As WBEZ’s data editor, Matt helps break down large and complex sets of information into stories that matter to Chicagoans.
Prior to joining WBEZ, Matt worked on an R&D team at the Washington Post, where he developed and supported products to automate public records requests and analyze large document collections for investigative projects. He also reported on voting rights litigation leading up to the 2020 election and designed a tracker to monitor criminal filings from the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Matt was a 2020 John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, where he prototyped tools to monitor civil and human rights. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, he started a collaborative research project to collect medical examiner records around the United States and support local newsrooms measuring the virus’s impacts on their communities.
Previously, as data editor of the Chicago Reporter, Matt and his colleagues compiled and published a database of police misconduct lawsuits settled by the city. Their reporting was cited in a Justice Department report and won an award for innovation in investigative journalism from Investigative Reporters & Editors. He has also worked for Crain’s Chicago Business and various suburban newspapers owned by the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune. He spent a few years as a software engineer and developed an open-source project, FOIAmail, that helps newsrooms manage large-scale public records request campaigns. He’s a graduate of Northeastern Illinois University.
Matt Kiefer

Stories by Matt Kiefer
Black drivers ‘stay ready,’ navigating low-level traffic stops
When police pull over Black drivers in Illinois, it’s mostly for non-moving violations
Illinois traffic stops of Black drivers reach record highs
State law and oversight board fall short of goals to collect law enforcement data and to reduce racial disparities in police traffic stops
Chicago recorded its worst-ever fine particle air pollution this week
EPA sensors in city, suburbs showed highest readings ever during Canadian wildfires
Xylazine is linked to more than 350 deaths in Cook County
The county saw a 46% increase in overdose deaths tied to the veterinary tranquilizer last year — and a majority of the victims were Black.
How did your precinct vote in Chicago’s runoff elections?
View interactive maps displaying runoff election results for mayor and city council for every precinct in the city.
How did Chicago’s municipal elections play out in your precinct?
View interactive maps displaying election results for mayor, City Council and police district council for every precinct in the city.
Chicago Public Schools grapples with a spike in after-school killings
Last year, nine children 17 years old or younger were killed on a weekday between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., a WBEZ/Chicago Sun-Times analysis found.
One in five Chicagoans live in a new ward now
After once-a-decade redistricting, roughly 20% of Chicagoans live in a different ward, according to a WBEZ analysis. Hang on to this interactive ward map for future reference.
They’re not just handguns anymore — and they’re a growing problem
Increasingly, police are seizing ‘switches’ that convert handguns into illegal machine guns.
Frozen sewage slows down coronavirus surveillance
A promising new science aimed at predicting COVID-19 outbreaks in high-risk communities is running into a challenge: Chicago winter.