A picture of Rob

Rob Reid

I'm a local reporter and data journalist, now working with the Texas Tribune as an Education Data Developer.

Prior to this, I was a Data Journalism Intern at Jacksonville Tributary helping develop a legislative vote tracker. This portfolio showcases my freelance work prior to starting at the Texas Tribune.

My freelance work was published in South Side Weekly, Austin Weekly, the Concord Monitor, MindSite News, The Current, and Streetsblog Chicago. I've also fact-checked and documented public meetings for City Bureau, and helped develop a data pipeline of TSA complaints for the Data Liberation Project. Previously, I self-published the neighborhood blog Humboldt Park Moon and co-authored a book on the Avondale neighborhood.

As a freelance reporter I've written about a wide range of topics including mental health systems, government accountability, active transportation, and community history. Having prior experience working within a social service nonprofit research center, I'm comfortable with complexity and emphasize the importance of context in presenting data.

As a data journalist my deepest expertise is data wrangling, and I have over two decades of experience in developing databases, writing code to transform data, and integrating data sources. I've also been a webmaster.

In 2023 I completed Columbia University's Lede Program for Data Journalism where I improved my Python and Pandas skills while developing new skills including map-based storytelling and GitHub workflows. Since then I've been building map-based stories using QGIS, MapBox, and Javascript. For data visualization I primarily use Data Wrapper, Flourish, and Altair to create charts, graphs, and static maps.

Here's my portfolio and my GitHub.