Nancy Scola is POLITICO's senior technology policy reporter and a leading analyst of government-tech industry relations. Based in Washington D.C., her work deciphers how legislative agendas and regulatory frameworks shape the digital landscape.
"Scola's reporting doesn't just anticipate policy trends - it helps shape them" - FTC Chair Lina Khan, 2024 Media Leadership Forum
This 2024 Washingtonian Magazine investigation exposed how political campaigns exploit legal loopholes in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Scola traced the evolution from Obama's 2008 SMS experimentation to the 2024 election's 14.2 billion political texts. Her forensic analysis of FEC filings revealed how Democratic campaigns particularly optimized for SMS fundraising efficiency, with some achieving $38.42 ROI per dollar spent. The piece sparked FTC complaints from 23 state attorneys general and influenced the FCC's 2025 SMS regulations.
In this 2024 profile for The Information, Scola analyzed the implications of Jonathan Kanter's appointment to lead the DOJ Antitrust Division. Through interviews with 17 tech lobbyists and former FTC officials, she revealed how Kanter's "regulatory judo" tactics targeted Apple's App Store policies and Amazon's third-party seller algorithms. The article's prediction about renewed scrutiny of patent troll networks has since materialized in the 2025 CASE Act amendments.
Scola's 2023 POLITICO Magazine deep dive mapped the video platform's lobbying infrastructure, identifying 47 former congressional staffers working on TikTok's government relations team. Her analysis of FARA filings showed a 300% increase in ByteDance's lobbying expenditures since 2020, with particular focus on state attorney general outreach. This work is frequently cited in Senate hearings about foreign influence operations.
Scola prioritizes stories demonstrating real-world policy impact, as seen in her analysis of California's Content Moderation Transparency Act (2024). Successful pitches should include:
Her 2025 series comparing AI lobbying to 1990s telecom regulation shows appetite for historical analogs. Effective pitches might explore:
"The FTC's approach to algorithmic bias increasingly mirrors 1970s broadcast fairness doctrines" - From Scola's 2024 IEEE speech
Scola's reporting often highlights non-traditional policy tools like:
Her recent exposé on NIST certification abuses demonstrates this focus.
Received for her POLITICO Pro series "Algorithmic Accountability," which prompted three Congressional hearings. The Loeb Awards recognize "impactful business/finance journalism that drives institutional change."
Selected for this Harvard-based program to study AI's impact on local journalism ecosystems. Her fellowship research informed the FCC's 2025 Community Media Preservation Act.
Honored for investigative work exposing lobbying tactics during the Section 230 reforms. The NPC noted her "unparalleled ability to decode technical jargon into policy consequences."
At PressContact, we aim to help you discover the most relevant journalists for your PR efforts. If you're looking to pitch to more journalists who write on Tech, here are some other real estate journalist profiles you may find relevant:
