Photo by Jason Schumer
Sam Stecklow (he/him) is an investigative journalist for the Invisible Institute. He works on the Civic Police Data Project, the National Police Index, investigations throughout the organization, and the Invisible Institute’s initiative to expand its police data and journalism work throughout Illinois. Sam has been the Invisible Institute’s lead FOIA journalist since 2018, and helps supervise journalism and legal interns within the organization. He has previously been an editor with the South Side Weekly, a journalist on a collaborative team between the Salt Lake Tribune and PBS Frontline that investigated police shootings throughout Utah, a local reporter with the Athens County Independent in Ohio, and a FOIA consultant for organizations such as Preservation Chicago and the Chicago Independent Media Alliance. His reporting and editing has won and been a finalist for local and national awards. As a freelance writer, Sam has appeared in New York Magazine, Chicago Magazine, the Chicago Reader, Salt Lake City Weekly, The Awl, Gawker, The Morning News, and MEL Magazine. He is a graduate of Ohio University.