About Salena Zito

Salena Zito

Salena Zito

Salena Zito joined the Washington Examiner in 2016 as a Western Pennsylvania-based columnist and reporter covering national politics and culture. She is also a weekly columnist at the New York Post, contributes to The Wall Street Journal and co-authored “The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics” with Brad Todd. In 2018, she won first place for her columns in the Associated Press for her coverage of American politics, and she also won the Barbara Olson award for excellence and independence in journalism.

She has taught journalism at the Harvard Institute of Politics, Washington and Lee University, and Hillsdale College.

She has interviewed every president, vice president and candidate who sought their party’s nomination on both sides of the aisle in the 21st century.

...

Take the Wilderness Road and You'll Find the Appalachian First Lady Who Fooled Washington Oct 13, 2026

WYTHEVILLE, Virginia — Most people meet this town zooming past it at 70 mph. Interstate 77 comes up out of North Carolina. Interstate 81 runs down the Great Valley toward Bristol. They cross here, share a few miles of pavement, and then split a... Read More

...

The Night Linden Avenue Stopped Feeling Safe Oct 06, 2026

EDGEWOOD, Pennsylvania — The Evans family threw a Halloween party every year in their backyard on Linden Avenue. Neighbor Jeannine Fisher told WPXI, the local NBC affiliate, that she remembers "tons of people and kids" there. She also remembers... Read More

...

How 1,800 Local Tradespeople Are Powering Pennsylvania's Ultimate Energy and Data Innovation Campus Sep 29, 2026

HOMER CITY, Pennsylvania — Eighteen months ago, Shawn Steffee stood in a field in Indiana County and watched the smokestacks of Pennsylvania's largest coal-fired power plant fold into a cloud of dust, then told anyone who would listen that the ... Read More

...

Ground Broken on a Rust Belt Powerhouse: Shippingport's Data Hub Rises in the Age of AI Anxiety Sep 22, 2026

SHIPPINGPORT, Pa. — The last time that I stood on these grounds along the Ohio River in Beaver County was 1976, 19 years after the first commercial nuclear power plant in the United States opened here. My Perry High School physics teacher, Davi... Read More