Dawn Fratangelo is a New York-based correspondent for NBC News. She reports for "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams," "Today" and for NBC News' 24 hour cable network MSNBC. She has also been a correspondent for "Dateline NBC" since January 1996.
Fratangelo covers a wide array of stories, but none better than those of social and human importance that weave through the fabric of society. From a profile of 9/11 widows who traveled to Afghanistan to start a foundation for other widows there to the story of the emotional journey of a mother and her son after they left the deplorable conditions of the New Orleans convention center during Hurricane Katrina to a report on the resilience of families and friends who have lost loved ones in the Iraqi war, Fratangelo's stories strike a chord.
While at "Dateline," she covered various topics including extensive coverage of the September 11 attacks and the recent conflict in Iraq. In both instances, she reported from both New York City and Europe - including in-depth reports from London on massive anti-war protests and Prime Minister Tony Blair's critical decision to support the U.S., and the rescue and progress of POW Private Jessica Lynch while she recovered in a German military hospital. In addition, Fratangelo has reported on the fatal 1996 storm at Mt. Everest, which took her to South Africa to profile that country's Everest team, and on a six-month investigation which revealed how Chase Manhattan's predecessor bank helped raise $35 million for Nazi Germany. She also covered a multi-part investigation into the tobacco industry and an undercover story on an illegal baby-selling scheme.
Prior to joining "Dateline," Fratangelo served as a general assignment correspondent based in NBC's Chicago bureau, a position she held since joining NBC News in April 1993. While in Chicago, Fratangelo covered the Midwest, reporting stories of national interest from the devastating Midwest flooding of 1993 to social issues such as child custody and welfare. She reported indepth on the Baby Richard custody battle, the only network correspondent to interview the child's biological parents.
Fratangelo was the recipient of a Gracie Award for her September 11 report entitled, "Voices," which included one-on-one poignant interviews with survivors of the World Trade Center attack. In 1999, she was awarded an Emmy Award for Outstanding Instant Coverage of a News Story for her reporting on the shooting at Columbine High School. She also won an Edward R. Murrow Award for "The Rookie," an inspirational story about a 35-year-old high school science teacher who became the oldest rookie pitcher to make it to the majors in more than 30 years. She was the recipient of a 1993 Emmy Award for Outstanding Coverage for her extensive series of reports on the 1993 Midwest floods, for which she also received an honorary Doctorate of Journalism from St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa.
From 1991 to 1993, Fratangelo was with WNBC-TV, the NBC-owned station in New York, where she co-anchored the 6 p.m. newscast and contributed reports to the 11 p.m. newscast. In addition, she was a regular substitute news anchor on NBC's "Today" and NBC News at Sunrise.
Prior to joining WNBC, Fratangelo served as co-anchor of the weekend newscasts for WCVB-TV in Boston, where she covered major stories throughout New England and the world including US-Soviet summits and the Alaskan oil spill. Before that, she was an anchor and reporter for KFMB-TV, the CBS affiliate in San Diego. While there, she received a Southern California Golden Mike Award for her reporting of the 1986 AeroMexico plane crash in California.
Fratangelo began her broadcast career at WPTZ-TV in Plattsburgh, N.Y., where she anchored the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts from 1983 to 1985. A native of Savannah, N.Y., she graduated from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh with a degree in communications.