Matt Stiles joins Data and Graphics Department

The following announcement was sent on behalf of Data and Graphics Editor Ben Welsh.

We are pleased to announce that Matt Stiles will be joining the Data and Graphics Department as a senior reporter.

He will be a leading player in our effort to inform and engage readers by creating visual stories, data-driven applications and digital designs.

Stiles comes to the team from Metro, where he covered the county government beat for two years. In that time, he showed a rare versatility, producing data-driven analysis and sourced-up scoops, as well as the occasional twist of lighthearted (or foulmouthed) enterprise.

Stiles has made many other contributions to The Times, including numerous pieces of data journalism and a stint in Seoul, where he reported from the demilitarized zone, covered President Trump’s summit with North Korea’s leader in Singapore and kept our readers informed about the impeachment and imprisonment of South Korea’s former president.

Before joining our newsroom in 2018, Stiles had already amassed an impressive resumé. He covered economics for the Wall Street Journal in Washington D.C., served as the data editor at NPR and was one of the founding editors at the Texas Tribune, where he established the nonprofit newsroom’s first data team.

Before that, Stiles covered politics in Texas, his home state, at the Houston Chronicle and Dallas Morning News. He now lives on L.A.’s Westside and has three young daughters.

Past colleagues recall the crucial role Stiles played in elevating data projects by balancing the technical work with traditional reporting techniques.

“He always got the good stuff,” said Jeremy Bowers, a former coworker at NPR now at the Washington Post. “He can run with the reporters. And he can keep up with the programmers.”

That’s been true in Stiles’ frequent collaborations with the Data and Graphics Department. On top of his other duties, Stiles has played an important role in some of our most successful work, including components of our coronavirus tracker and a 3-D recreation of the final moments of Kobe Bryant’s fatal flight.

Starting March 7, he will start working with our group full time.

We are a team of reporters, editors and computer programmers who aim to create digital journalism important to our readers with data, development and design. Our work has attracted millions of readers, sparked government reforms and helped win some of our industry’s highest awards. Examples of our approach can be seen in coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, California’s perennial fire season, our local elections, the deeper issues raised by recent protests and numerous other topics.

As we continue to expand, we are seeking to hire a deputy editor and another senior data and graphics journalist. Applications for both positions are now being accepted.