Matt Wolfinger

Published WorkProjectsResume

Matt Wolfinger is a data reporter and graduate of Northeastern University's journalism master's program. His studies helped him accumulate the necessary skills to become a fierce competitor in the industry while learning multiple coding languages and libraries. As a reporter, he's passionate about highlighting systemic issues and giving a voice to marginalized communities — letting data serve as a tool for advocacy while seeking to improve the public's capacity for data literacy to combat the fervent issue of disinformation.

While at Denver Business Journal, Matt was the newsroom's sole data reporter and covered the cannabis beat. Living in Boston, they conducted on-the-ground reporting at numerous protests and demonstrations, interviewing workers who expressed frustration over union-busting practices utilized by their employers.

Their reporting on protests organized by Starbucks and local coffee shop employees was featured in Best of SNO. Matt's writing has appeared in Denver Business Journal, The Scope, ConsumerAffairs, Storybench, and more.

Starbucks Union-Busting March - The Scope

Reporting on a May Day march organized by Boston-based Starbucks and independent cafe workers fighting back against union-busting. Explores the massive nationwide labor movement taking place across Starbucks stores in the last few years. Best of SNO award winner.

Assembling a searchable interface of Boston police misconduct data - Storybench

Outlined the process of assembling my master's thesis project at Northeastern University, a searchable prototype utilizing Boston Police Department misconduct data.

HTML/CSS/JS, Illustrator, Excel

How bad is inflation in Denver? New data sheds light on the rising cost of living - Denver Business Journal

Denver Business Journal reporting on data from the Council of Community and Economic Research's Cost of Living Index. Looks at the cost of living in the city of Denver compared to the national average. Includes filterable data vis created with Infogram and Datawrapper.

Infogram, Datawrapper

PUBLISHED WORK

Colorado CEOs earned 164 times more than their workers last year

Medical marijuana sales reach record low in Colorado

How bad is inflation in Denver? New data sheds light on the rising cost of living

More than 1,000 businesses left downtown Denver since 2019, according to the USPS

Want to start a side hustle? This study says Denver is a pretty good spot to do it

Colorado researchers received record-breaking NIH funding for second year in a row

Every Fortune 1000 company in Colorado had at least one woman on their board last year

Top Front Range revenue-earners share their secrets to success

Top Colorado banks see deposits grow, shakeup of leading market shares

Colorado hospitals rank well despite staff shortages and burnout

Boston Starbucks workers march with local cafes against union-busting

Workers hold rally in solidarity with grocery store union

Want to move to a big city? Here are the cheapest places to live

Debt the halls: 65% of shoppers report financial stress leading up to the holidays

Migration trends report: Where are people moving in 2024?

Where do most car accidents happen in the U.S.?

Nearly half of renters say they've had to take on debt to pay rent. Which cities have it the worst?

These states spend the most on their roads. But are conditions really improving?

Colorado cities with the worst drivers

Rising Rents Are Pushing Out Seniors in These States

Assembling a searchable interface of Boston police misconduct data

PROJECTS

Below you'll find a handful of projects I created at Northeastern University. While pursuing my master's degree in Journalism, I perfected my knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript libraries to create projects for my courses I could feel proud of — all through the lens of data and extensive analysis.

Boston Cop Track

My Northeastern University master's thesis project. A searchable interface containing more than two decades of Boston Police misconduct data. Look up a BPD officer by their name or badge ID number to see their entire cataloged history of misconduct allegations.

HTML/CSS/JS, Illustrator, Excel

Mapping Philly Demolitions

Final project for my Design Mapping course at Northeastern. A StoryMaps project containing maps built with ArcGIS online, documenting the increasingly common trend of demolitions of historic sites within the city of Philadelphia. Data sourced from OpenDataPhilly and includes data vis constructed with Datawrapper.

ArcGIS Online, StoryMaps, Datawrapper

Pitchfork Album Analysis