This is one in a series of occasional articles highlighting the people whose decisions, activities and work directly impacts the way in which we enjoy, use, celebrate and protect our wonderful Blue Ridge Mountains.
Hanna Pampaloni—Reporter, Loudoun Now
Over the past four years no one has told us more about the important public policy issues in Western Loudoun County than Hanna Pampaloni and Loudoun Now.
Her reporting has covered some of the most consequential and often controversial topics facing our region: protecting prime agriculture soils, the growth of data centers and building the transmission lines to power them, the Western Loudoun zoning amendments and the proposed Eastwind boutique resort and spa near Paris Mountain and the Appalachian Trail. Hanna regularly reports on the deliberations of Loudoun County’s governing bodies including the Board of Supervisors, the Planning Commission and the Transportation Land Use Committee (TLUC). Hanna has been our primary source of information about complexities and controversies about all of this and many more issues.
Hanna comes to this career with a deep personal knowledge of Western Loudoun. She was born in Leesburg and grew up on a small farm in Roud Hill near the base of Mount Weather. She remembers very clearly that the farm was 4.9 acres because, as her parents so carefully explained to young Hanna, the law required a minimum of 5 acres for a horse. Perhaps that early lesson in how public policy shapes everyday life helped spark her interest in public affairs.
Hanna was home schooled K through 12. After graduation she and two friends took time off for a month’s long trip through Alberta Canada. The original idea was to make a documentary about the herd of about 1,500 wild horses that roam along the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains, particularly around the Sundre area. They are descendants of horses that escaped from settlers and indigenous communities. The government manages the herd population through culling, adoption, and contraception programs, aimed at limiting their numbers.
The trip produced a lot of beautiful pictures and many great memories, but, as Hanna says, life got in the way and a documentary was never completed.
Hanna attended Liberty University and graduated in 2022 with a degree in English and Writing with a specialty in journalism. But it was not exactly a straight path to graduation. Before starting college, Hanna worked for several years at a variety of jobs including Pete’s Coffee shop and a Leesburg Veterinary clinic to save money for school. However, she realized near the end of her first semester that her savings were only enough for one semester – not a full year. So, it was back to work to save for the next semester. She adopted a cycle of working to save money, returning to school, and repeating the process, ultimately taking eight years to complete her degree.
Hanna was hired on a part time basis by Loudoun Now right out of College. Within a year, she moved into a full-time role covering local government.
While in school, Hanna had visions of being a war correspondent. Today, she believes deeply in what she calls “micro-reporting”—covering local government and community issues that may not make national headlines but have immediate and meaningful impact on people’s daily lives. It is work she finds both consequential and fulfilling, and it is where she intends to focus her career.
Loudoun Now itself reflects broader changes in the newspaper industry and may be the model for the future, particularly local journalism. It began publication in print and online in 2015 when the Times Community Media acquired the weekly newspapers, Leesburg Today, Ashburn Today, and the website leesburgtoday.com. Loudoun Now’s founders believed the County needed and would support an alternative, community-focused news voice. In 2024, Loudoun Nowwas acquired by Loudoun Community Media and became a nonprofit which allows it to take advantage of a variety of funding sources, including direct support from individuals, foundations and businesses. In August 2025 Loudoun Nowstopped publishing a print edition and publishes on-line only.
Notably, the publication operates without a paywall. According to Executive Editor Norman Styer “Putting up barriers to residents who need to know what is happening in the halls of government and their neighborhoods goes against our public service mission.”
Hanna believes the nonprofit structure has strengthened the paper’s connection to the community it serves.
Perhaps it is not a coincidence that Hanna’s role model is also recreating the journalism profession. Jenna Lee is an American journalist and former Fox News anchor. She cohosted Happening Now and Fox Businesses Morning, an early-morning business news program. Before Fox Lee worked for a community newspaper in San Francisco, Marina Times. In 2018, Lee left Fox and launched SmartHer News, as a “fact based, nonpartisan” digital news platform. According to the SmartHer website the goal is “to clear the clutter. We’re committed to providing the news in small servings available wherever you are, whenever you want it.”
Like Lee, Hanna represents a generation of journalists rethinking how news is delivered and consumed—prioritizing clarity, accessibility, and public service.
