Brandy Zadrozny (born August 30, 1980) is an American

investigative journalist Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

and

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

with

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

who specialises in political radicalization,

extremism Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied share ...

and disinformation on the Internet.

Early life and education

Before entering journalism, Zadrozny previously worked as a librarian for the New York Board of Education from 2003 to 2007 and for the

Champlain College Champlain College is a private college in Burlington, Vermont. Founded in 1878, Champlain offers on-campus undergraduate and online undergraduate courses through Champlain College Online, along with online certificate and degree programs and ma ...

Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...

in 2011. Zadrozny also worked a news librarian and researcher for

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

, and later for

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

Career

Zadrozny started her career in journalism in 2013 at ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

''. Since 2018, Zadrozny has been working as a journalist for

. At NBC News, Zadrozny has written on the "depressing" aspects of the Internet, focusing on political extremism and conspiracy theories like QAnon and the Stop the Steal movement, and disinformation on social media, particularly as it pertains to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and anti-vaccination activism. Discussing her motivation to cover these movements in her journalism, Zadrozny said that "suddenly, the stupid stuff on the internet, the scary stuff on the internet, became just so mainstream and important. And that totally should not be." In October 2020, Zadrozny was criticized on Tucker Carlson's Fox News show '' Tucker Carlson Tonight''. Carlson's guest Darren Beattie, a former speechwriter for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, accused Zadrozny of trying to "dig up personal information about anonymous Trump supporters online... basically, so she can ruin their lives." NBC News issued a statement rebuking what they described as "Carlson dangerously and dishonestly" targeting Zadrozny, saying that the claims were a "smear" and had led to Zadrozny being harassed. In their statement, NBC News said Zadrozny is "relentlessly well-researched and sophisticated in her understanding of disinformation and conspiracy theories on the Internet", and that they "couldn’t be prouder of Brandy, and we will continue to vigorously support her work."

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zadrozny, Brandy 1980 births 21st-century American journalists American women journalists NBC News people Living people Pratt Institute alumni 21st-century American women