Matt DiSanto
Matt DiSanto focuses on service-driven local reporting that helps readers navigate where to eat, how businesses are changing, and what is happening in their community. He uses food coverage, business roundups and explanatory pieces on local decisions to give residents practical, timely information rather than abstract policy or feature writing.
Food safety and restaurant coverage
Food-related oversight is a recurring thread in his work. He regularly reports on restaurant health inspections, spelling out which Centre County establishments failed recent checks and why, with details on violations such as uncovered food, dust buildup, cockroach sightings and risky food temperatures. These stories pair inspection findings with clear instructions on how owners can respond and how consumers can raise concerns with regulators, underscoring his emphasis on actionable information.
He also covers individual food businesses as they open, close or change hands, including a Penns Valley ice cream shop planning to bring “sizzle” under new family ownership, treating food stories as business and community news rather than lifestyle features.
Business openings, closures and ownership changes
DiSanto plays a central role in tracking local business churn.
He contributes to monthly and periodic roundups of new openings, closures and ownership changes across Centre County, noting acquisitions, rebrandings and retirements and how they reshape the local commercial landscape. These pieces often cover food and drink outlets alongside retail and other services, showing how restaurants fit into broader business trends rather than standing apart.
His business coverage is concise and list-based, designed to let readers quickly see what has changed and where, reflecting a service journalism approach.
Local government and school district decisions
Beyond food and business, he reports on local governance, especially school district finances and transparency.
He has covered State College’s school district budget, explaining proposed real estate tax increases, how they relate to statutory limits, and the expected timeline for votes and public hearings. He also reports on board-level debates, such as Penns Valley’s rejection of a plan to record school board meetings, detailing costs, voting breakdowns and community concerns about misuse.
In these pieces, he breaks down technical decisions into clear bullet points and timelines, keeping the focus on what residents need to understand and when changes will take effect.
Service journalism across the McClatchy network
DiSanto works as a service journalist with the Centre Daily Times, and his explainer-style reporting is picked up across McClatchy mastheads. His profile for another McClatchy paper mirrors his Centre Daily Times biography, reinforcing his identity as a reporter whose work is shared within the wider network. Syndicated stories include pieces that quantify local conditions for readers, such as an article identifying the Illinois county with the worst weather based on storms, floods and hail. Taken together, his body of work shows a consistent pattern: he translates data, inspections, budgets and reports into straightforward stories that tell residents what is happening and how it affects daily life, with food businesses and restaurant safety as a prominent thread within that broader service mission.
Before joining the Centre Daily Times, DiSanto served as managing editor of a student-run outlet and worked as a general assignment reporter, experience that informs his ability to move between food coverage, business news and local government while maintaining a practical, reader-first focus.
4 more food journalists.
Aaron Guerrero
Aaron Guerrero is head of the digital department at Miami’s Community Newspapers, where he pairs restaurant coverage with community-facing content. He focuses on how Miami-area restaurants evolve, celebrate, and experiment through new concepts, menus, and neighborhood-focused dining experiences. He reports on restaurant openings, such as an Italian food hall at Plaza Coral Gables, new executive lunch menus, and wood-fired Latin steakhouse brunches, explaining what sets each venue apart. He also covers awards, like a Wine Spectator honor for an Italian chophouse, and events that turn dining rooms into social hubs. His bylines extend to features on sports-themed gatherings, civic renamings, local visits to restaurant programs, sponsored community pieces, and official notices. His work is straightforward and descriptive, helping readers and local businesses connect around specific openings, promotions, and dining experiences.
Aarron Fleming
Aarron Fleming reports on how courts, jails and public safety systems work over time. He is a reporter at The Daily Memphian covering public safety, the local court system, suburban news and business developments in North Mississippi. His work follows trials, sentencing, appeals, plea deals and judicial decisions, including major cases tied to Tyre Nichols and rapper Young Dolph. He also covers jail conditions, inmate deaths, crime data, prosecution units, trafficking, shootings and public-order incidents. His suburban reporting examines cannabis businesses, restaurant openings and how commercial growth affects communities such as Olive Branch. Fleming previously covered education in the same newsroom. He uses clear, unadorned prose to explain legal steps, deadlines, institutional problems and the political, commercial and community effects of public-safety decisions.
Alana Al-Hatlani
Alana Al-Hatlani is a food writer and editor who treats recipes, restaurants, and food features as ways to explore culture, community, and the business of eating. She works on the food team at Southern Living, overseeing and contributing to print recipes and reported features. Her pastry-focused, restaurant-tested perspective comes from time in restaurant and bakery kitchens. She helps plan and write monthly food packages, including “The South’s Most Treasured Desserts,” and wrote “8 Summer Recipes Our Editors Make Every Year.” She also writes recipe tips, ingredient explainers, restaurant guides, and reported stories about workers, owners, and communities. Her subjects include regional specialties, dining scenes, kitchen basics, and food industries. Her work has appeared with OpenTable and Yahoo. She reports on the ground, explains techniques clearly, and connects specific dishes and places to larger stories about food and livelihood.
Alana Edgin
Alana Edgin is a business reporter whose strongest focus is food, restaurants and consumer-facing businesses. She works at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and has also had work syndicated across AOL and Yahoo News. She covers new openings, closings, expansions and franchise growth, along with retail, health, services, corporate news, data incidents, business support programs and sponsorships. Her reporting includes detailed roundups of new restaurants and businesses, coverage of El Pollo Loco’s opening, and stories on burger trucks, dessert shops, Vietnamese sandwich restaurants and gourmet markets. She also contributes to food and drink reviews, including fall coffee and jerky comparisons. Edgin reports with practical “what, when, where” details, structured comparisons and clear explanations of how offers, partnerships and business changes affect consumers and the local economy.