Patrice Taddonio

Senior Digital Writer

As a senior digital writer at FRONTLINE, Patrice writes news stories for the series' website that add context to breaking developments by drawing on FRONTLINE's documentaries in timely, compelling ways. She also interprets key moments from upcoming documentaries as digital stories, breaking them out in advance of broadcast. A member of the team that won FRONTLINE’s 2021 Webby Award in the Websites & Mobile Sites: News & Politics category, she's obsessed with developing FRONTLINE's rich digital archive of in-depth journalism as a living resource.

Patrice has written about everything from crackdowns on dissent in Russia, Hong Kong and Iran, to civilian deaths in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, to the fossil fuel industry’s decades-long campaign to defeat climate action, to how the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority came to be. Her stories have been cited in a Congressional report, amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court, in multiple books, and by organizations including the Economic Policy Institute, the U.S. Naval Institute and the Center on Immigration and Child Welfare. In 2015, a piece she wrote on the CIA’s destruction of interrogation tapes became what’s believed to be the first FRONTLINE story to reach #1 on Reddit’s homepage.

Through her writing, Patrice helps powerful investigative storytelling get seen, heard and read. She serves as FRONTLINE's lead newsletter editor and writer and helps to edit and oversee FRONTLINE's social media content.

Patrice is a graduate of Tufts University, where she served as editor-in-chief of Tufts' independent, student-run newspaper, The Tufts Daily; interned with the Associated Press; and wrote magazine-style features as a member of the school's then-fledgling web team. She graduated summa cum laude and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. Her senior project, an exploration of the Judith Miller saga and the uses and perils of anonymous sourcing in journalism, won 2006’s Best Project in Print Journalism Award from Tufts’ Communications & Media Studies Department. She also attended Columbia Journalism School's Publishing Course.

Before joining FRONTLINE in 2013, Patrice spent four years as the first-ever communications staffer at The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, a leadership development and community service nonprofit focused on eliminating health disparities. She served as the organization's website editor, launched and wrote its blog, ran its social media platforms, and developed trainings for its fellows on how to communicate effectively about complex topics. Patrice also spent several years working in book publishing at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, where she specialized in promoting narrative nonfiction.

Watch FRONTLINE’s 5 Most-Streamed Documentaries of 2025 (So Far)
Looking for some documentaries to watch as summer continues? We’ve got you covered.
August 6, 2025
The Iran-Israel Conflict and the U.S. Role: 11 Documentaries to Watch
Decades of tensions between Israel and Iran erupted into war in June. These FRONTLINE films offer context and background on the conflict, both countries’ leaders and ambitions, the role of the U.S., and the ongoing impact across the Middle East.
July 29, 2025
Remembering William Cran, Prolific and Acclaimed Documentary Filmmaker
Cran, who died in June at age 79, produced the first two films to air on FRONTLINE in 1983. He went on to produce more than 20 documentaries for the series, including ‘From Jesus to Christ,’ ‘The Age of AIDS’ and ‘Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?’
July 2, 2025
What U.S. Diplomats Thought After Meeting Syria’s Jihadist-Turned-Statesman Ahmad al-Sharaa
Less than two weeks after Ahmad al-Sharaa ousted Bashar al-Assad in Syria, a U.S. State Department delegation arrived in Damascus to meet the onetime Al Qaeda commander. This video drawn from the documentary ‘Syria After Assad’ shows what they thought of Syria’s new leader; why his comments about Israel were striking; and why one diplomat says he 'walked away impressed.'
July 1, 2025
Legendary Journalist Bill Moyers, Correspondent on FRONTLINE Documentaries Including ‘Two American Families,’ Dies at 91
A pivotal figure in U.S. public broadcasting, Moyers worked with FRONTLINE on the acclaimed, decades-spanning ‘Two American Families’ documentary series, which won an Emmy Award the same day his death was reported.
June 26, 2025
‘A Heart So Vast It Could Hold a City’: Jackie Stanley of ‘Two American Families’ Dies at 70
Jackie Stanley, whose tenacity and devotion to her family inspired public media audiences for decades in FRONTLINE’s 'Two American Families' documentary series, died on June 3, 2025, at the age of 70.
June 17, 2025
'I’d Scream Louder': After Assad’s Fall, Brothers Return to Saydnaya Prison Where They Were Tortured
Bashar al-Assad’s regime detained more than a million people during the Syrian war. Saydnaya was the regime’s most notorious prison. In a video drawn from the documentary ‘Syria’s Detainee Files,’ brothers who were held at Saydnaya describe their experience – and so does a former guard who admits to torturing people there. 
June 10, 2025
10 Documentaries on the Science, Politics and Impact of Our Changing Climate
From the rise of the antiregulatory movement to the choices people face when their homes are threatened by rising seas, these documentaries explore the science, politics and impact of climate change.
May 22, 2025
Her Husband Died in Hurricane Helene’s Floodwaters. She Can’t Stop Thinking About ‘the Fear He Must Have Had.’
When Hurricane Helene struck, Zubila Shafiq’s husband, Omar Khan, was one of more than 100 people who died in North Carolina amid catastrophic flooding. Shafiq pieces together what happened to Khan in a video drawn from ‘Hurricane Helene’s Deadly Warning,’ a FRONTLINE/NPR documentary investigating storm preparedness across the U.S. and the impact and recovery from disasters like Helene.
May 20, 2025
Trump Calls for an End to U.S. Sanctions Against Syria Under New President. Who Is Ahmad Al-Sharaa?
The developments come five months after a rebel offensive led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, now Syria’s interim president, ousted Bashar al-Assad following more than 13 years of brutal war.
May 14, 2025
Family of Pro-Democracy Activist Anna Kwok Arrested in Hong Kong
Anna Kwok was featured in the November 2024 FRONTLINE documentary ‘China, the U.S. & the Rise of Xi Jinping.’
May 9, 2025
How a Journalist Ended Up on the Kremlin’s Wanted List
Journalist Christo Grozev exposed Kremlin spies and assassins. In this video drawn from the new documentary ‘Antidote,’ he learns that he’s been added to a Kremlin ‘wanted’ list — one in a series of escalating dangers as he continues his reporting.
May 6, 2025