A picture of Rob

Rob Reid

I'm a freelance reporter and data journalist, focused primarily on local news. Since September 2023 I've published work in the Concord Monitor, MindSite News, The Current, Austin Weekly, and Streetsblog Chicago. I've also documented public meetings for City Bureau, and am helping develop an automated scrape-to-csv data pipeline for the Data Liberation Project. I also self-publish a neighborhood blog, Humboldt Park Moon, and co-authored a book on the Avondale neighborhood.

As a reporter, my primary interest areas are community health, neighborhood history, and active transportation.

As a data journalist my primary strength is data wrangling, and I have over two decades of experience in developing databases and integrating data sources, including some website development.

More recently I completed Columbia University's Lede Program for Data Journalism where I developed new skills in map-based storytelling, and have been building map-based stories using QGIS, MapBox, and Javascript. I primarily use Data Wrapper, Flourish, and Altair to create charts, graphs, and static maps.

Here's my portfolio.