Meg Gatto
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Meg Gatto is an Edward R. Murrow award winning reporter and anchor, who can be seen on FOX 8 News at 5pm & 10pm, anchoring alongside Lee Zurik.
Meg also leads the FOX 8 Defenders, working with the National Council of Jewish Women to report on the community’s most pressing consumer related complaints. As part of her work with the FOX 8 Defenders, Meg’s investigations exposed the horrific living conditions at an apartment complex owned by a religious non-profit and helped countless neighbors deal with issues from sporadic trash pick-up to blighted pools. Her investigations into the religious non-profit that owns the apartment complex in New Orleans, earned her a Suncoast Regional Emmy nomination.
Originally from a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Meg followed in the footsteps of her parents, moving to New Orleans to attend college. She graduated from Loyola University with a degree in Broadcast Journalism.
After working for two years in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Meg made the move back to New Orleans.
During her time here, she’s been honored with a regional Edward R. Murrow award for an investigation into the New Orleans Police Department. She’s won countless New Orleans Press Club awards for breaking news story of the year, best government/political reporting, general news and others. Meg has been nominated for numerous Suncoast Regional Emmy awards including one for an investigation into the Crimestoppers organization. She’s also been honored for her work by the Louisiana Associated Press awards.
Over the years, Meg has covered a number of high profile stories including the mass shooting at Virginia Tech, the Danziger Bridge trial, BP oil spill, the murder of former Saints player Will Smith and countless tropical storms and hurricanes.
In her spare time, Meg enjoys spending time with her husband and children.
Updated: 4 hours ago
|By Meg Gatto
The New Orleans City Council voted Thursday (March 25) to change requirements for short-term rental owners and operators.
Updated: Mar. 20, 2023 at 10:10 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
An administrator said the OMV has 62 job openings and is trying to hire more people to answer calls and return messages faster
Updated: Mar. 14, 2023 at 8:18 AM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
Frustrated customers say calls and voice messages go unanswered by state agency
Updated: Mar. 7, 2023 at 4:53 PM CST
|By Meg Gatto
The refusals happened before the cases were screened by the D.A.’s office and before police reports were turned in for the arrests.
Updated: Feb. 28, 2023 at 4:25 PM CST
|By Meg Gatto
The bill also gives authority to local municipalities to determine if a non-profit is fostering sub-standard living conditions at its properties.
Updated: Feb. 23, 2023 at 10:07 PM CST
|By Meg Gatto
One state lawmaker plans to file a proposal to pull the tax exempt status of property owners who run non-profits, but who lawmakers say are slumlords. The idea for the bill came after our FOX 8 Defenders investigations exposed what residents said were deplorable living conditions at apartments owned by a religious non-profit. Now, one group hits the pavement trying to help tenants who feel they have nowhere else to turn.
Updated: Feb. 19, 2023 at 8:59 AM CST
|By Meg Gatto
Gomila, 21, is a computer science major at Virginia and minoring in economics
Updated: Feb. 19, 2023 at 8:35 AM CST
|By Meg Gatto
Feoli is executive director of Tulane's Center for Inter-American Policy and Research
Updated: Feb. 13, 2023 at 11:32 PM CST
|By Meg Gatto
New Orleans motorists and homeowners are frustrated by unfinished road work projects across the city
Updated: Feb. 7, 2023 at 10:58 PM CST
|By Meg Gatto
Experts say scammers are using every avenue possible to try and take advantage of people and they’re becoming more aggressive.
Updated: Jan. 14, 2023 at 2:57 PM CST
|By Meg Gatto
The Louisiana Supreme Court had reversed an earlier mistrial ruling Friday and ordered the trial to resume Saturday
Updated: Jan. 9, 2023 at 10:02 PM CST
|By Ken Daley and Meg Gatto
Richards Disposal insists it would be caught up on collection routes 'in the coming days'
Updated: Jan. 4, 2023 at 9:56 PM CST
|By Meg Gatto
Some New Orleans residents say they're fed up after weeks of no trash pick-up from Richard's Disposal. Others say their pick-up is sporadic and they have no idea when the trash company is coming to their house.
Updated: Nov. 23, 2022 at 10:40 PM CST
|By Meg Gatto
The former chief of the Jefferson Parish Fire Department, calls the Bellemont apartment complex a ticking timebomb. The owner of the Bellemont is a religious non-profit that’s racked up fines and code violations over the years. Now, the former chief, Dave Tibbetts, says not much has changed there after a heated meeting with the head of the non-profit.
Updated: Nov. 22, 2022 at 10:47 PM CST
|By Meg Gatto
The Bellemont Apartment Homes' property manager said evangelist Richard Hamlet and his son Lucian are intimately involved with the Metairie complex’s operations
Updated: Nov. 14, 2022 at 10:07 PM CST
|By Meg Gatto
A religious nonprofit that owns local apartment complexes and pays no property tax is making millions of dollars in revenue every year.
Updated: Nov. 3, 2022 at 10:52 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
The New Orleans City Council just passed an ordinance that strengthens protections for renters across the city while calling for periodic inspections of rental properties.
Updated: Oct. 21, 2022 at 4:54 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
Doctors say they're seeing spikes in the number of people infected much earlier than in past years.
Updated: Oct. 14, 2022 at 5:04 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
The woman first spoke to FOX 8 in May, complaining about the nightly crime here and what she described as mold in her home and caving walls.
Updated: Oct. 6, 2022 at 10:31 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
The West Bank man who lured a New Orleans real estate agent to his home, promising to buy a dirt bike, before killing him, will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Updated: Oct. 3, 2022 at 10:33 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
Councilman Freddie King says some conditions at Parc Fontaine are unacceptable
Updated: Sep. 26, 2022 at 10:32 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
Residents at an Algiers apartment complex reach out to FOX 8, begging for help, saying they're living in squalor. One of the owners of Parc Fontaine is Global Ministries Foundation, the same religious non-profit that FOX 8 revealed, owns The Willows in New Orleans East, which was full of mold, and trash and which residents told us was unsafe.
Updated: Sep. 20, 2022 at 11:17 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
A war veteran says he was scammed by an appliance repairman who was the subject of a number of Fox 8 Defenders reports.
Updated: Aug. 10, 2022 at 10:57 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
The city said it is aware of the condition of the pool and will continue to take appropriate enforcement action against the property until the owner complies with the municipal code.
Updated: Jul. 25, 2022 at 11:24 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reached out to Fox 8 for help in its investigation into whole home generators.
Updated: Jul. 13, 2022 at 10:59 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
A New Orleans city councilman wants a stiffer punishment by code enforcement against the owner of The Willows apartment complex. The non-profit owner of the site still owes money from a code enforcement hearing two years ago.
Updated: Jul. 7, 2022 at 10:05 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
In an idyllic Venetian Isles neighborhood on the outskirts of New Orleans, some neighbors say they’re at their wits end.
Updated: Jul. 2, 2022 at 10:03 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the crowd at Essence Fest Saturday, for the first time as VP. Harris telling the attendees to use their voices as the country faces the fallout from the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe V. Wade.
Updated: Jul. 1, 2022 at 9:01 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
The Willows apartment complex in New Orleans East has stepped up security measures after residents told us they were terrified to live there.
Updated: Jun. 21, 2022 at 6:04 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
Beginning next year, homes in Louisiana will be required to have a working carbon monoxide detector. It also says that any home that has a generator installed after the new year must have a carbon monoxide detector.
Updated: Jun. 18, 2022 at 6:13 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
A federal judge will redraw the state’s congressional map after state lawmakers abruptly ended a special session two days early.
Updated: Jun. 2, 2022 at 10:01 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
After a surprise visit, code enforcement inspectors have found almost a dozen violations of city code at The Willows apartment complex in New Orleans East.
Updated: Jun. 2, 2022 at 6:58 AM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
As New Orleans code enforcement inspectors show up at The Willows, the CEO of the non-profit that owns the complex called us to give his side of the story.
Updated: May. 25, 2022 at 10:51 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
Our first investigation revealed the issues at The Willows, with residents saying the conditions are unlivable so Helena Moreno wanted to see for herself.
Updated: May. 25, 2022 at 1:30 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
Years of neglect, near nightly shootings and overwhelming filth. That's what some terrified New Orleans East neighbors say they've been dealing with at their apartment complex and it's who owns the complex that may surprise you.
Updated: May. 20, 2022 at 10:05 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
People say the pothole at the corner of Carrollton and Cohn, big enough to stand in, is frustrating and annoying.
Updated: May. 18, 2022 at 10:17 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
“When you hear that your kid has cancer, the first thing you think of is ‘oh my gosh, is she going to make it, am I going to see her get married? Am I going to see her graduate?’ All that runs through your head."
Updated: May. 12, 2022 at 11:05 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
Carjackings, armed robberies, and murders are happening at an alarming rate in New Orleans and sometimes the crimes can have more than just physical ramifications.
Updated: Apr. 27, 2022 at 12:57 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto and Ken Daley
Paul Noel, a 25-year veteran of the New Orleans Police Department, is expected to be named the new police chief in Knoxville, Tenn.
Updated: Apr. 4, 2022 at 5:36 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
Two weeks after Linda Frickey, 73, was dragged to death in a brutal Mid City carjacking, her family is preparing to meet with the district attorney’s office and they are looking for answers.
Updated: Feb. 28, 2022 at 11:40 AM CST
|By Meg Gatto
James Reiss and Elinor White will serve as esteemed Carnival royalty Tuesday.
Updated: Feb. 17, 2022 at 5:37 AM CST
|By Meg Gatto
A mother’s love knows no bounds. After receiving the surprise of a lifetime, one Northshore mom decided to dedicate her time to helping others. And it all begins in the gym.
Updated: Jan. 13, 2022 at 6:34 PM CST
|By Meg Gatto
Thunder the Boy Wonder was returned to his owner after thieves snatched him 10 days ago.
Updated: Nov. 23, 2021 at 10:37 PM CST
|By Meg Gatto
A state representative wants to pass a new law to keep people safe from carbon monoxide, after our reports exposed how alarming levels of the odorless, colorless gas got into people's homes following Hurricane Ida.
Updated: Nov. 11, 2021 at 11:36 PM CST
|By Meg Gatto
The man in charge of permits for St. Tammany Parish wants to change parish law, to protect homeowners from dangerous carbon monoxide gases, after we detailed the problems following Hurricane Ida. Now, more people tell us they too had the dangerous chemicals seep into their homes.
Updated: Nov. 1, 2021 at 10:40 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
Reports of dangerous levels of carbon monoxide inside homes after Hurricane Ida prompts Jefferson Parish to conduct a safety study of whole house generators. While the equipment proved convenient for thousands of people without power, others say, the fumes nearly cost them their lives.
Updated: Aug. 17, 2021 at 10:57 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
A Baton Rouge woman is on a mission to get people vaccinated against Covid-19. For Carla Brown, this mission, is personal, saving lives.
Updated: May. 26, 2021 at 10:49 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
A couple in town for a convention says they woke up to find a burglar inside their Marriott hotel room over the weekend.
Updated: Apr. 28, 2021 at 6:28 PM CDT
|By Meg Gatto
Neighbors call a sidewalk repair project in the French Quarter, a nightmare. In a FOX 8 Defenders report, they explain why they’re so upset as the work has halted with huge holes left behind.
Updated: Feb. 10, 2021 at 9:45 PM CST
|By Meg Gatto
A chance call five months ago changed the lives of two Northshore families.
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