County: Reidsville, Eden, and Madison. As the print products evolved, so did Battaglia’s role — and her experience.

In October of 2013, she was promoted to the interim editor of Rockingham Now, the digital merger of the three print products. Less than a year later, she would be promoted again, moving to Greensboro to cover Rockingham County for the News & Record.

Although Rockingham County was small, with a population of approximately 91,000, the stories were anything but.

In 2012, a double homicide had captured the region’s attention. As the investigation progressed, Battaglia spent countless hours interviewing family and friends of the victims, as well as law enforcement. Documented in an eight-part series titled ‘A Scream in the Dark,’ Battaglia would go on to win First Place, Best Multimedia Project from the North Carolina Press Association in January 2016. Her first, but certainly not her last.

The following year, she was awarded second place in the Public Service Award category for her coverage of an investigation into misuse of state money in the Rockingham County and Person/Caswell County district attorney offices. Coined the “Wife Swap Case” because the district attorney’s hired each other’s wives and then proceeded to overlook a lack of attendance on each of their parts to fraudulently collect a salary, the case gave Battaglia a chance to hone her stakeout skills.

“I learned that a district attorney was under investigation. In 16 hours over two days, the SBI (State Bureau of Investigation) interviewed members of his staff, one by one, in a small town library where they wouldn't be noticed,” explained Battaglia. “So I parked myself behind a bush outside the library for those 16 hours to verify that this was indeed happening. It was.”

Battaglia’s research and determination culminated in a series of articles that ultimately led to the resignation of both district attorneys, as well as criminal convictions. The interim district attorney in one of those counties conducted a secondary investigation in one of the counties into every case that his predecessor had prosecuted to ensure the illegal conduct had not impacted the outcomes.

In late 2019, Battaglia accepted a job that moved her from Greensboro to Raleigh to cover politics in the state capital for the News & Observer. Although it was once a job she vowed she would never do, she seemed to have a knack for it. After spending almost two years in Raleigh, Battaglia’s hard work landed her another promotion — to the Congressional Reporter for McClatchy, the parent company to the News & Observer.

Covering Congress and the White House comes with multiple requirements — and several background checks, something that tested Battaglia’s creativity and problem-solving skills.

While she was waiting for her official credentials — a hard pass, as they’re called — she was asked to interview former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done because Cooper was on the White House grounds, and Battaglia wasn’t. But she refused to lose the opportunity based on a technicality.

“I had to interview (Cooper) through the White House fence because my security clearance hadn’t gone through,” Battaglia laughed. “The White House still wanted me to do the story and I still wanted to do the story, but I wasn't allowed on property at that exact moment.”

Although she has to keep multiple sets of heels in her car for dress code emergencies, the job does come with some unique perks.

Battaglia attended the black-tie White House Correspondents' Dinner in 2022, 2023, and 2024. The 2022 dinner was headlined by then-The Daily Show host Trevor Noah, and past attendees have included Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson, Martha Stewart, and Drew Barrymore. She also has attended annual invite-only dinners at the Gridiron Club, the oldest and most selective journalistic organization in Washington, D.C. She has met President Joe Biden and Bill Nye the Science Guy. 

There’s no doubt that hard work, determination, and passion have played a huge role in Battaglia’s success, but, ultimately, it all comes back to the foundation she built during her four years in Hickory.

“The internship program and the classes we took to prepare for job interviews were so incredibly invaluable to me to get my start in the industry,” said Battaglia. “There are things I learned in my classes — from my writing classes, to media law, to video production — that I still use to this day.”

Battaglia’s career is a tribute to the fact that our dreams evolve, and so do we. But the work that we put in, and the people and places that help shape us, will follow us forever.

“More than anything, the people I met through Lenoir-Rhyne helped open doors for me and I will always be grateful for that.”