He is also the author of many books and a columnist for several other national newspapers and magazines, his main interests have been judicial reporting and current affairs and politics, dealing with issues ranging from the fight against the Italian Mafia to corruption.

He praised right-wing politicians, such as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, and said he belongs to the liberal Right of Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, Luigi Einaudi, Alcide De Gasperi, and Montanelli.

[1][2] In the late 1980s, Travaglio began to pursue journalism as a career, and he started out writing for Catholic publications, such as Il nostro tempo ("Our Time"),[3] where he met Mario Giordano.

From 2008 to 2011, he edited the weekly streamed column "Passaparola" for the political commentator and future leader Beppe Grillo's blog, which was later also broadcast by Current TV.

[5] In September 2009, alongside Furio Colombo, Peter Gomez [it], Marco Lillo [it], Cinzia Monteverdi, and Antonio Padellaro [it], Travaglio contributed to the founding of the independent newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano ("The Daily Fact").

As a journalist, he gained public attention in 2001 after participating in a TV show on the state-owned national channel Rai 2 called Satyricon [it] and hosted by Daniele Luttazzi.

He then introduced his bestseller book L'odore dei soldi ("The Scent of Money", co-authored by Elio Veltri), which investigates the origin of Berlusconi's early fortunes.

[10] The show, which aired during the campaign for the 2001 Italian general election, was heavily criticized by Berlusconi and his party, and labelled by them as a politically motivated, non-objective personal attack.

[14] Schifani said Travaglio's accusation was based on "inconsistent or manipulated facts, not even worthy of generating suspicions", adding that "someone wants to undermine the dialogue between the government and the opposition".

[22] In a 2008 interview given to Claudio Sabelli Fioretti [it] contained in the book Il rompiballe, Travaglio said: "In France I would vote with closed eyes for a Chirac, a Villepin.

"[25] During Rai 2's television program Dodicesimo round, Travaglio stated that in the 2006 Italian general election he had voted on the Senate "without holding my nose for the first time" because, in his own words, "Italy of Values made me the gift of candidating a person that I esteem and that has honored me of her friendship, Franca Rame.

"[26] On 29 March 2008, Antonio Di Pietro's blog published an article by Travaglio in which he publicly expressed his vote for Italy of Values for the 2008 Italian general election and confirmed his liberal leanings, adding that he was still "waiting for a new Einaudi or a new De Gasperi".

[29] For the 2013 Italian general election, in an article published on MicroMega and also in the La7 television programs Servizio pubblico [it] by Michele Santoro and Otto e mezzo [it] by Lilli Gruber, he announced his vote for Civil Revolution in the Chamber of Deputies and the Five Star Movement in the Senate.

[44][45][46] In June 2023, upon the death and state funeral of Berlusconi, Travaglio was critical towards what he perceived as a beatification of the deceased leader, citing his multiple scandals.